History of the Indiana democracy, 1816-1916, Part 5

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

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VAN BURENITES JOLLIFY.

A jollification over the election of Van Buren and Johnson was held December 26, 1836, at Ross Smiley's store at Longwood, Fayette county. The newspaper account says :

"When the meeting was proposed it was only intended to meet and drink a few bot- tles of wine in sociability, expressive of the good feeling experienced on the occa- sion. But finding the meeting would be numerously attended, a beautiful young hickory, five inches in diameter, was plant- ed with the bark and limbs thereon, and bearing a flagstaff, with a new hickory broom on the top and a flag of the Union suspended at a distance of seventy-five feet from the ground. On the flag was im- pressed the name of Martin Van Buren in large letters, with the eagle, stars and stripes, and decorated with ribbons-all in handsome style."

INDIANA'S REPRESENTATION IN CONGRESS FROM 1816 TO 1833.

During the first six years of Statehood Indiana had but one Representative in Congress-William Hendricks. Under a new apportionment, as the result of large- ly increased population, the State became entitled to three Representatives. This ratio continued until 1833, when the State's representation was more than dou- bled. William Prince, ex-Governor Jona- than Jennings and John Test were elected to the Eighteenth Congress. Mr. Prince was killed by the explosion of a steamboat on the way to Washington to begin his term of office. Jacob Call was elected to fill the vacancy.

To the Nineteenth Congress-1825 to 1827-Ratliff Boon, Jonathan Jennings and John Test were elected.

There was quite a "shake-up" in the election of members to the Twentieth Con- gress, Boon having been defeated and Thomas Blake chosen in his stead. Jen- nings fared better, succeeding himself, but Test was replaced by Oliver H. Smith.

At the following election the delegation to the Twenty-first Congress was again made to consist of Boon, Jennings, and Test. But at the election two years later Ratliff Boon was the only one of the trio to retain his seat, so that Indiana's delega- tion to the Twenty-second Congress was made to consist of Ratliff Boon, John Carr, and Jonathan McCarty. With the ending of that decade terminated Indiana's trio representation.

In order to give the present generation something of an idea of the manner of men sent to Congress from Indiana in the ear- lier days of the State's existence, brief biographical sketches are presented:

WILLIAM HENDRICKS, a Represen- tative and a Senator; born in Westmore- land county, Pennsylvania, November 12, 1782; attended the common schools ; moved to Madison, Ind., in 1814; Secretary of the

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HISTORY INDIANA DEMOCRACY-1816-1916

first State Constitutional Convention; elected as a Democrat to the Fourteenth, Fifteenth, Sixteenth and Seventeenth Con- gresses and served from March 4, 1815, until his resignation in 1822; Governor of Indiana 1822-1825; elected United States Senator from Indiana; re-elected in 1831, and served from March 4, 1825, to March 3, 1837; died in Madison, Ind., May 16, 1850.

RATLIFF BOON, born in Franklin county, North Carolina, January 18, 1781; moved with his father to Warren county, Kentucky ; emigrated to Danville, Ky., and learned the gunsmith's trade; attended the public schools; moved to Indiana in 1809; on the organization of Warren county was appointed its first treasurer; member of the State House of Representatives in 1816-1817; elected to the State Senate in 1818; elected Lieutenant-Governor of In- diana in 1819; upon the resignation of Jonathan Jennings as Governor, filled out the unexpired term until December 5, 1822; re-elected Lieutenant-Governor and resigned to become candidate for Con- gress; elected to the Nineteenth Congress (March 4, 1825 to March 3, 1827) as a Jackson Democrat; elected to the Twenty- first, Twenty-second, Twenty-third, Twen- ty-fourth and Twenty-fifth Congresses (March 4, 1829, to March 3, 1839) ; unsuc- cessful candidate for the United States Senate in 1836; moved to Pike county, Mis- souri; died in Louisiana, Mo., November 20, 1844.

