History of the Indiana democracy, 1816-1916, Part 3

Author: Stoll, John B., 1843-1926
Publication date: 1917
Publisher: Indianapolis : Indiana Democratic Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1104

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"All these colonists in their removal still retained and enjoyed the means of com- munication and commercial intercourse with the kindred and countrymen whom they had left behind them. But the immi- grants to the country now called Indiana, in that early period spoken of, having passed the last military outpost on their way and gone thence into the depths of the wilderness, were as wholly severed from the world as Columbus when he sailed upon his first voyage into the un-

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known waters of the Western ocean. They were in a condition of extreme, almost total, isolation. They made their home in the midst of a vast forest, for the most part unexplored and uninhabited save by roving bands of Indians, equipped with weapons far more deadly than those of the chiefs and warriors who, more than a hundred years before, had attempted with their clubs, bows and arrows, to exter- minate the white settlements in the val- leys of the Potomac and Connecticut. Whether the pioneer settler reaped, plowed or planted, his rifle must be within reach. Solitude seldom broken, danger always imminent, shadowed his daily life and labor.

"Plutarch observes that those who found prosperous States and communities are more worthy of praise and com- mendation than any other benefactors of the human race. Yet it has been some- what the fashion, both in writing and con- versation, to decry the pioneers and early settlers of our State as being generally coarse, ignorant, lawless and violent. The founders of Indiana were, for the most part, immigrants from the thirteen origin- al States, and they came hither in nearly equal proportion from the North and South. They were the best element of that hardy population which inhabited the long line of the old Colonial frontier ex- tending from Maine to Georgia. Some of them were men of intellectual attainments and of classic education, everywhere wel- comed and recognized as leaders in the new community. The much greater num- ber were actuated by one dominant pur- pose, one salient ambition; this was to make for themselves and for their house- hold larger and better homes. These pio- neers in emigration, leaving their former domiciles, did not leave behind them their respect for law and order, their reverence for religion, or their love of civil and political liberty. All these they carried with them upon their journey. The early legislation and the first constitution of our State show in every line and sentence of the venerable text how thoroughly they were imbued with those principles.

"These predecessors in our goodly her- itage had the courage to leave a land of comparative comfort and security; forti- tude to endure the hardships and dangers incident to such departure, self-reliance

constant and unwavering, a fixity of pur- pose and integrity of life, which upheld their hands and hopes in what they had undertaken. They were a thoughtful people, slow to anger, quick neither to take nor to give offense, but prompt to resent insult or injury when offered. They were diligent in their work-but took their time in doing it; they depended more than we do upon the morrow for its completion, but they did complete it. They were very frank in conversation, kindly in social in- tercourse. Their manner of speech was plain, direct-to use their own phrase, home-spoken, but without coarseness or duplicity.

"Many of these patriarchs had unique personal histories and gifts of description and narration quite remarkable; and if their stories were long, they were eagerly listened to, on account of the manifest good faith and verity of the narrator. They were a very religious community, yet without the least trace of superstition. Possessed of lively imaginative powers, they might have peopled the wide expanse of wood and waters around them with elves and fairies, nymphs and naiads; but they looked in the woods only for game or Indians, and saw only what they looked for.

"Nevertheless, they walked not by sight alone. They cherished a faith sin- cere and simple, unobscured by the mirage of the higher criticism. Nearly all of them belonged to some church communion ; there was much difference of opinion on these subjects, but this caused no breach of brotherly kindness or of neighborly good will and courtesy. The creed and form of worship were as free as thought itself. Not a few of these men in the vanguard of civilization were very illiter- ate, being able neither to read nor write; yet they were not uneducated. They had learned some of the lessons of life and knew them better than the savants of Oxford or Cambridge, or the Pilgrim Fathers, with all their erudition. They had in a very free way wrought out their destiny in the wilderness. Mental, moral, political independence was their birth- right.

