History of the Indiana democracy, 1816-1916, Part 62

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

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JOSEPH K. EDGERTON was one of the most accomplished gentlemen that ever graced a seat in a legislative assem- bly. He was born in Vergennes, Vt., Feb- ruary 16, 1818; attended the public schools of Clinton county, New York; studied law in Plattsburg and was admit- ted to the bar in New York City in 1839; moved to Fort Wayne, Ind., in 1854; be- came president of the Fort Wayne & Chi- cago railroad; elected as a Democrat to the Thirty-eighth Congress (March 4,. 1863-March 3, 1865) ; defeated for re-elec- tion; died in Boston, Mass., August 25, 1893.

ANDREW H. HAMILTON bore the name of a historic family highly esteemed throughout northeastern Indiana. He was born in Fort Wayne, Ind., June 7, 1834; attended the common schools and was graduated from Wabash College; studied law at the Harvard law school, was admit- ted to the bar and commenced practice in Fort Wayne: elected to the Forty-fourth and Forty-fifth Congresses (March 4, 1875-March 3, 1879) ; died in Fort Wayne, May 9, 1895.

GENERAL MAHLON D. MANSON was for a third of a century a conspicuous figure in the affairs of Indiana. He was born in Piqua, Ohio, February 20, 1820; attended the common schools; became a druggist in Crawfordsville, Ind .; member of the State House of Representatives, 1851-1852; served as captain of volunteers in the Mexican war, October 8, 1847-July 28, 1848 ; served in the civil war; commis- sioned captain of the Tenth Indiana infan- try, April 17, 1861; major, April 25, 1861; colonel, May 10, 1861 ; honorably mustered out August 6, 1861; recommissioned colonel of the same regiment, September 18, 1861; brigadier-general of volunteers, March 24, 1862; resigned December 21, 1864; unsuccessful Democratic candidate for Lieutenant-Governor of Indiana in 1864; elected as a Democrat to the Forty- second Congress (March 4, 1871-March 3, 1873) ; unsuccessful candidate for re-elec- tion to the Forty-third Congress; nomi- nated and elected Auditor of State in 1878; defeated for re-election in 1880; running mate of Governor Gray in 1884, triumph- antly elected, but resigned the Lieutenant- Governorship to accept the office of Col- lector of Internal Revenue under Cleve- land's first administration ; died at Craw- fordsville February 4, 1895.

WILLIAM F. PARRETT was for years a Democratic idol down in the "Pocket" of Indiana. He was born near Blairsville, Posey county, Indiana, August 10, 1825; attended public schools and Asbury (now DePauw) University, in Greencastle; studied law, was admitted to the bar, and practiced in Evansville until 1852; moved to Oregon, where he practiced law for two years and a half; returned to Evansville in 1854 and moved to Boonville in 1855; Democratic presidential-elector in 1856; member of the Legislature in 1858; ap- pointed and subsequently elected judge of the fifteenth circuit and served from 1859- 1865: returned to Evansville; re-elected circuit judge for a term of six years, in

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1865; resigned and was appointed judge of the first circuit and three times elected, 1873-1884; resigned in December, 1888; elected as a Democrat to the Fifty-first and Fifty-second Congresses (March 4, 1889-March 3, 1893) ; died in Evansville June 30, 1895.