JONATHAN JENNINGS, a delegate from Indiana Territory, and a Representa- tive from Indiana; born in Hunterdon county, New Jersey, in 1784; went with parents to Fayette county, Pennsylvania, where he pursued an academic course; went to Indiana Territory and became Clerk of the Territorial Legislature; elect- ed the first delegate from Indiana Terri- tory to the Eleventh Congress; re-elected to the Twelfth, Thirteenth and Fourteenth

Congresses, and served from November 27, 1809, to March 3, 1817; elected Gov- ernor of Indiana in December, 1816, and served until 1822; appointed Indian Com- missioner in 1818; elected to the Seven- teenth Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of William Hendricks; re-elected to the Eighteenth, Nineteenth, Twentieth and Twenty-first Congresses, and served from December 2, 1822, to March 3, 1831; died near Charlestown, Ind., July 26, 1834.

JOHN TEST, a native of Salem, N. J .; attended the common schools; studied law, was admitted to the bar, and began prac- tice in Brookville, Ind .; held several local offices ; elected as a Clay Democrat to the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Congresses (March 4, 1823, to March 3, 1827) ; un- successful candidate for re-election to the Twentieth Congress; re-elected as a Whig to the Twenty-first Congress (March 4, 1829, to March 3, 1831) ; presiding judge of Indiana circuit court; moved to Mobile, Ala .; died near Cambridge City, Ind., Oc- tober 9, 1849.

THOMAS HOLDSWORTH BLAKE, born in Calvert county, Maryland, June 14, 1792; attended the public schools and studied law in Washington, D. C .; member of the militia of the District of Columbia which took part in the battle of Bladens- berg, in 1814; moved to Kentucky and then to Indiana; began the practice of law in Terre Haute; prosecuting attorney and judge of the circuit court; gave up the practice of law and engaged in business; for several years a member of the State Legislature of Indiana; elected as an Adams Republican to the Twentieth Con- gress (March 4, 1827, to March 3, 1829) ; appointed Commissioner of the General Land Office by President Tyler, May 19, 1842, and served until April, 1845; chosen President of the Erie & Wabash Canal Company; visited England as Financial

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HISTORY INDIANA DEMOCRACY-1816-1916

Agent of the State of Indiana ; on his re- turn died in Cincinnati, Ohio, November 28, 1849.

OLIVER H. SMITH, a Representative and a Senator from Indiana; born on Smith's Island, near Trenton, N. J., Octo- ber 23, 1794; moved to Indiana in 1817; attended the public schools; studied law, was admitted to the bar, and began prac- tice in Connersville, Ind .; member of the State House of Representatives in 1822- 1824; Prosecuting Attorney for the Third Judicial District 1824 and 1825; elected as a Jackson Democrat to the Twentieth Con- gress (March 4, 1827, to March 3, 1829) ; unsuccessful candidate for re-election ; elected as a Whig to the United States Senate and served from March 4, 1837, to March 3, 1843; declined the Whig nomina- tion for Governor in 1845; engaged in the railroad business in Indianapolis; died in Indianapolis, March 19, 1849.

JOHN CARR, elected as a Democrat to the Twenty-second, Twenty-third and Twenty-fourth Congresses (March 4, 1831, to March 3, 1837) ; elected to the Twenty-sixth Congress (March 4, 1839, to March 3, 1841) ; died in Charlestown, Ind., January 20, 1845.

U. S. SENATORS CHOSEN PRIOR TO 1840.

James Noble, Waller Taylor, William Hendricks, Robert Hanna, John Tipton, Oliver H. Smith and Albert S. White were chosen prior to 1840 to represent Indiana in the United States Senate. Two of them-William Hendricks and Oliver H. Smith-had previously served in the Lower House and are biographically men- tioned in the foregoing chapter. They will, therefore, not be included in the sketches following:

JAMES NOBLE, born near Berryville, Clarke county, Virginia, December 16, 1785; moved with his parents to Campbell county, Kentucky, in 1795; studied law and

was admitted to the bar; moved to Brook- ville, Franklin county, Indiana, in 1811; member of the Territorial Legislature; elected to the United States Senate in 1816; re-elected in 1821 and 1827, and served from November 8, 1816, until his death, in Washington, D. C., Feb. 26, 1831.

