History of the Indiana democracy, 1816-1916, Part 89

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

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Yet in all these years, more than the allotted three score and ten of man's life, through the or- ganization of the county as the county of Rich- ardville in 1844 and its reorganization as the county of Howard in 1846, to the year of grace before mentioned, but two Democrats had suc- ceeded to county office, though both of these were twice elected.

But from the memorable campaign of "Tippe- canoe and Tyler, too," marking the temporary overthrow of the Democratic party in the nation after a continuous rule of forty years, a militant Democratic organization has been maintained in the county. It had been unfed even by the crumbs of official pottage. It had been led by men firm- grounded in the imperishable principles of De- mocracy, who hoped on, fought on, if not to win, to feel more worthy winning.

For all that the prophet was not without honor save in his own country. Men from the ranks of the party in the county had been successful as candidates for State, legislative and judicial office. Notable among them were Milton B. Hopkins, twice elected (1870-1872) State Superintendent of Public Instruction; Addison F. Armstrong, elected (1870) State Senator for the district then comprising Howard, Miami and Carroll counties; John W. Kern, Democratic majority leader in the United States Senate from 1911 to 1917, and once, a candidate for the Vice-Presidency, elected (1884) Reporter of the Supreme Court; Judge C. N. Pollard and Judge Lex J. Kirkpatrick, elect- ed (1873 and 1890, respectively) Judge of the Thirty-second Judicial Circuit, comprising the counties of Howard and Tipton, and J. O. Hender- son, twice elected (1890-1892) Auditor of State.

It is a fact of frequent comment that in all these seventy-nine years no other political organi- zation in Howard county-Whig, Free Soiler, "Barnburner," "Know-Nothing" or Republican- had been honored by a nominee for State or con-

gressional office, save in a single instance. In 1874 James A. Wildman was nominated by the Republican party and elected Auditor of State.

And in all these years there was never a cam- paign in which the Democrats did not put up a valiant fight. Times there were when they all but drove the wedge of battle through the im- pregnable lines of Whig or Republican in an ef- fort to "reach the court house" or a coveted seat in the General Assembly of the State.

In 1847 Dr. Jacob H. Kern, father of former Senator John W. Kern, contended with Dr. Cory- don Richmond, the former a Democrat and the latter a Whig, for the seat in the Legislature. Dr. Kern was defeated by but seventeen votes. Again, in 1870, John W. Kern, who did not reach his majority until after the convening of the Gen- eral Assembly in the winter following, was a candidate for the same office against Captain Thomas M. Kirkpatrick, a popular soldier idol and a strong man in every way with the elec- torate. Mr. Kern was defeated by less than 250 votes, though the normal Republican majority in the county at that time was approximately 1,200.

Delving again into the mighty past, in 1858 certain territory,. now in the main Honeycreek township, formerly attached to Clinton county, was annexed to Howard county. In the October election which followed the result in the contest for County Auditor between Peter B. Hersleb ( Democrat) and James A. Wildman (Republican) hinged on whether the votes in the recently an- nexed territory should be counted. With these votes eliminated, the Democratic candidate would have won. They were counted, however, and Mr. Wildman, twelve years later elected Auditor of State, succeeded to the office.

The second clerk of the court in Howard coun- ty was Adam Clark, a Democrat. He was ap- pointed by the County Commissioners to fill the unexpired term of Franklin S. Price (Whig), elected in 1844 and re-elected in 1848, and who died in office. He was elected to the office in 1854 and succeeded himself in 1858. Jackson Morrow, a Democrat, was elected County Surveyor in 1890 and was re-elected in 1892. These two men rep- resent the full extent of county office holding by Democrats until 1912, when the entire Demo- cratic county ticket was elected by pluralities ranging from 16 to 1,044.

The campaign of 1860 marked the alignment of political parties in the county much as they

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HISTORY INDIANA DEMOCRACY-1816-1916

would stand at this time by substituting the Republicans for Whigs. The Whigs and Demo- crats had, of course, constituted the leading par- ties, and with this campaign the Free Soilers, hardly more than a negligible political quantity, were wholly absorbed. There were some pro- slavery men, an inconsiderable number. Early in the canvass the Democrats were willing to con- cede that the Republicans would carry the county for the national ticket. Wagers were made, how- ever, that the plurality for Abraham Lincoln over Stephen A. Douglas would not exceed 300. Not a little surprise attended the announcement of the result, the plurality for the Republican candi- date for President being over 600. John C. Breckinridge, the pro-slavery candidate, received less than a score of votes. The exact figures for the vote in the county in this election are not available from records preserved at the court house.