ALFRED P. EDGERTON was born at Plattsburg, N. Y., in 1813. After his graduation from Plattsburg academy he was connected with newspaper work for a brief period before removing to New York City to engage in commercial pur- suits. In 1837 he located as an attorney at Hicksville, Ohio, to represent the landed interests of the American Land Company, and the Messrs. Hicks. Through his agency over 100,000 acres of land were sold. Mr. Edgerton became himself the owner of 40,000 acres of valuable land in northwest- ern Ohio. As a member of the Ohio Sen- ate in 1845 he became the Democratic leader of that body, and in 1850 he was elected a representative to Congress; a re- election followed in 1852. In 1853 he was chosen by the Board of State Fund Com- missioners of Ohio as financial agent to re- side in New York. In 1857 Mr. Edgerton removed to Fort Wayne, and two years later, with Judge Samuel Hanna and Pliny Hoagland, he leased the Wabash and Erie canal, which he controlled as general man- ager until 1868. In the latter year he was a candidate for Lieutenant-Governor of Indiana, and four years later declined to become a candidate for Governor on the ticket of the O'Conor Democrats. Presi- dent Cleveland appointed Mr. Edgerton a member of the National Civil Service Com- mission. In his later years Mr. Edgerton served in many important positions, in- cluding that of member of the Fort Wayne school board for an extended period. He died at Hicksville, Ohio, May 14, 1897.

JASON B. BROWN, an able lawyer and for years a political leader in southern In- diana, was born in Dillsboro, Ind., Feb- ruary 26, 1839; attended the common

schools; studied law in Indianapolis in 1858-1859, and admitted to the bar in 1860; located in Jackson county, Indiana, in 1860; elected to the State House of Rep- resentatives in 1862 and 1864; elected to the State Senate in 1870; on recommenda- tion of Senator Morton, appointed in 1873 to serve as secretary of Montana Terri- tory; in 1880 again elected to the State Senate as a Democrat; elected as a Demo- crat to the Fifty-first, Fifty-second and Fifty-third Congresses (March 4, 1889- March 3, 1895) ; died in Seymour, Ind., March 10, 1898.

CHARLES A. O. MCCLELLAN made a success of all his ventures-whether in law, banking or manufacture. He was born in Ashland, Ohio, May 25, 1835; moved to Auburn, Ind., in 1856; attended the public schools; studied law in Auburn; was admitted to the bar in 1860 and began practice in Auburn; was appointed post- master of Waterloo in 1867; there engaged in the banking business in 1868; appointed judge of the fortieth circuit of Indiana by Governor Williams in 1879 and served for two years; elected as a Democrat to the Fifty-first and Fifty-second Congresses (March 4, 1889-March 3, 1893) ; died in Auburn January 31, 1898.

GEORGE W. COOPER was a fine type of Hoosier Democrat. He was born in Bartholomew county, Indiana, May 21, 1851; attended the public schools and was graduated from the Indiana State Univer- sity, literary and law courses, in 1872; elected prosecuting attorney in 1872; mayor of the city of Columbus in 1877; city attorney of Columbus for four years ; elected as a Democrat to the Fifty-first, Fifty-second and Fifty-third Congresses (March 4, 1889-March 3, 1895) ; resumed the practice of law in Columbus, Ind .; died in Chicago, Ill., November 27, 1899.

SAMUEL E. MORSS, a son of former Mayor Samuel S. Morss, was a native of Fort Wayne, born in 1852. Early in life

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he engaged in newspaper work as the city editor of the Fort Wayne Gazette, and in partnership with William R. Nelson, pur- chased the Fort Wayne Sentinel in 1879. The following year the paper was sold to E. A. K. Hackett, and Messrs. Morss and Nelson established the Kansas City (Mo.) Star. Failing health soon caused a change in the work of Mr. Morss and he spent some time abroad. Returning, he engaged in newspaper work in Chicago, and in 1888 he organized a company for the purchase of the Indianapolis Sentinel, the policies of which paper he controlled. Shortly after his second inauguration, President Cleveland appointed Mr. Morss to the im- portant post of Consul-General at Paris, an honor which came unsolicited. The tragic death of Mr. Morss occurred at In- dianapolis in 1899. He fell out of a third- story window of the Sentinel building on Illinois street and died almost instantly from the effects of the fall.

