History of the Indiana democracy, 1816-1916, Part 71

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

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-Committeemen-

William Ringwalt, Dennis Gorman, J. Lanti- nier, Marshall Comincavish, Albert Melching, Ed- ward Bresnahan, Charles O. Lepper, Christ Hahn, John J. Bauer, Andrew J. Fox, Daniel Falvy, Sr., Frank Kleekamp, Henry Miller, Charles Bandt, George Schacker, J. Hausbach, Adolph Bieberick, John Koch, Steve Callahan, Fred Bandt, John Ryan, William Menze, Benja- min Richter, Benjamin Johnson, Louis C. Schroe- der, Allen Martin, Henry W. Felger, William Quinn, Gust Oberwitte, Dr. E. F. Devaux, Fred Schnitker, Walter Scott, William Dailey, P. C. Sible, Henry Rockhill, Jacob Dennis, William G. Grotian, Ernst Witte, Jesse Lindemuth, Howard Hobbs, Jacob Schlemmer, J. S. Wyatt, J. B. Em- erick, Joseph Moore, Henry Young, Hiram Fos- nite, Raymond W. Mowrey, Frank Lamont, John H. Miller, William H. Johnston, Herman Meyer, Henry Pranger, W. C. Miner and Leonard Stolte.

-Newspapers-

Allen county is well supplied with Democratic newspapers, which fulfill the obligation to give their patrons the news and to advertise Allen county . to the outside world. The list includes one English morning daily, one English evening daily, one German evening daily and four weekly newspapers:

The Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette, established, Gazette, 1853; Journal, 1863. Journal-Gazette Co., publishers.

The Fort Wayne Weekly Journal-Gazette.

Fort Wayne Sentinel, established 1833. Estate of E. A. K. Hackett, publishers.

Fort Wayne Weekly Sentinel.

Fort Wayne Freie - Presse - Staats Zeitung. Staats Zeitung established in 1858; Freie Presse established in 1888; consolidated in 1908. Fort Wayne Freie Press Publishing Co., publishers; Herman W. Mackwitz, editor.

Monroeville Democrat (weekly), established in 1869; changed to Monroeville Breeze in 1884. John D. Alleger, publisher and editor.

New Haven Register (weekly), established in 1908. Stanley B. Dustman, publisher and editor. -City Government, 1914, City of Fort Wayne, Indiana-

Mayor, William J. Hosey; City Judge, H. Waveland Kerr; City Clerk, Gustav W. Boerger; City Controller, William C. Baade; City Attor- ney. Guy Colerick.

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HISTORY INDIANA DEMOCRACY-1816 -1916

-Common Council --

William A. Bayer, president; Eugene B. Smith, vice-president; Gustav A. Boerger, clerk.

-Councilmen-at-Large-

William A. Bayer, Jacob Hartman, Paul P. Kinder, Gustav F. Rogge and Charles E. Welch.

-Councilmen-

First ward, Jacob Agne; Second ward, Frank J. Schlebecker; Third ward, Charles O. Lepper; Fourth ward, Eugene B. Smith; Fifth ward, *Robert John; Sixth ward, John B. Mills; Sev- enth ward, Peter A. Offenloch; Eighth ward, Al- bert H. Keller; Ninth ward, Peter A. Deitchel; Tenth ward, Herman J. Korte.

-Department of Public Works-

Frank E. Singrey, Robert E. Kelly, chairman; *Henry Hilgeman; Henry W. Becker, clerk; John Wessel, Jr., secretary Fort Wayne city electric light works; Charles A. Beuret, clerk water works; Frank M. Randall, civil engineer; Herman Strodel, superintendent of streets; John Harkenrider, superintendent of the garbage crematory; * Jerry O'Connor, chief engineer of water works; Henry Zauner, chief engineer of electric light works; Frank J. Dix, electrician of electric light works; Philip Wyss, building in- spector.

-Department of Public Safety-

George Herman, chairman; James J. Hays, *Calvin K. Reiman, Dennis E. McCarthy, clerk.

*Republican.

-· Police Department-

Charles Lenz, chief; Richard Kelly, captain; Harry Grimme, lieutenant.