The election of Judge Lex J. Kirkpatrick as Circuit Judge in 1890, the unusual manner in which his nomination was made and the surpris- ingly successful result of his industrious personal . canvass, are to this day the basis of stories re- hearsed at almost every gathering of Howard county Democrats. The Republicans in a large and exceptionally imposing convention held in Tipton had nominated J. C. Blacklidge, one of the oldest and ablest members of the Howard county bar. The norma! Republican majority in the dis- triet was over one thousand and the nomination was regarded as equivalent to an election. The "convention" which nominated Judge Kirkpatrick, comparatively a young man, who had been in the practice but a limited number of years, comprised exactly nine persons. They met in the lumber room under the stage of the old opera house build- ing. In the absence of Judge Kirkpatrick, and without his knowledge or consent, he was declared the Democratic candidate in opposition to the older and more experienced barrister, of whose success at the polls no one had the shadow of a doubt. Then. as now, Judge Kirkpatrick was thorough in everything he attempted. It is doubtful whether in the beginning he had the re- motest hope of election, but this did not give him pause in his determination to make the best show- ing possible. Judge Kirkpatrick had his own method of campaigning. Among other things "community meetings" were held, usually at the home of some Democrat, throughout the district, and the candidate was brought in personal con- tact with almost every voter. It was late in the canvass before the formidable character of Judge Kirkpatrick's candidacy began to be realized. He was elected by a plurality of 221.

It was not until 1870 that the Democracy was

represented by a newspaper in the county, the Republicans having the advantage of the able assistance of the Kokomo Tribune from 1850.

As early as 1848. however, the Pioneer, How- ard county's first newspaper, was published at the village of New London, which had aspired to be the law seat of the county. Originally it was published as a Free Soil advocate by Dr. Moses R. Wickersham. A year later arrangements were made with the publisher by which the Whig and Democratic parties had representation in its meager columns. The late Colonel Charles D. Murray championed the cause of the Whigs and Dr. J. F. Henderson and Dr. James Barrett took up cudgels for the Democrats. Later the plant was moved to Kokomo, it being purachased by John Bohan and Harless Ashley. Colonel Mur- ray was made its editor and it supported only the Whig contentions. In 1857 T. C. Phillips, one of the most forceful political writers the press of Indiana has known, became its publisher and ed- itor. From that day it has been an able and strictly partisan Republican newspaper.

In 1870 William J. ("Jap") Turpin came to Kokomo from Tipton, where he had for some time published a Democratic paper, the Tipton Times. He was known as "the Tipton Slasher," and for other reasons than that he hailed from the "slashes" of Tipton county. As a political writer he had developed a style to which the term "slash- ing" aptly applies. He was without means. He began the publication of the Radical Democrat on "the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things unseen." The paper was printed at the Tribune office. The writer hereof recalls that he carried the entire initial edition from the Tribune office to a room rented by Turpin a short distance up the street, where he folded the papers for mail- ing and distributed the "carriers' list" about the court house square. Senator John W. Kern was a frequent and a virile contributor to the Radical Democrat, which, after the second issue, dropped the prefix "Radical," as was John M. Goar, who afterward became its editor.

In that year Dr. J. F. Henderson had the Dem- ocratic nomination for Congress "wished on him." It fell to his part to keep the Democrat financial- ly afloat. At the conclusion of the campaign he had the satisfaction of knowing that he had made a most creditable though an unsuccessful race, the honor of having fought a good fight-and a news- paper. A man of rather large affairs, he contin- ued the publication of the Democrat, becoming its editor, much as a diversion. For all that there have been few more strikingly original and in many ways more forceful publications in the his- tory of Indiana newspapers than was the Demo- crat under his administration.