JAMES H. SMART, after serving nine years as superintendent of the Fort Wayne public schools, was at the age of thirty- four elected Indiana's Superintendent of Public Instruction. He was born in New Hampshire, June 30, 1841. Graduating from Dartmouth, he began teaching at the age of seventeen years. In 1863 he came West and was employed in the Toledo, Ohio, schools. While Superintendent of Public Instruction, which office he held for three successive terms, Professor Smart prepared an exhibit for the Centennial Ex- position at Philadelphia which attracted wide attention. Two years later at the Paris Exposition the exhibit sent by Pro- fessor Smart received the grand gold medal, the highest award. He was now a national figure in the educational world. In 1880 Smart was selected by the Na- tional Educational Association to outline an ideal State school system, which was the model for many years. In 1883 he be- came the President of Purdue University,

located at Lafayette, Ind., and filled this position until removed by death, February 21, 1900.

FRANKLIN LANDERS was for many years prominent in business as well as in politics. During the seventies he became an exponent of the Greenback idea. On that issue he was elected to Congress in 1874. He sought the nomination for Gov- ernor in "Tilden year," 1876. In this aspiration he failed, but succeeded in pre- venting the nomination of the "Watchdog of the Treasury," William S. Holman. The nomination of "Blue Jeans" James D. Wil- liams was the final outcome of this re- markable contest. Landers, however, se- cured the gubernatorial nomination in 1880, but was defeated at the election by Albert G. Porter. The subject of this sketch was born in Morgan county, In- diana, March 22, 1825; attended the com- mon schools; engaged in farming and in 1850 entered the dry goods trade; moved to Indianapolis in 1865; entered the pork- packing business in 1873; member of the State Senate, 1860-1864; elected as a Dem- ocrat to the Forty-fourth Congress (March 4, 1875-March 3, 1877) ; died in Indianapolis September 12, 1901.

AUGUSTUS N. MARTIN had a re- markably successful political career. He was born near Whitestown, Butler county, Pennsylvania, March 23, 1847; attended the common schools and Witherspoon In- stitute, Butler, Pa., and was graduated from Eastman College, Poughkeepsie, N. Y., in February, 1867; enlisted July 3, 1863, in Company I, Fifty-eighth Pennsyl- vania Volunteer Militia, which assisted in the capture of General John Morgan's command; enlisted again February 22, 1865, in Company E, Seventy-eighth Penn- sylvania Volunteers, and served until dis- charged for disability, August 30, 1865; taught school; read law in Bluffton in 1869; was admitted to the bar in 1870; member of the Indiana House of Repre- sentatives in 1875; elected Reporter of

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the Supreme Court of Indiana in 1876 and served four years; unsuccessful candidate for re-election in 1880; resided in Austin, Texas, 1881-1883; returned to Bluffton, Ind., in 1883; elected as a Democrat to the Fifty-first, Fifty-second and Fifty-third Congresses (March 4, 1889-March 3, 1895) ; resumed the practice of law in Bluffton until his death, in the Soldiers' Home Hospital, Marion, July 11, 1901.

BENONI S. FULLER was for many years a safe and discreet leader in south- ern Indiana. He was born in Warrick county, Indiana, November 13, 1825; at- tended the common schools and taught school; sheriff in 1856 and 1858; member of the State House of Representatives, 1866-1868; served in the State Senate, 1862, 1870 and 1872; elected as a Demo- crat to the Forty-fourth and Forty-fifth Congresses (March 4, 1875-March 3, 1879). He died in Boonville, Ind., April 14, 1903.

ROBERT LOWRY, for more than a half century an influential, active, ener- getic and sagacious leader of Democratic forces in Indiana, was born in Killeleigh, county Down, Ireland, in 1822; moved to Rochester, N. Y .; instructed in private schools and had partial academic course; librarian of Rochester athenaeum and Young Men's association; studied law; moved to Fort Wayne, Ind., in 1843; city recorder; was admitted to the bar and commenced practice in Goshen, Ind., in 1846; appointed circuit judge in 1852; president of the Democratic State conven- tion and delegate to the Democratic na- tional convention of 1860; elected circuit judge for six years in 1864; re-elected in 1870; delegate to the Democratic national convention of 1872; resigned the circuit judgeship in January, 1875; judge of the superior court; elected the first president of the Indiana State Bar Association in July, 1879; elected as a Democrat to the Forty-eighth and Forty-ninth Congresses (March 4, 1883-March 3, 1887) ; defeated

for re-election in 1886; resumed the prac- tice of law; died in Fort Wayne, January 27, 1904.