-Fire Department-

Henry Hilbrecht, chief; George Jasper, assist- ant chief; Robert Gaskill, electrician; Fred Schroeder, captain Company No. 1; Michael Con- ners, captain Company No. 2; John Stahlhut, cap- tain Company No. 3; Peter Lauer, captain Com- pany No. 4; George Troutman, captain Company No. 5; Christian Rohyans, captain Company No. 6; John Baker, captain Company No. 7; John F. Huber, captain Company No. 8.

*C. Barry Tolan, inspector of weights and measures; Benjamin W. Skelton, weighmaster of city scales; Charles M. Gillett, market master; Henry Kiel, poundmaster.

-Department of Public Health-

Dr. John H. Gilpin, secretary; Dr. H. O. Brug- geman, president; * Dr. H. H. Duemling; Anne E. Sullivan, clerk; Eugene A. Schott, meat and dairy inspector.

-Board of Park Commissioners-

*David N. Foster, president; Louis Fox, vice- president; Abe Ackerman, *Louis W. Dorn, Charles J. Steiss, secretary; August Goers, su- perintendent of parks.

-Trustees of Public Schools-

William H. Shambaugh, Jesse Macbeth, *Ernest W. Cook, *Justin Study, superintendent of public schools. Alfred L. Randall elected in place of Jesse Macbeth in 1915.

*Republican.

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HISTORY OF THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY OF BARTHOLOMEW COUNTY

B ARTHOLOMEW COUNTY was organized under an act of the General Assembly ap- proved January 9, 1821. Subsequently and incident to the formation of new counties and the corsequent shifting of boundary lines, some changes have been made in the geographical out- line of the county. In the early history of the State the territory comprised in Bartholomew county was a part of Delaware county and in- cluded the greater part of Brown county. The present arca of Bartholomew county is about four hundred square miles, approximating two hun- dred and fifty-six thousand acres.

From its organization to the present time Bar- tholomew county has been safely Democratic, with the exception of a few years, when the Re- publicar party was in control. Until the organi- zation of the Republican party the Whig party was the dominant opposition party in the county, but in the early history of the county political lines were not tightly drawn, and from time to time there were political fusions. The first com- missioners of the county were William Ruddick, Jesse Ruddick and Solomon Stout, all of whom were Democrats. With the exception of the oc- casional election of a Republican county official the Democrats held Bartholomew county from the Civil War until 1896, when the Democratic party ef the county struck on the rock of free silver and was thrown off its course. From that time the Republican party controlled the county until 1908, when the Democratic party again righted itself and regained complete control of the coun- ty, which it still holds. The present officials of the county, all of whom are Democrats, are: State Senator, E. A. Norman; Representative, John M. Thompson; Prosecuting Attorney, Lewis A. Harding; Auditor, William H. Scott; Clerk, Leon J. Cox; Treasurer, John W. Scheidt; Sheriff, Matt Shaw; Recorder, Ed. Horton; Assessor, Wil- liam C. Smith; Coroner, Dr. L. E. Bracken; Sur- veyor, Lloyd Rogers; Commissioners, Jacob Stucker, Charles F. Boyer and John Seele.

Columbus, a city of 12,000 souls, is the county seat of Bartholomew county and, like the county, has been under Democratic control almost from its organization. Since 1870 the Republicans have had but eight years of complete control of the city administrations.

Bartholomew county has been carried by Dem- ocratic presidential candidates as follows: 1828 and 1832, Andrew Jackson; 1844, James K. Polk; 1848, Zachary Taylor; 1852, Franklin Pierce; 1856, James Buchanan; 1860, Stephen A. Doug-

las; 1864, George B. McClellan; 1868, Horatio Seymour; 1876, S. J. Tilden; 1880, Winfield Scott Hancock; 1884, Grover Cleveland; 1888, Grover Cleveland; 1892, Grover Cleveland; 1896, William J. Bryan; 1900, William J. Bryan; 1908, William J. Bryan, and in 1912, Woodrow Wilson.