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HISTORY INDIANA DEMOCRACY-1816-1916

In 1874 the paper passed into the hands of two sons of Dr. Henderson, John O. and Howard E. Henderson, who continued its publication until the death of the latter in June of 1914. In 1876 the name was changed to the Kokomo Dispatch. It had an excellent mechanical equipment for that day. Under the editorship of J. O. Henderson it had become a recognized force in the Democratic' party not only in the county, but in the congres- sional district and the State. The party was neither unmindful nor unappreciative of this fact. In 1884, upon the election of President Cleveland, J. O. Henderson was appointed internal revenue collector for the district comprising the northern counties of the State, with practically the undi- vided support of the leaders of the party in these counties. In a few months, however, in the con- solidation of internal revenue districts, Mr. Hen- derson was "consolidated" out of office. In 1890, when the publication of the Dispatch as a daily newspaper was begun, Mr. Henderson was a can- didate for nomination as Auditor of State and was honored by the Democratic convention of that year with this nomination on the first ballot. He was again nominated and elected in 1892. C. H. Havens, who had been with the Dispatch in one capacity or another since his childhood, and who had relieved Mr. Henderson of some of the editorial work during Mr. Henderson's incum- bency in the office of Internal Revenue Collector, was made managing editor of the paper. He con- tinued in this position until his appointment as postmaster for Kokomo, in March of 1914. The Dispatch is now owned by a stock company, in which George W. Charles and A. G. Seiberling are leading spirits. Victor J. Obenauer is the managing editor. It has recently been housed in a magnificent new building and its plant is one of the finest in Indiana.

In the election of 1914 the candidates on the Democratic ticket in Howard county "fell outside the breastworks," as they did in many other coun- ties of Indiana where they had been successful two years before. But there is no failing in the militant spirit of the party of Howard. A com- pact and energetic organization, with James R. McReynolds as county chairman, John R. McIn- tosh as secretary and A. B. Armstrong as treas- urer, is maintained.

Unfortunately there is no existing record of the earlier officers of the Democratic county cen- tral committee. Dr. J. F. Henderson, H. B. Havens, James Davis, James Haggard, T. L. Faulkener and Captain George D. Tate were among the earlier chairmen. In later years John

M. Leach, John W. Kern, George W. Duke, Milo W. Barnes, Charles J. Hammil and G. W. John- son have served in this capacity. B. C. Moon, Charles Humerickhouse and C. H. Havens served as secretary of the committee through a long se- ries of years.

To no man does the Democratic organization of Howard county owe more than to Orin Simp- son, the county chairman in the successful cam- paigns of 1908 and 1912, when a magnificent showing in voting strength was made, the Demo- crats carrying the county by a substantial plu- rality in the last named year, electing the entire county ticket.

J. R. ("Jim Bob") McReynolds was elected County Chairman in March of 1914. In the gen- eral election that followed in November the coun- ty was lost to the Democrats by very narrow pluralities. The genius for organization of Chair- man McReynolds was notably in evidence in the campaign and election of 1916, however, when the Democrats of the county made a net gain of 1,158 over the combined Republican-Progressive vote of 1914. Had this gain been uniform in the several counties of the State, Indiana would have

. been carried for the Democracy by over 100,000. John R. McIntosh has served as secretary of the county committee since 1908 and has won well- merited praise not only as a good organizer, but as an effective campaigner in an oratorical way.

In the city of Kokomo the Democrats have been far more frequently successful than in the coun- ty. When Kokomo was incorporated as a city in 1865 Judge C. N. Pollard was made City Attorney and Milton Bell succeeded him in this office. It was subsequently filled by John W. Kern (1871- 1876 and 1883-1884). The first Democratic Mayor of the city, Dr. Henry Clay Cole, was elect- ed in 1881, his tragic death following a year later. He was succeeded by W. S. Armstrong, Democrat, who was re-elected in 1883, serving until 1885. Dr. J. B. Kirkpatrick, Democrat, was elected in 1889, Dr. J. B. Puckett in 1910 and George W. Stidger in 1913. George W. Duke, Democrat, served as City Clerk from 1877 to 1882; Joseph Kelly, Democrat, served as City Marshal from 1875 until 1879, and Albert Burns, Democrat, was elected to this office, serving from 1882 to 1884.

When there was not a Democratic majority in the city council, as there was following a few elec- tions, there was an energetic Democratic minor- . ity, and as a whole Democrats have had a large share in the administration of the affairs of the city from the day of its organization.

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HISTORY OF THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY OF HUNTINGTON COUNTY

H UNTINGTON COUNTY, located in the Wabash valley, not only has been a liberal contributor 'to historical events, but has taken active and prominent part in the affairs of the Democratic party.