CAPT. WILLIAM R. MYERS was for years a conspicuous figure in Indiana poli- tics. He attracted attention by his re- markable race for Congress in 1878, re- sulting in his triumphant election. By reason of his eloquence of speech he was repeatedly placed on the State ticket- once for Lieutenant-Governor and four times for Secretary of State. He experi- enced both the sweets of success and the bitter of defeat. All in all he had an ex- ceptional career-one denoting unusual energy and perseverance. He was born in Clinton county, Ohio, June 12, 1836; moved with his parents to Madison coun- ty, Indiana, October, 1848; attended the common schools; learned the painter's trade; taught in the common schools; en- listed in Company G, Forty-seventh In- diana Volunteers as a private; was pro- moted to orderly sergeant, second lieuten- ant, first lieutenant, and captain; served four years and three months; elected county surveyor of Madison county in 1858; after returning from the army, taught school; studied law and was admit- ted to the bar in 1871; superintendent of the public schools of Anderson from 1868 to 1869; served as a member of the school board of Anderson; elected three times as Secretary of State-1882, 1884, 1892; elected as a Democrat to the Forty-sixth Congress (March 4, 1879-March 3, 1881) ; died at Anderson April 18, 1907.

JOHN H. O'NEALL had all the charac- teristics of a dyed-in-the-wool Hoosier Democrat-earnest, ardent, enthusiastic. He was born in Newberry, S. C., October 30, 1837; attended country schools and was graduated from the Indiana State University in 1862; read law and was ad- mitted to the bar; was graduated from the law department of Michigan University in 1864; located in Washington, Ind., the same year; represented Daviess county in

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the State Legislature in 1866; appointed prosecuting attorney for the eleventh ju- dicial circuit in 1873; elected to the office in 1874, but resigned before his term was completed; elected as a Democrat to the Fiftieth and Fifty-first Congresses (March 4, 1887-March 3, 1891) ; resumed the practice of law in Washington, Ind .; died there July 15, 1907.

JAMES MURDOCK, unassuming and unpretentious, had in his make-up the ele- ments of genuine greatness. He had brain power of extraordinary strength and vigor. His grasp of business affairs bor- dered on the marvelous. In an instant he was able to distinguish the feasible from the impracticable. It is these qualities, this rare gift, that made him a factor in the commonwealth of his adoption. Men of note and distinction, men high in State affairs, in trade and industry, in politics and in finance, sought not alone his advice, but engaged him to do that which they were not certain of being able to do them- selves. It is this that gave him prestige; it was the reward of native talent and genius that lifted him into well-earned affluence. There was no such thing as ease or rest for him while a task was to be per- formed, a work to be done. The greater part of his life was spent at Lafayette. The people had confidence in him ; the elec- torate of Tippecanoe county made him sheriff in spite of the fact that the major- ity was politically hostile to him. When business capacity entered first into consid- eration in providing for the filling of the office of warden of the Northern prison, James Murdock was intuitively chosen. He might have had other official positions, but he did not crave them. His steadily growing business interests required his attention, and they were given it. As a result he acquired land, built up financial institutions, constructed railways, sup- plied progressive towns and cities with gas and electricity, and in various ways contributed to the development, growth

and prosperity of his beloved Indiana. Physically robust, the strain upon his energies made gradual but steady inroads on his vitality. His health gradually gave way. He died at his hospitable home in Lafayette, November 28, 1908. The an- nouncement of his passing cast a gloom over innumerable households throughout the State. For fully a quarter of a cen- tury he wielded powerful influence in po- litical, commercial, industrial and finan- cial circles. The accumulation of wealth made him neither arrogant nor sordidly selfish. He found pleasure and satisfac- tion in being helpful to others. Starting life in America with little more than will- power and determination, he demonstrated that this is indeed a land of opportunity and that accident of birth has but little to do with the utilization thereof. It is the man's capability and energy that count and determine. The secret of James Mur- dock's success in life was that he under- stood the direction of forces.