Bartholomew county has been represented in the General Assembly by the following Demo- cratic Senators and Representatives: Senators, Zachariah Tannehill, Smith Jones, Francis T. Hord, Thomas Greenlee, Oliver J. Glessner, Dr. J. B. Grove. R. L. Coffee, W. C. Duncan, Richard A. Fulk, Emanuel Trautmann and E. A. Nor- man. Representatives: John Lindsay, Jesse A. Ruddick. Jacob Cook, Thomas G. Lee, John Mc- Kinney. Z. Tannehill, W. F. Arnold, Eliakim Hamblen, Aquilla Jones, Ephraim Arnold, Charles Jones, Thomas Essex, Colin Mckinney, Joseph Struble, Francis P. Smith, O. H. P. Ab- bett, Stinson J. Barrett, Dr. E. K. Hawley, John M. Kline, Alfred Williams, Dr. J. M. Cook, Ar- thur D. Galbraith, P. H. McCormack, Louis Don- host, D. W. Heagy, Joseph F. Ghent, Benjamin F. Kobbe, James F. Cox, John Hill, V. D. Ault and John M. Thempson.

While Bartholemew county was not frequently or numerously represented in the State or na- tional councils of the Democratic party it was ably represented. Nathan T. Carr was elected to Congress in 1876 to succeed Michael C. Kerr, who died in office. Mr. Carr was a member of the House of Representatives when the debate was on over the historic electoral commission fol- lowing the Tilden-Hayes campaign and which commission seated Rutherford B. Hayes in the White House and he spoke and voted against the commission. After the action of the commission was announced Mr. Carr delivered a scathing ad- dress in the House in denunciation of his col- leagues, who had favored the commission, which gained for him a nation-wide reputation as an orator, a wit and satirist. While Mr. Carr was a brilliant lawyer and gifted statesman, he was eccentric and while practicing law he carried the following advertisement in the newspapers: "Nathan T. Carr, Lawyer, practices in all courts of the State. Special attention given to divorce cases and all other cases in which innocent per- sons are charged with crime."

George W. Cooper was elected to Congress in 1888 and served three terms. He introduced in the House the bill which, when it became a law, provided a tax on all greenbacks. While in Con- gress Mr. Cooper brought about an investigation

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HISTORY INDIANA DEMOCRACY-1816-1916

of the pension department by which much good was accomplished not alone for the department, but for the nation as well. When the govern- ment decided to establish free rural mail deliv- ery Mr. Cooper succeeded in getting Bartholomew county chosen as one of three experimental sta- tions in which to try out the new system. It was while Mr. Cooper was a member of Congress that he chanced to save a rustic of his county from being illegally sent to a penitentiary. He was at the depot awaiting a train for Washington when a constable from an out township arrived with a prisoner. The congressman engaged the constable in conversation and learned that the prisoner had been convicted before a justice of the peace of the theft of a hog and had been sentenced to State prison. Mr. Cooper volun- tarily took the case up for the prisoner and pre- vented his commitment to the State prison.

Francis T. Hord was elected Attorney-General of Indiana in 1882 and served two years. While in office Attorney-General Hord won the case of the State of Indiana vs. the Portsmouth Bank, brought to recover Beaver Lake to the State, and by this action the right of the State to the lake beds of Indiana was settled for all time.

In 1894 W. C. Duncan was appointed to the position of State Statistician of Indiana, a posi- tion which he held for twenty years, and in 1914 Charles S. Talkington was appointed to the posi- tion of Superintendent of the Indiana State penal farm, which was established the previous year.

The first Democratic newspaper of consequence published in Bartholomew county was founded in 1848 by John R. Tinkle, who published it until 1850, when he sold it to Aquilla Jones and W. F. Pidgeon. In 1852 W. C. Stateler became pro- prietor of the paper and changed its name to the Indiana Democrat. In 1861 the paper was bought by Rev. William Howe, who sold it in 1888 to Judge Nathan T. Carr, who changed the name to the Columbus Bulletin. In 1872 Carr sold the paper to John D. Lyle, who changed the name to the Bartholomew County Democrat. George E. Finney was employed as editor and later obtained an interest, when the name of the paper was changed to the Columbus Democrat. In 1878 the paper was hought by J. N. Marsh, who continued its publication until 1880, when he sold it to J. A. Arnold and under whose ownership publication was suspended in 1885. In 1881 the Columbus Herald, which is still in existence, and which is now the only Democratic newspaper in Bartholo- mew county, was founded by George E. Finney and Charles H. Lacy. Within a year after the paper was founded the publication of a daily edi- tion, the Columbus Evening Herald, was begun. In 1892 the paper was bought by A. J. Dipboye