Prominent among the party workers in Hunt- ington country prior to and immediately follow- ing the war were L. P. Milligan, James R. Slack and John R. Cofroth. These men were each law- yers of more than local reputation. James R. Slack represented the district in congress, and L. P. Milligan at one time was a candidate for gov- ernor. Samuel Winters at that time was pub- lisher of a local Democratic newspaper and was regarded as spokesman for the party. He is now located in the city of Peru, conducting the Peru Chronicle. W. J. Hilligas was also a newspaper man, a tireless party worker, whose influence ex- tended beyond the confines of the county.

In later days Judge J. C. Branyan, Judge O. W. Whitelock, Judge S. E. Cook, J. Fred France, D. D. Yingling and L. G. Trixler have each been active in party affairs. J. Fred France is now serving his second term as clerk of the supreme

court. L. G. Trixler for four years served as deputy clerk of the supreme court under Mr. France, and is today postmaster of the city of Huntington.

The county has always been close politically, shifting from one control to another. Although the county is regarded as normally Republican, the militant Democracy of the county has been successful in capturing either a part or all of the county offices at each election. The city of Hunt- ington, also normally Republican, has had as its head a Democratic mayor for the last seven years.

Congressman George W. Rauch, now serving his tenth year in congress as representative of the Eleventh congressional district, is a native of Huntington county, having been born and raised at Warren, Huntington county.

There are published in Huntington county six newspapers, four weeklies and two dailies. The Huntington Press, morning daily, established February 11, 1912, by M. H. Ormsby, is the only paper in the county of the Democratic faith.

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HISTORY OF THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY OF JACKSON COUNTY

By Cornelius S. Mercer

ACKSON COUNTY has always been loyal to J the Democratic party. Only for a brief in- terval in the fifties was there any serious in- terruption of Democratic supremacy, when the Whigs elected their ticket and controlled county affairs for a few years. The Democrats returned to power before the breaking of the Civil war, remained loyal throughout that trying period, and with very few exceptions have elected Demo- cratic local tickets ever since. No Republican presidential candidate ever carried the county.

This unfailing loyalty may be largely attrib- uted to a few early settlers of prominence who were largely interested in local and national af- fairs. First among these deserving of special mention is Colonel George W. Carr, who was born in Clark county, Indiana, October 7, 1807, and came with his father's family to Vallonia in 1811, where the family resided for several years, part of which time was spent in the old fort at that place because of Indian hostilities. In 1818 he moved to Pea Ridge, in Carr township, where he married and reared a family. He served in the Indiana Legislature through several sessions in the forties and fifties. He was a member of the constitutional convention which met at Indian- apolis in 1850-51, and was elected to the presi- dency of that body of men, and as such exercised a great influence in shaping the present constitu- tion of the State. With the breaking of war in 1862, he joined the Ninety-third Indiana Regi- ment Volunteers and served as Lieutenant-Colonel, afterward returning to private life on his farm near Medora. He died at Crawfordsville on May 27, 1892, and was buried at the family cemetery near his old home. Colonel Carr was an ardent Democrat from principle, having formed his con- nections at a day when Democracy was on trial, and throughout his long career was faithful to the cause he espoused. There were times when he felt that the Democratic party was not faith- ful to the cause it represented, and when he so believed he found himself in opposition to it. His impress was strongest in the western part of the county where he resided and where his neighbors and friends looked to him directly for counsel and advice.

In the eastern part of the county Meedy W. Shields towered above all other political charac- ters in Jackson county from the beginning of the third decade until his active life came to a close in 1866. He was a business man of wonderful

resource and ability, but amidst his many business affairs he had time to devote to the public inter- est and did more to build up the great Democratic majority in Jackson county than any other man of his day. He was born at Sevierville, Sevier county, Tennessee, July 8, 1805, of Cavalier stock: He came to Indiana with his parents and settled at Corydon. In 1816 they moved to Jackson coun- ty, in the virgin wilderness, where now stands the city of Seymour. In 1820 to 1832 he was variously employed as a farm hand and then pro- prietor of a small fleet of flat boats from the vil- lage of Rockford to New Orleans. In 1832 he volunteered service in the army that suppressed the Indian depredations known as the Black Hawk wars, and became the Captain of a company. In 1833 he was married to Eliza P. Ewing. It was at this period of his life that he became active in public affairs. Being deprived of the oppor- tunity to obtain an academic education in his youth, he acquired it in his mature years. He soon became proficient in history, science, polit- ical economy and government politics. With a keen analytical mind he was quick to detect soph- istry and his sound mode of reasoning established him as a safe counselor; his sterling integrity established him as a safe friend. These were the fundamental factors upon which he predicated his political career. He was never ambitious for office, but served his county in the Legislature, where he devoted his great abilities wholly to con- structive measures, giving little heed to strictly party affairs. His counsel crystallized into drain- age laws, educational development, equal taxa- tion of property, safety in railroad travel, stabil- ity of State and national credit and the control of public utilities. He introduced and secured the enactment of the first law of the State re- quiring all railroad trains to come to a full stop before crossing another railroad.