WALLER TAYLOR, born in Lunenburg county, Virginia, before 1786; attended the common schools; studied law, was admit- ted to the bar, and practiced; member of the State Legislature; moved to Indiana in 1805, and located in Vincennes ; Territo- rial Judge in 1806; served as aide-de-camp to Gen. William H. Harrison in the war of 1812; appointed Territorial Judge; elected as a Democrat to the United States Senate; re-elected and served from No- vember 8, 1816, to March 3, 1825; died in Lunenburg, Va., August 26, 1826.

ROBERT HANNA, born in Laurens district, South Carolina, April 6, 1786; set- tled in Brookville, Ind., in 1802; sheriff of the common pleas court 1811-1820 ; mem- ber of the Indiana Constitutional Conven- tion of 1816; brigadier-general of State militia; register of the land office; moved to Indianapolis in 1825; appointed United States Senator as a Whig to fill vacancy caused by the death of James Noble, and served from December 5, 1831, to January 3, 1832; member of the State Senate; served in the State House of Representa- tives ; killed by a railroad train when walk- ing upon the track in Indianapolis, No- vember 16, 1858.

JOHN TIPTON, born in Sevier county, Tennessee, August 14, 1786; received a limited schooling ; moved to Harrison coun- ty, Indiana, in 1807; served with the "Yel- low Jackets" in the Tippecanoe campaign, and attained the rank of brigadier-general of militia; sheriff of Harrison county, In- diana, 1815-1819; member of the commit- tee to locate the State capitol in 1821; served in the State House of Representa- tives 1819-1823; one of the commissioners

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HISTORY INDIANA DEMOCRACY-1816-1916

to select a site for a new capital for In- diana in 1820; commissioner to determine boundary line between Indiana and Illi- nois; appointed U. S. Indian agent for the Pottawatamie and Miami tribes in March, 1823 ; laid out the city of Logansport, Ind., April 10, 1828; elected to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the death of James Noble; re-elected in 1833, and served from January 3, 1832, until March 3, 1839; died in Logansport, April 5, 1839.

ALBERT S. WHITE, born in Blooming Grove, Orange county, New York, October 24, 1803; was graduated from Union Col- lege in 1822; studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1825; moved to Lafayette, Ind., in 1829; Clerk of the State House of Rep- resentatives for five years; elected as a Whig to the Twenty-fifth Congress (March 4, 1837, to March 3, 1839) ; presi- dent of several railroads; elected to the United States Senate, and served from March 4, 1839, to March 3, 1845; declined a re-election; elected as a Republican to the Thirty-seventh Congress (March 4, 1861, to March 3, 1863) ; Judge of the United States court for the district of In- diana in 1864, and served until his death in Stockwell, Ind., September 24, 1864.

CONGRESSMAN, GOVERNOR SENATOR.

AND

When the delegate convention met at Corydon on the 10th day of June, 1816, under the authority of the enabling act of Congress, to frame a constitution for the new State, William Hendricks was chosen secretary of that small but able and his- toric body. He was an elder brother of Major John Hendricks, father of Thomas A. Hendricks. Those who knew him in the days of his activity described him as having been large and commanding in per- son and as bearing in his physiognomy the marks of strong intellectuality. In August of the same year he was elected a member of Congress under the approved

constitution, thus becoming the first Rep- resentative of the State of Indiana in the National Legislature. Twice re-elected to this position, he acquitted himself so cred- itably that he was, in 1822, elected Gov- ernor of the new commonwealth without opposition, receiving all the votes cast for that high office-18,340.