and M. A. Locke, but a few years later Locke bought Dipboye's interest and still retains the sole ownership of the paper, together with three other papers which he has bought and merged with the Herald. These three papers were the Times, started in the early 90's and owned by J. N. Marsh; the Driftwood Democrat, started by Dr. E. K. Hawley and Samuel Denison and later as the Democrat, bought by Walter C. Galbraith; the Star, started by E. H. Kinney and published for a time as a Republican paper, but later changed by him to a Democratic paper.

Among the leading Democratie workers of the county in the early days, men who ever stood by their guns, men who helped to hold their party to the fore and roll up majorities ranging from 800 to 1,000, but who have gone to their spiritual reward, might be mentioned: Thomas Essex, Minas Lowe, William R. Spurgeon, James W. Wells, David Stobo, John Stobo, Thomas May, Miles Thompson, Joseph Andrews, Jabel Smith, John D. Lyle, Dr. J. W. Allen, Jesse Walker, Eli Marqueth, Louis Donhost, Christopher Martin, Adam Fishel, Solomon Lambert, Isaac Lucas, Samuel Stuckey, Allen Hull, Webber Smith, Nel- son Keyes, W. W. Mooney, Patrick Sweeney, Frank Everroad, Frank Whittington, Peter Holtz, Archie Thompson, Thomas Kennedy, Archie McEwen and Peter Johnson.

James W. Wells, a former Auditor of the coun- ty, but long since dead, and W. C. Smith were longer in the court house in official positions than any other Democrats in the county. Wells was Auditor or Deputy Auditor of the county for twenty-five years, and Smith, who is the present County Assessor, took an old violin forty-five years ago and with it "fiddled" himself into the court house as Sheriff, where he has since re- mained almost continuously in one official posi- tion or another.

In the early history of the county the game of politics was evidently played along pretty much the same lines as at present, for in the early for- ties a legislator from Bartholomew county who was in the Legislature when the internal improve- ment bill, which eventually cost the State four- teen million dollars, is quoted as reporting to his constituency that "There are so many of them lobsters in the Legislature working for the in- fernal improvement bill that there is no room for the members."

Among the chairmen of the Democratic County Central Committees of Bartholomew county who have made good records for themselves and for their party are: Irvin A. Cox, W. W. Adams, Charles H. Wagner, James F. Cox, Z. H. Hauser, David Emig, W. C. Duncan, Joseph Ghent and David Stobo.

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HISTORY OF THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY OF BENTON COUNTY

By Elmore Barce

B ENTON COUNTY is one of the new coun- ties of the State, the first court house at Oxford being built about the year 1852. At that time practically the only settlements in the county were in the small groves in and about Oxford and along Pire creek. The early settlers had built cabins in these groves and cleared away part of the wilderness and were tillers of the soil.

A great many of the first inhabitants were of the old Scotch-Irish Presbyterian stock and most- ly of the Jacksonian type of Democracy. Prior to the Civil War. the county being poor, the offices were not lucrative and there were few applicants for public position.

There is no record or tradition of any certain leaders of the Democratic ranks in those days. Among the first settlers were the McConnell's, whose descendants are still residents of the coun- ty, Ralph W. McConnell being the present post- master at Oxford. The Wattles family were all stanch Democrats, as was the family of Dr. Stem- bel. Later came the Perigos, the Emersons, the Merefees, the Griffins and the large Smith fam- ily, who resided in the vicinity of Mud Pine.

At the breaking out of the Civil War many of the so-called Douglas Democrats joined the Re- publican ranks and for many years after that struggle the Republican party was in the ascendency, and has always had a majority rang- ing from 350 to 500 votes.