While Jackson county was yet but partly set- tled, and with its now fertile valleys covered with virgin timber, Colonel Cyrus L. Dunham emi- grated from Cortland, N. Y., and cast his for- tunes with her people, locating in Hamilton town- ship, where he bought a large tract of timber land and established his primitive home. He en- gaged in the practice of law in Brownstown, and also maintained a law office in Salem and was the foremost member of the bar in both places. He was a scholar and a student with greater devo- tion to intellectual matters than to the more sor-

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did things that engrossed the minds of men. As a lawyer he never had a superior during his long legal career in Jackson and surrounding coun- ties, and as an orator but few in the councils of the nation were greater than he. He espoused the cause of Democracy and was loyal to his party throughout a long and honored career. He was elected to Congress in , where he very soon took rank with the ablest men in the councils of the nation. No Democrat in Congress was more quoted in the public press of his day than was Cyrus L. Dunham. He saw the evils that honey- combed the political structure of the time, and with unerring prophecy sought to avert the great cataclysm that soon followed. As a bulwark against the forces of privilege, then rapacious and bold, he stood towering above many of the giants of his day and to him belongs much of the credit for the success of Democratic principles which are now crystallizing into law. Like many a patriot before him, it was not Cyrus L. Dunham's privilege to live to see the flower of his philosophy. The seed which he planted in the councils of the nation was doomed to lie dormant throughout a long period when war and reconstruction shoved higher ideals aside for a season. But in later years that seed brought forth a Cleveland, who stood for national integrity; a Bryan, who stands for national morals, and a Woodrow Wilson, who stands for national wisdom. For these things, and all of them, Cyrus L. Dunham battled in Con- gress, in political convention, in private council, and the files of newspapers all over the Union contain extracts from his speeches, fervent with eloquence and zeal in behalf of the rights of man. Local histories are strangely silent concerning this great man. They reveal to us a portion of his war record only. From that source we learn that in 1861 he was commissioned a Colonel to organize the Fiftieth regiment. Although he was then a resident of New Albany, the regiment con- sisted largely of Jackson county people. Early in the war it saw service in the South, and be- cause of improper recognition at Washington, Colonel Dunham resigned his command and re- tired to private life. While the written pages of history do not disclose the fact, the larger book of national political life is brightened by his genius. He was never married and left no fam- ily name to care for his memory. That duty has fallen to the hands of strangers and this tribute to his memory is written by one who was yet unborn when he passed into the great beyond.

Among the powerful factors making for Demo- cratic supremacy in Jackson county in an early day was Major Samuel P. Mooney, who came to the county from the South at the close of the Mexican war, where he served and gained his

military title. There is no written record of him and the place of his origin is unknown at the pres- ent day. He married a Spanish girl in New Or- leans, brought her here and set up in plantation style. He was tall, rough-featured and bold. He did not domineer, but led men by a power that could not be defied. He was a political boss, who ruled the affairs of the county for a decade, or from the closing of the Mexican war until the Civil war period. He was a farmer and lived from the products of his farm, never acquiring wealth, but well-to-do. He belonged to no pro- fession, but spent a great deal of time in politics, which he enjoyed for the excitement of it. Being a Southerner, he was a hereditary Democrat and stood with the Breckinridge element. Although never an office seeker, he served one year in the Legislature and was twice elected County Treas- urer. He was strong with the politicians and his influence penetrated the ranks of the Whigs to such an extent that it was impossible to defeat his nominees at the polls. Nominations were then made by mass convention, the opposition di- viding into groups to be counted. Major Mooney was always the center of the biggest group. Po- litical bossism may be more sinister in modern times, but certainly it is not more positive in re- sults than it was then, and Major Mooney will always be remembered most for the political "machine" which he built up and controlled with perfect precision for many years.

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History of the Indiana democracy, 1816-1916, Part 89

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