The vote for Lieutenant-Governor was:

Ratliff Boon 7,809

William Polke .4,044

Erasmus Powell

.3,603

David H. Maxwell. 2,366

It is a notable circumstance that Jona- than Jennings preceded Hendricks in Con- gress as territorial delegate and after serving two terms as Governor, succeeded him as member of Congress. This ex- change of places is in itself evidence of the high esteem in which these two men were held by the people of Indiana.

Ratliff Boon had been chosen Lieuten- ant-Governor in 1819. When Governor Jennings was elected to Congress in 1822 he resigned the office of Governor. Boon constitutionally became his successor and served as acting Governor from September 12 to December 5, 1822. At the August election of that year Boon was again chosen Lieutenant-Governor on the ticket headed by Mr. Hendricks. He served as such until the close of the legislative ses- sion of 1824, when he filed his resignation with the Secretary of State. This docu- ment was dated August 30, 1824. Under the same date he addressed a letter to the State Senate in which he announced his act of resigning the office which he had held under two administrations-those of Governors Jennings and Hendricks.

Before the close of his term as Gov- ernor, Mr. Hendricks was elected United States Senator to succeed Waller Taylor. He filed his resignation as Governor Feb- ruary 12, 1825. There being then no Lieutenant-Governor, by reason of the res- ignation of Ratliff Boon, January 30, 1824, James B. Ray, as President of the Sen-

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HISTORY INDIANA DEMOCRACY-1816-1916

ate, became acting Governor, serving as such until December 11, 1825. Mr. Ray was twice elected Governor, his second term expiring in 1831.

At his first election Mr. Ray was cred- ited with 13,040 votes, while his competi- tor, the distinguished jurist, Isaac Black- ford, then an anti-slavery Whig but later on a Democrat, received 10,418 votes. Scattering, 12. For Lieutenant-Governor the vote stood :

John H. Thompson 10,781

Samuel Milroy 7,496

Dennis Pennington 1,496

Elisha Harrison 1,434

General W. Johnson 851

Scattering

Mr. Hendricks served two terms in the Senate of the United States. He must have possessed, in an eminent degree, the con- ciliatory qualities and pacifying charac- teristics of his nephew, Thomas A. Hen- dricks, whose undisputed leadership of his party for a full quarter of a century is without parallel in the history of the State.

Unlike his predecessor, Governor Jen- nings, Mr. Hendricks did not seem to have become involved in the bitter controversies and contests provoked prior to the State's admission into the Union. The pro-slav- ery element that came into Indiana Terri- tory had ingratiated itself in the good graces of General and Governor William Henry Harrison, who himself was a cham- pion of that cause. Jonathan Jennings was the uncompromising foe of slavery and as such was repeatedly elected as dele- gate to Congress before the Territory had been clothed in the habiliment of State- hood. As a native of the State of Wil- liam Penn, Mr. Hendricks may without much hazard be assumed to have been in sympathy with Mr. Jennings on the slav- ery question. Public feeling ran high on that issue in the Territory, and in view of the fact that in each succeeding contest Mr. Jennings came out of the fray as vic- tor, the inference is warranted that these

two leaders were in hearty accord on that and other questions and issues. In mat- ters pertaining to pacification or concilia- tion the name "Hendricks" seems to have possessed a high degree of magnetic power.

And yet, toward the close of Mr. Hen- dricks's second term as U. S. Senator cir- cumstances so shaped themselves as to frustrate his aspiration to a third term in that coveted station. It may be assumed that, having served three successive terms in the House, he cherished the hope that he might be delegated to represent his State for a like number in the Senate. It was in December, 1836, that the continu- ance of his senatorial service came to a final decision. The candidates pitted against him were Governor Noah Noble, former Lieutenant-Governor Ratliff Boon and Congressman Oliver H. Smith. On the first ballot Noble and Hendricks were in the lead, but after that the situation changed. On the ninth ballot Smith car- ried away the honors-to the amazement of the "old timers" who at the beginning looked upon his candidacy as a daring and somewhat presumptuous political venture.