"The first political speech in Benton county was delivered during the William Henry Harrison campaign of 1840 at the house of Hugh and Sam- uel McConnell, in McConnell's Grove, five miles southwest of Oxford. Here several of the settlers had gathered at a wool picking and while the women worked with the wool a Democratic orator made a strong speech on the lee side of the barn. The campaign of 1844 was a stirring one, but it had little effect upon Benton county politics, as the few voters were mostly Democrats and no demonstrations were necessary to hold them to their party faith.

One of the interesting stories relating to the early political history of the county is an account of a joint debate in 1852 between Joseph A. Wright, then Governor, and Nicholas MeCarty, Whig candidate for Governor, in which a joint debate was held in true western style in what is known as White Oak Grove, west of the town of Oxford. The following interesting account of

that occurrence is thus related by an old settler of that day:

"Ample provision was made for the convenience of these dignitaries. An old rattle-bang of a wagon had been run in the shade of the bushes to keep it from falling down. This was pulled out to give a more conspicuous position, for both spoke from this improvised rostrum, Wright making the opening speech portraying the blessed usufruct of the never-dying Democracy, while McCarty spoke in defense of the Whig party. The audience was small. There was not to exceed sixty persons present, and those were mostly Democrats. I remember distinctly the appear- ance and manner of these distinguished gentle- men. Mr. Wright was tall, bony, long-armed, long-fingered, straight black hair, complexion slightly swarthy and clerical attire; forceful in speech and one calculated to tickle the pride of the old moss-back. Mr. McCarthy was the re- verse of Wright; he was pudgy, rotund, inclined to corpulency and pot-gutted, his clothes fitting tightly, wore a gray suit, slightly bald, face in- dicating that he loved a good dinner, but his speech-oh, my! it was superlatively bad. His defense of the Whig party, as I remember it, was that it favored public improvements."

After the formation of the present townships the following constituted the stronghold of Dem- ocracy: York, Richmond, Parish Grove, with Pine township always close and Hickory Grove inclined to go into the Democratic camp. Center, Grant and Union townships have always been strongly Republican and Oak Grove township has been inclined to follow the Republican lead.

In the last few years, however, the Democrats of. Benton county have made a very creditable showing. The old Republican regime had worn threadbare and some of the generals in the Re- publican party had been guilty of the practice of nepotism to a considerable extent, and there was even some talk of others being rather liberal with the public funds. About this time George L. Robey, a brother of Judge Robey of the Appel- late Court, became editor of the Benton Review, which has always been the leading Democratic newspaper of Benton county. His forceful pre- sentation of existing conditions satisfied the voters that some change would have to be made in political affairs. The voters placed Lemuel Shipman, at present president of the First Na- tional Bank at Fowler, in the Auditor's office,

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HISTORY INDIANA DEMOCRACY-1816-1916

which position he held for eight years. His ad- ministration of that office was honest, impartial and thoroughly efficient.

At the same time Ray Gillespie became Re- corder of the county, Henry Norloh, Sheriff, and Thomas Fitzgerald, Commissioner, and later Frank Shackleton and Robert Hamilton succeeded each other in the Sheriff's office.

Being in the minority, the Democrats were care- ful to select thoroughly competent men and their administration of the affairs of the county was such that the old-time Republican custom of vot- ing a "straight ticket" became a thing of the past.

The first judicial officer that the Democrats ever elected in Benton county was the Hon. James T. Saunderson, who became Judge of the Twenty- first Judicial Circuit of the State of Indiana, com- prising the counties of Warren and Benton. Judge Saunderson was a veteran of the Civil War, having fought in the Union cavalry, and was a man of the utmost integrity and his candi- dacy was very popular with the voters. He held the office of Judge of the Circuit Court for one term of six years.

The latter-day chairmen of the Democratic party in Benton county have adopted the plan of appealing to the voters on the strength of the ticket presented to the people. Aggressive tac- ties and the old idea of a red-fire campaign have

been abandoned. Among others who have been chairman of the county are George L. Robey, Theodore Hoss, the present postmaster of Fow- ler; Charles Lawson, a large farmer and stock raiser near Chase; Mead S. Hayes, lawyer, now practicing at Marion, Ind., and Elmore Barce, an attorney at Fowler. The last chairman, Patrick J. Kennedy, is a stock raiser and farmer near Templeton, Ind.