THOMAS HAMMOND had much to do with the commercial and industrial devel- opment of northwestern Indiana. He was born February 27, 1843, in Fitchburg, Mass .; attended the common schools; a carpenter and contractor until twenty-one years of age; moved to Detroit, Mich., and engaged in the packing-house business; twelve years later moved to Hammond, Ind., and assisted in the establishment of the dressed-beef industry for which that city is noted; elected mayor of Hammond in the spring of 1888, and twice re-elected; elected as a Democrat to the Fifty-third Congress (March 4, 1893-March 3, 1895) ; died in Hammond September 21, 1909.

WALPOLE G. COLERICK was of a dis- tinguished family, every male member of which had actively enlisted in political engagements and contests. Walpole was born in Fort Wayne, Ind., August 1, 1845; lawyer by profession ; elected as a Demo- crat to the Forty-sixth and Forty-seventh

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Congresses (March 4, 1879-March 3, given employment. He was thrown from 1883) ; resumed the practice of law in Fort Wayne until his death, January 11, 1911.

JONAS G. HOWARD had a successful career, politically and professionally. He was born in Floyd county, Indiana, May 22, 1825; attended Asbury College, Green- castle, Ind .; was graduated in law from the State University in Bloomington, Ind., in 1851 ; practiced in Clark county ; elected to the State Legislature in 1862 and 1864; presidential-elector on the Seymour and Blair ticket in 1868; again elector in the Tilden and Hendricks campaign in 1876; elected as a Democrat to the Forty-ninth and Fiftieth Congresses (March 4, 1885- March 3, 1889) ; returned to Jeffersonville, Ind., where he resumed the practice of law; died at that place October 5, 1911.

JOHN JAY KLEINER, for a number of years was very much in evidence in south- ern Indiana. He was born in West Han- over, Pa., February 8, 1845; manufacturer and dealer in hardwood lumber; enlisted in Company G, Eighty-sixth Ohio Volun- teer Infantry from June 20, 1863, to Feb- ruary 10, 1864; resided in Woodworth, Ohio, 1864-1867; moved to Evansville, Ind., in 1867; member of the city council of Evansville in 1873; mayor 1874-1880; elected as a Democrat to the Forty-eighth and Forty-ninth Congresses (March 4, 1883-March 3, 1887) ; died in Takoma Park, Md., April 8, 1911.

JAMES W. FRENCH, for several years publisher of the Lafayette Morning Jour- nal, then Democratic, became the victim of a sad ending of a once bright career, in Archer City, Texas, in the month of March, 1915. Meager reports of the dis- tressing event furnished this information : An aged man who gave his name as J. W. French applied at a ranch near Archer City a few weeks ago for work. He said he was in destitute circumstances and was willing to work for his board. He was

a wagon March 17 and killed. From papers in his pocket it was learned that his former home was Mt. Vernon, Posey county, Indiana; that he had been promi- nent in politics in that State, having rep- resented his district in the State Senate, and was for two years warden of the State penitentiary at Michigan City, and later warden of federal prison at Leavenworth, Kan. Among the papers were letters from Secretary of State Bryan, written many years ago, which showed that the two men were college classmates.