William Hendricks was born at Ligo- nier, Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, in 1773. He was educated at Canonsburg, having for a classmate Dr. Wylie, after- ward a distinguished President of the State University at Bloomington. Both be- came eminent, one as a statesman, the other as an educator. Their diverse path- ways did not diminish their early friend- ship, which terminated only with their lives.

In his admirable book, entitled "Bio- graphical and Historical Sketches of Early Indiana," William Wesley Woollen, who prior to locating in Indianapolis was for years a resident of Madison, the town at which William Hendricks established him- self and resided from 1814 to the end of his useful life, in the year 1850, thus speaks of the subject of this sketch :

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HISTORY INDIANA DEMOCRACY-1816-1916

"Men who found empires should not be forgotten. They plant the tree of civil liberty, and water its roots, while those who come after them but trim its branches to preserve its symmetry. If they plant carelessly and in poor soil the tree will have but a sickly growth. That the men who planted Indiana in the wilderness planted wisely and well is evidenced by its wonderful growth. It was then inhabited only by a few thousand hardy pioneers who had settled on its southern and east- ern borders; now it contains two millions of prosperous people, its whole area being covered with happy homes.

"William Hendricks had as much to do with laying the foundations of this great State and commencing its superstructure as any other man, excepting Jonathan Jen- nings only, and yet how few there are who know he ever lived. How transitory is the fame of human greatness.

"Worldly honors are not easily won, al- though the bard tells us that some men have greatness thrust upon them. In the contest for fame there is sharp competi- tion, and those only win who have endur- ance and mettle. A number of educated and talented young men had come to In- diana in quest of fortune, and had William Hendricks been a dolt or a laggard he would have been distanced in the race. But he was neither. He was talented and energetic, and he won. He also knew how to utilize the means at his command and to make the most of the situation. When he came to Indiana he brought with him a printing press, and soon afterward com- menced the publication of a weekly paper. It was called the Eagle, and, I believe, was the second newspaper published in the State, the Vincennes Sun being the first. Through his paper he became known and paved the way for his political fortune. He made the first revision of the laws of the State and had it printed on his own press. The Legislature offered to pay him for this work, but he declined all pecuniary compensation. It then passed a resolu- tion of thanks, the only return for his la- bor he would take.

"Governor Hendricks was a friend to education. Hanover College and the State University at Bloomington both received his fostering care. He took an active in- terest in public enterprises, and frequent- ly aided them with his purse. He was

very politic in his actions, never antagon- izing a man when he could honorably avoid it. He had a large estate, and after leav- ing the Senate he spent his time in manag- ing it and practicing law. He held on to his real estate with great tenacity, leasing it for a term of years when practicable, instead of selling it. Many houses were erected at Madison on property leased of him, and, like most houses built under such circumstances, they were poorly and cheaply constructed. His disposition to lease rather than sell his property caused much dissatisfaction among the people, and very greatly lessened his influence.

"On the 16th of May, 1850, Governor Hendricks rode out to his farm, just north of Madison, to oversee the building of a family vault. While assisting in the prepa- ration of a receptacle for his body 'after life's fitful fever' was over, he was taken ill and soon afterward died. The author is not certain whether he died at the farm house or was taken back to his home in the city, but is inclined to the opinion that he breathed his last near the spot where he is buried and where his re- mains have crumbled to dust.

"Governor Hendricks was of a family that occupies a front place in the history of Indiana. There is probably no other one in the State that has exerted so wide an influence upon its politics and legisla- tion as his. His eldest son, John Abram, was a captain in the Mexican war, and a lieutenant-colonel in the War of the Re- bellion. He was killed in the battle of Pea Ridge while in command of his regi- ment. Another son, Thomas, was killed in the Teche country during General Banks' campaign up Red River. A broth- er and a nephew sat in the State Senate, and another nephew, Hon. Thomas A. Hendricks, has received the highest hon- ors his State could confer upon him.