The present Democratic postmasters in Benton county are Ralph W. McConnell at Oxford, Theo- dore Hoss at Fowler, Edward McIntyre at Ambia. Emmett Scanlon at Boswell, Thomas Grogan at Freeland Park, Charles Leisure at Earl Park and. J. W. Carroll at Otterbein.

At the last general election the Democrats again succeeded in filling the Auditor's and Sher- iff's offices, Warren Mankey being elected to suc- ceed himself as Auditor and George Duffy, son of Michael Duffy, a prominent Benton county Democrat, being elected to the office of Sheriff.

The present Superintendent of Schools, M. F. O'Rear, is also a Democrat.

In recent years the fact that Democracy has been in the ascendency has had an inspiring effect upon the rank and file of the party, and many young men have taken hold of the helm. The con- ventions and caucuses of the party have been at- tended by increasing numbers of earnest party workers, who feel at last that they are coming into their own.

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HISTORY OF THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY OF BLACKFORD COUNTY

By M. C. Townsend

A LARGE majority of the pioneers of Black- ford county were Democrats. In local matters, however, political lines were not always closely drawn and men were frequently candidates for office without the formality of a nomination by a convention. In fact, as a general rule the Democrats, during the first fifteen or twenty years of the county's existence, could have two or three candidates for the same office and be reasonably sure of the election of one of them.

John J. Cook, a Whig, was elected clerk of the circuit court on his personal popularity, it is pre- sumed, and in 1851 Joseph W. Holliday, who was a Whig and a soldier of the Mexican war, was elected to the Legislature. In 1852 Josiah Twi- bell and George S. Howell, both Democrats, were candidates for representative, and John C. Bald- win, of Montpelier, ran as a Whig and came out third in the race. Howell was elected by a very small plurality. In 1854 Josiah Twibell and James Rhine, both life-long Democrats up to that time, were candidates for representative as Anti- Nebraska, or Anti-Slavery Extension Democrats, while Joseph P. VanCleve, an old-time Whig, ran as an independent candidate, ignoring the issues growing out of the Kansas-Nebraska bill. Wil- liam T. Shull was the regular Democratic candi- date and was easily elected.

In 1856 partisan lines were closely drawn be- tween the Democrats and Republicans. For repre- sentative the Democrats nominated Andrew J. Neff, and the Republicans nominated James Rhine. Neff was elected by a good majority. Harrison township went Republican by eighty majority, while the other three townships were heavily Democratic. The Republicans were not entirely scooped, however, as their candidates, William H. Campbell for treasurer and Isaac Goodwin for sheriff, were both elected and were each re-elected in 1858. Their personal popularity carried them through.

In 1865 there was an exciting contest for county auditor. The Democratic candidate was Henry D. Wirtz. He had been a resident of the county but a short time; had been a lieutenant in the rebel army and was captured and paroled, and not wishing to return to the army he came to Hart- ford City. The Republicans nominated Ezra M. Stahl, who had just returned from an honorable term of service as a soldier in the Eighty-fourth Indiana regiment. Mr. Stahl received a slender

majority, but his election was contested and was tried before the board of commissioners, and then on appeal in the circuit court, and the office was awarded to Mr. Stahl. Except in this case the Democrats were uniformly successful in the contest for county offices in 1860 to 1872. The lat- ter year was an off-year for the Democrats. The nomination of Greeley for President was very un- satisfactory to large numbers of them, and they manifested their disappointment by sulking in their tents. Both parties placed county tickets in nomination. In the spring an election had been held on the question of aiding by taxation a proposed railroad through the county east and west. The proposal to tax had been carried in Licking township by a small majority, but the feeling against it in the county outside of Hart- ford City was very bitter, and it crystallized in an independent political movement and a county convention was called and a ticket nominated. The Republicans, knowing that they had no show of success, withdrew their ticket and gave their sup- port generally to the independent ticket, which became known as the Dolly Varden ticket, and which was elected with the exception of the can- didate for clerk.

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History of the Indiana democracy, 1816-1916, Part 71

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