JOHN E. LAMB was professionally and politically a product of the law office of Daniel W. Voorhees, easily the kindliest and most big-hearted politician of his day and generation. He was born in Terre Haute, December 26, 1852; attended the common schools and was graduated from the Terre Haute high school; studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1873 and com- menced practice in Terre Haute; prosecut- ing attorney of the fourteenth judicial circuit; candidate for presidential elector on the Democratic ticket; elected as a Democrat to the Forty-eighth Congress (March 4, 1883-March 3, 1885) ; delegate to the Democratic national conventions of 1892, 1896, 1904 and 1908; a practicing attorney in Terre Haute; died there in 1915.

COL. COURTLAND C. MATSON, Democratic nominee for Governor of In- diana in 1888, former member of Congress from the Fifth Indiana District and later on State Tax Commissioner by appoint- ment of Governor Marshall, died in Chi- cago September 4, 1915. Burial at his former home, Greencastle, Ind. Colonel Matson died at the home of his son, Rees Matson, with whom he had lived for one year. His right arm was amputated be- low the elbow in February because of tubercular infection, and his health had been failing from that time on. Besides the son, Rees, he is survived by a daugh-

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ter, Mrs. Charles Walter Brown of Chi- thor, was a native of Michigan. He served cago, and another son, Smith C. Matson of Ardmore, Okla. Colonel Matson was born April 25, 1841, at Brookville, Ind. His study at Asbury College was inter- rupted by the civil war, when he enlisted with the Asbury Guards. When Lee sur- rendered Matson was lieutenant-colonel of the Seventy-first Regiment, Indiana Vol- unteers, and when the war ended he was a colonel. Many years ago Colonel Matson' was a law partner of his father, John A. Matson, and Solomon Claypool, in Green- castle. In 1888 he was the Democratic nominee for Governor, but was defeated by Alvin P. Hovey. He was a representa- tive in Congress for four consecutive terms and in 1909 was appointed to the State Tax Commission by Governor Mar- shall.

MAJOR GEORGE E. FINNEY, eighty- three years old, editor and owner of the Democrat, published at Martinsville, died at his home in that place on the night of April 13, 1916, following an illness of sev- eral weeks. In all he had been in the news- paper business for sixty-seven years. He was editor of the Martinsville Democrat for twenty-one years and directed the paper until he was stricken. Before locat- ing in Martinsville, Major Finney lived at Columbus, Ind., where he published a newspaper and, under the Cleveland ad- ministration, was postmaster. He served four years in the civil war as a member of the Nineteenth Indiana Volunteers, be- ing adjutant of the regiment. At the time of his passing he was survived by the widow and four children-Mrs. H. C. Piehl of Inkster, N. D., and Miss Dena, Frank and Fred Finney of Martinsville. Major Finney was a Democrat of the old school. Faddism had in him a vigorous, unrelenting, but always manly foe; gen- uine Democracy a steadfast, able and undaunted champion.

JUDGE TIMOTHY E. HOWARD, sol- dier, professor, legislator, jurist and au-

creditably in the Union army; located in South Bend after the war and resided there until the time of his death. He was elected clerk of St. Joseph county, served repeatedly as a member of the Common Council of South Bend, became that body's attorney, was elected to the State Senate in 1886, and in 1892 chosen a member of the Supreme Court of the State. All of these positions he filled ably and conscien- tiously. In recognition of his literary abil- ity he was honored with a Laetare medal by Notre Dame University, of which he was one of the instructors for many years. He was a man of profound learning, a clear thinker, and an accomplished writer. Much exceedingly valuable literature emanated from his gifted pen. Politically he always was an ardent Democrat. A political revolution prevented his re-elec- tion to the supreme bench in 1898. In addition to political and judicial offices he was for many years connected with the Northern Indiana Historical Society and with Auten Post, No. 8, G. A. R. His death resulted from uræmic poisoning and occurred July 9, 1916. He was seventy- nine years of age January 27, and is sur- vived by his widow, four daughters, two sons, and a brother.

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History of the Indiana democracy, 1816-1916, Part 62

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