"Governor Hendricks was about six feet high and had a well-proportioned body. He had auburn hair, blue eyes and a florid complexion. His manners were easy and dignified, and his address that of a well- bred gentleman. He was not a great law- yer, nor an eloquent advocate, but he pre- pared his cases with care and was reason- ably successful at the bar. In early life he was a Presbyterian, but in his later years he joined the Methodist church and died in her communion."

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HISTORY INDIANA DEMOCRACY-1816-1916

The Indiana Gazetteer of 1850 thus spoke of him: "Governor Hendricks was for many years by far the most popular man in the State. He had been its sole representative in Congress for six years, elected on each occasion by large majori- ties, and no member of that body, prob- ably, was more attentive to the interests of the State he represented, or more in- dustrious in arranging all the private or local business entrusted to him. He left no letter unanswered, no public office or document did he fail to visit or examine on request; with personal manners very engaging, he long retained his popularity."

In northern Indiana there is a thriving town, located in Noble county, that was laid out by Isaac Cavin and named Ligo- nier. It was in this town that the author of this book established the National Ban- ner in May, 1866. This paper is still in existence, but bears the name Ligonier Banner. Like Mr. Hendricks, Isaac Cavin came to Indiana from the vicinity of Ligonier, Westmoreland county, Penn- sylvania. He was a most estimable man and a highly successful farmer on the cele- brated "Hawpatch," the garden spot of In- diana.

RATLIFF BOON.

When Governor Jonathan Jennings ac- cepted an election to Congress his unex- pired term was filled by Lieutenant-Gov- ernor Ratliff Boon. And upon being elected a second time as Lieutenant-Gov- ernor, in 1822, he served two-thirds of his term and then resigned. His reason for re- signing was that he wanted to go to Con- gress. He made a successful race for that position in the First district in 1824, but was defeated two years later by Colonel Thomas H. Blake. But in four subsequent races he was again successful. As a Con- gressman he was quite active and influen- tial. During the greater part of his con- gressional service he was chairman of the then highly important committee on pub-

lic lands. In 1836 he aspired to a seat in the U. S. Senate, antagonizing Senator Hendricks, who desired to be re-elected to a third term. The election of a Whig, Oliver H. Smith, was the final outcome of the contest. Mr. Boon was a radical Jack- sonian Democrat, though in the earlier part of his political career he styled him- self a Jeffersonian and later on a Ben- tonian. His congressional career ended in March, 1839, and a few months afterward he moved from Indiana to Pike county, Missouri. In that State, then absolutely under the sway of Thomas H. Benton, Boon soon again actively engaged in poli- tics. He became leader of the anti-Benton Democrats, who were bent on sending him to Congress. His health had, however, be- come undermined. He was intensely anx- ious that James K. Polk be elected to the presidency in 1844. When assurance came the latter part of November that Henry Clay was beaten and Polk triumphantly elected, Ratliff Boon expressed himself quite willing to die. His spirit fled from its tenement November 20, 1844.

The spirit of conciliation, concession and compromise must have been very much in evidence at the beginning of In- diana's State government. This was espe- cially made manifest in the first election of U. S. Senators, when James Noble and Waller Taylor were chosen. The latter was a pronounced pro-slavery man and a bitter personal and political enemy of Gov- ernor Jennings. When Indiana was still a territory Judge Taylor ran against Jen- nings for delegate to Congress. The con- test was made an offensively bitter one, not by Jennings, but by Taylor. The lat- ter boasted of having publicly insulted his competitor and of having done his utmost to provoke the fighting of a duel. "Liar, sneak, coward," were some of the choice epithets hurled at Jennings, who, however, maintained his equanimity and compla- cently ignored the vituperation of his an- tagonist. It would seem strange, how-

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History of the Indiana democracy, 1816-1916, Part 5

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