"Our forefathers dwelling under the sky of the West were a chosen people who, without the visible guidance of the cloud or pillar, made a Christian solution of the

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problem that for ages had embroiled their ancestors in bloodiest warfare. Even in the infancy of this commonwealth or in the days of its youth and inexperience, there was no religious test either for office or the franchise. No Baptist was ban- ished, no Quaker was scourged or held in durance, but every one worshiped God according to the dictates of his own con- science. If any man forbore either to be- lieve or worship, he incurred thereby no statutory pains or penalties. The founders of our State passed beyond the line of mere religious toleration; they eliminated from their form of policy both persecution and its victim, and provided that martyr- dom should be a thing impossible. They relied upon the utmost freedom of speech and opinion as the best safeguard of truth and the surest correction of error. They gave no credence to the doctrine that the growth of religious sentiment should be accompanied by some sort of proscription of dissent, or that as faith waxed stronger, charity should cease or fail. Greater was the charity of our fathers, even as their faith more abounded.

"The ancient provisions of the ordi- nance of 1787, touching common school education and involuntary servitude, al- though for a long period the subjects of active controversy, were faithfully ad- hered to and loyally maintained.

"In the beginning of our social and civil organization those who attended meetings of any kind always went armed. An aged judge, speaking of this, told me that in his youth the courtroom during term bore the appearance of a military post; wit- nesses, parties, jurymen and bystanders brought with them their guns and ac- coutrements. I have seen, several times, on the walls of old meeting houses, rem- nants of the wooden hooks, upon which, during the hours of worship, the rifles of those present were hung, loaded and primed, ready for instant use. These pre- cautions were taken against attack by the Indians, which was often sudden and un- expected. Still, a habit so constantly in use must have had a marked effect upon the manners of the people. It largely con- duced to the observance of the true civilities of life, to mutual respect and deference, whether in public or private in- tercourse.

"Among brave men thus equipped, who met together for any purpose, there was a savor of knightly bearing shown in the considerate regard paid to the feelings and wishes, even to the prejudices and pre- possessions, of their comrades and asso- ciates. Utterances of indiscretion and violence, in this armed presence were quietly suppressed; the cost of the feud was counted, its consequences were weighed and measured, restrained and averted.

"The native chivalry of the frontiers- man, though it may have been unpolished and uncouth, had yet a real origin and meaning. Its influence was felt percept- ibly long after the custom of bearing arms, once so general, had become obsolete.

"In that primitive age there was an innate honest simplicity of manners, as of thought and action. Fraud, wrongdoing and injustice were denounced as they are at present ; they were also discredited, dis- honored, and branded with an ostracism more severe than that of Athens. Wealth acquired by such means could not evade, and was unable to conceal, the stigma that attached to the hidden things of dis- honesty.

"The moral atmosphere of the time was clear and bracing ; it repelled specious pre- tensions, resisted iniquity and steadily re- jected the evil which calls itself good. Moreover, there never has been a people who wrought into the spirit of their public enactments the virtues of their private character more completely than the early settlers of Indiana. We have grown up in the shadow of their achievements; these need not be forgotten in the splendor of our own."

PARTY RELATIONSHIP IRONICALLY DEFINED.

As already indicated, party relationship was in the "good old days" subject to sud- den and frequent changes. In the absence of clearly defined appellations, men who "dabbled in politics" were designated as Adams men, Jacksonites, Harrisonites, Smithites or Jonesites-dependent on who was up for assignment to public position. So confusing had become the party labels temporarily and shiftingly applied that a

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critical contributor to one of the more prominent newspapers of that period let himself loose in this fashion :

"I have been pestered of late by many new and uncommon phrases and some old words with new meanings to them, which many of the candidates have lugged into their handbills and public speeches; such as 'Jackson Republican,' 'Whole-Hog Jack- son man,' 'Republican of the Jefferson School,' 'Patriot,' 'Hero,' 'Statesman,' 'Tried Republican,' 'Federalist.' I have taken great pains to find out the meaning of these words and phrases and I believe I have at last nearly mastered the subject. The following is the vocabulary of the words in their present acceptation :

Jackson Republican: An old Federalist who supports Gen. Jackson for the office which he has gotten or hopes to get.

Whole-Hog Jackson Man: A fiery tempered person who has no opinion of his own, but votes, praises, censures and turns just as he is bidden by his county caucus.

Republican of Jefferson School: A man who always joins the strong party and swears he never changes.

Patriot: A man who can live by his own trade, but wants the public to support him.

Hero: Anybody who has fought a duel.

Statesman: A man who knows how many States there are in the Union and can tell their names.

Federalist: Everybody who is against my elec- tion.

The Party: Five or six office hunters in each county who teach the sovereigns how they ought to vote.

The Good Cause: My cause. My plan of get- ting into office.

"But the phrase which perplexed me is 'Tried Republican.' When I hear a man say he means to vote for a 'tried Re- publican' I am astonished and disposed to ask him what he will have him tried for -treason, felony or breach of the peace ?

"When the new-fangled doctrine of nullification shall be attempted to be put into practice we shall no doubt see many 'tried Republicans' and not a few of them condemned and executed."

FOUNDATION FOR MORALITY RE- CEIVES EARLY ATTENTION.

As far back as 1799 the General As- sembly of the Northwest Territory met at Cincinnati in the month of September and was addressed by Governor St. Clair. He called attention to the necessity of mak- ing provision for and the regulation of the lives and morals of the present and rising generation in the territory and the neces- sity of providing for the repression of vice and immorality throughout the big stretch of country. He declared that steps should be immediately taken for the pro- tection of virtue and innocence, "for," said he, "the security of property and the punishment of crime is a sublime employ- ment. Every aid in my power," he con- tinued, "will be afforded, and I hope we shall bear in mind that the character and deportment of the people and their happi- ness here and hereafter depend very much upon the spirit and genius of their laws." Among the laws enacted as the result of this appeal was an act to stop Sabbath- breaking, another to stop profane swear- ing, dueling, cock fighting, running horses on the public highways and gambling at billiards, cards, dice, shovelboard, etc. The whipping post and the pillory were established.

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[CHAPTER III.]

INDIANA'S ADMISSION INTO THE UNION

(December 11, 1816)

THERE WERE THEN BUT THIRTEEN ORGANIZED COUNTIES IN THE TERRITORY, WITH A TOTAL POPULATION OF 63,897

B EARING on this subject, vol- umes have been written and printed, with elaborate details of incidents illustrative of the trials and tribulations of the early settlers. All of these writings and narratives are exceedingly interesting and instructive. In epitomized form the story has, in the judgment of the writer, never been more comprehensively told than was done by Senator Daniel W. Voorhees in a notable address delivered by him on the Fourth of July, 1883. The readers of this volume will be delighted with the illuminating manner in which that famous orator nar- rated the circumstances and conditions un- der which Indiana was admitted into the Union in the year 1816:

"It was on the fourth of July in the year 1800 when 'The. Indiana Territory' was organized under Congressional enactment, embracing 'all that part of the territory · of the United States northwest of the Ohio river which lies to the westward of a line beginning at the Ohio, opposite to the mouth of the Kentucky river, and running thence to Fort Recovery, and thence north until it shall intersect the territorial line between the United States and Canada.' The region thus defined by boundaries comprised all of the States of Indiana and Illinois, and the larger portion of the State of Michigan, and yet within all this vast domain the civilized population was esti- mated at but 4,875, less than the basis of 1,000 voters. It was the organization of a giant wilderness through whose mighty depths stalked the painted and plumed bar- barian in the haughty supremacy of his power. Here and there a feeble and scant

ray of civilization had penetrated this widespread abode of savage life. Like a small lamp in a great darkness, the settle- ment at Vincennes had been throwing its feeble but steady and serene light on the surrounding night for nearly a hundred years. According to reliable history, civ- ilized man first took up his abode at the old post in 1710, sixty-five years before the first guns of the Revolution were fired, and ninety years before the Indiana Territory was created by act of Congress. But there had been no growth or expansion at the post, as the meager population of the en- tire territory in 1800 amply proves. It had been as stationary as its name implied. In 1805 the Territory of Michigan was or- ganized and separated from the Indiana Territory, and finally, by act of Congress, February 3, 1809, the Indiana Territory was again divided by setting off all that part lying west of the Wabash River and a direct line drawn from the said Wabash River and Post Vincennes due north to the territorial line between the United States and Canada, to be known as the Territory of Illinois. In 1808, a year prior to this final division, we find an enumeration of the white population of the Indiana Terri- tory, there being about nineteen thousand inhabitants in that portion which is now the State of Indiana, and about eleven thousand in that portion now the State of Illinois.

"The carly stages of progress in the Northwest were not swift nor easy; they were slow and painful and the life of the pioneer was full of toil, privation and peril. Emigration from the old States was reluctant to seek new fields of enter- prise, environed as they were by every danger which fact or fancy could present to the mind. Settlers came in slowly and tediously over roads of their own construc- tion. When Indiana was admitted as a

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State into the Union, after sixteen years of important territorial government, after the battles of Fort Harrison and Tippe- canoe had been fought, after the battle of New Orleans, and the treaty of peace with Great Britain at the close of the war of 1812, with the Indian titles nearly all ex- tinguished, and the Mississippi River and all its tributaries opened to the unmolested trade and commerce of the American peo- ple, she yet showed by a census then taken a population of only 63,897. There were but thirteen organized counties, and Knox headed the list with 8,068 inhabitants. Then came Franklin, Washington, Clark, Harrison, Wayne, Gibson, Dearborn, Jef- ferson, Switzerland, Perry, Posey and Warrick in the order I have named them. "And what a small, tame affair the first gubernatorial election appears to us as we look at it from this distance and compare it with some other Indiana elections which we have known! At a general election held on the first Monday in August, 1816, for Governor, Lieutenant-Governor, Rep- resentative in Congress, members of the General Assembly and the various county officers, calling out a full vote, Jonathan Jennings received 5,211 votes and was elected Governor over Thomas Posey, who received 3,934 votes. With less than 10,- 000 voters to persuade, and only thirteen county seats to visit, I am inclined to think that some of my friends in both parties would rather have had such a race for Governor than the one they are likely to be engaged in twelve months hence.

"In the convention which framed the first constitution of Indiana there were forty-three members, and it is both curious and pleasant to find so many names in that body which have remained familiar to the people of Indiana at every stage of her subsequent history. Jonathan Jennings was its president and William Hendricks its secretary; each of whom soon after- ward served the infant State as Governor and as Senator in Congress. James Noble was also there, and Enoch McCarty, Rob- ert Hanna, John DePauw, John Badaliet, Samuel Milroy, Joseph Holman, David H. Maxwell and others, whose honored names adorn the annals of the State. A careful and competent historian of that period has spoken as follows of those who first here laid the foundations of a great and power- ful commonwealth :

'The convention that formed the first constitu- tion of Indiana was composed mainly of clear- minded, unpretending men of common sense, whose patriotism was unquestionable and whose morals were fair. Their familiarity with the the- ories of the Declaration of American Indepen- dence; their territorial experience under the pro- visions of the ordinance of 1787, and their knowl- edge of the principles of the constitution of the United States were sufficient, when combined, to lighten materially their labors in the great work of forming a constitution for a new State.

In the clearness and conciseness of its style, in the comprehensive and just provisions which it made for the maintenance of civil and religious liberty, in its mandates, which were designed to protect the rights of the people, collectively and individ- ually, and to provide for the public welfare, the constitution that was formed for Indiana in 1816 was not inferior to any of the State constitutions which were in existence at that time.

"And with this constitution for the guidance and welfare of her people, In- diana was admitted into the full fellowship of the Union December 11, 1816, and un- der these bright auspices began her un- paralleled career as a State.

"There was but little reading matter in the pioneer settlements. The first news- paper in all that vast region now compris- ing Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Wis- consin, was the Western Sun, at Vin- cennes, published by Elihu Stout. In its columns the young and the old of that day eagerly scanned the sayings and doings of those who were entrusted with public af- fairs. No other people are so deeply in- terested in good government as those who are not yet strong, rich and self-reliant. In consequence of this fact the inhabitants of the frontiers at every stage of Ameri- can history have been vigilant observers of their public servants."

THE FIRST STATE GOVERNMENT.

. It is quite evident from the data at hand that with the growth of population in In- diana during the sixteen years preceding its admission into the Union came a class of men eminently fitted to manage the af- fairs of the infant commonwealth and worthily to represent it in the halls of Congress.

Excellent judgment appears to have been exercised by the electorate to choose men of high character and eminent ability to serve the State both at home and at

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Washington. Thus, a good beginning was made in the ministration of public affairs.

As intelligently and comprehensively narrated by the painstaking State histo- rian, William Henry Smith, "an election was ordered for choosing delegates to frame and promulgate a constitution, and for the election of a Governor." The two opposing candidates for Governor were Thomas Posey and Jonathan Jennings, then a delegate in Congress. The election was held on the first Monday of August, and Mr. Jennings was elected Governor, Christopher Harrison Lieutenant-Govern- or, and William Hendricks member of Congress.

The vote for Governor in 1816 stood :

FOR GOVERNOR.

Jonathan Jennings 5,211

Thomas Posey 3,934

Total . 9,145

FOR LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR.

Christopher Harrison 6,570

John Vawter 847

Abel Finley 18

John Johnson 14

Davis Floyd 13

Amos Lane

Total

.7,474

Although the State was not finally ad- mitted into the Union until December 11, the first Legislature elected under the new constitution began its session on the 7th of November, when Jonathan Jennings took the oath of office as Governor. By the terms of the constitution Governors were elected for a term of three years, and the other State officers, with the exception of Lieutenant-Governor, were chosen by the Legislature.

Governor Jennings, in his opening mes- sage to the General Assembly, said:

"The result of your deliberations will be considered as indicative of the future char- acter of the State, as well as of the future happiness of its citizens. The reputation of the State, as well as its highest inter- est, will require that a just and generous

policy toward the general movement, and a due regard to the rights of its members respectively, should invariably have their proper influence. In the commencement of the State government the shackles of the colonial should not be forgotten in our limited exertions to prove, by happy ex- perience, that a uniform adherence to the first principles of our government, and a virtuous exercise of its powers, will best secure efficiency to its measures and sta- bility to its character. Without a frequent recurrence to those principles, the admin- istration of the government will impercep- tibly become more and more arduous, until the simplicity of our republican institu- tions may eventually be lost in dangerous expedients and political designs. Under every free government the happiness of the citizens must be identified with their morals; and while a constitutional exer- cise of their rights shall continue to have its due weight in the discharge of the du- ties required of the constitutional authori- ties of the State, too much attention can- not be bestowed to the encouragement and promotion of every moral virtue, and to the enactment of laws calculated to re- strain the vicious and prescribe punish- ment for every crime commensurate to its enormity. In measuring, however, to each crime its adequate punishment it will be well to recollect that the certainty of pun- ishment has generally the surest effect to prevent crime; while punishments unnec- essarily severe too often produce the ac- quittal of the guilty, and disappoint one of the great objects of legislation and good government. The dissemination of useful knowledge will be indispensably necessary as a support of morals, and as a restraint of vice; and on this subject it will only be necessary to direct your atten- tion to the plan of education as prescribed by the constitution."

Mr. Jennings served as Governor for six years, and during his administration the Legislature mainly directed its efforts to putting on the full habiliments of State- hood. Among its first duties was that of filling the other State offices and electing two members of the United States Senate. Robert A. New was elected Secretary of State, W. H. Lilly, Auditor, and Daniel C. Lane, Treasurer. James Noble and Wal-

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HISTORY INDIANA DEMOCRACY-1816-1916

ler Taylor were chosen Senators. The In increasing the State's revenue the Gov- laws were codified and made applicable to ernor met with many difficulties. The ob- jects of taxation were not numerous and the great scarcity of money in the State made it difficult for the collector to realize on the demands of the State upon the prop- erty that was assessed. In the next year the problem had become so acute that Gov- ernor Jennings said that in order to en- force the payments of the revenue of the State on the part of those charged with the collections he recommended that all suits connected therewith be instituted in the Harrison Circuit Court and that the appointment of an Attorney-General be au- thorized by law whose duty it should be to prosecute such cases. the State government. A number of laws were passed on various subjects; courts were established and their jurisdiction de- fined, and the Bank of Vincennes was adopted as a State bank and was author- ized to establish a number of branches. Commissioners were also appointed to se- lect a site for the permanent capital of the State. The slavery question continued to give considerable concern. Notwith- standing involuntary servitude had been forbidden by the ordinance of 1787, and again by the State constitution, slaves were openly held, and efforts were contin- ued to introduce slavery under the dis- guise of apprentices. In his first message The second State election, in 1819, shows this result : to the Legislature, Governor Jennings thus referred to the subject :

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History of the Indiana democracy, 1816-1916, Part 3

Author: Stoll, John B., 1843-1926 Publication date: 1917 Publisher: Indianapolis : Indiana Democratic Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 1104

Author: Stoll, John B., 1843-1926
Publication date: 1917
Publisher: Indianapolis : Indiana Democratic Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1104