USA > Indiana > Allen County > History of the Maumee River basin, Allen County, Indiana > Part 6
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In reviewing the life and character of Judge Hanna we shall have recourse to liberal quotation from a previously published memoir, written by G. W. Wood, whose was personal knowledge of the man and his accomplishment.
Samuel Hanna was born in Scott county, Kentucky, on the 18th of October, 1797, being a son of James Hanna, who removed with his family to Dayton, Ohio, in 1804, settling on a farm lying contiguous to the southern boundary of the town. Samuel was one of a numerous family of children, all of whom attained respectable and most of them distinguished positions in life. His early days were passed like those of the average boy in a new country. He assisted his father in the
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reclaiming of the wild land which constituted the home farm, and his educational advantages were such as were afforded in the some- what primitive schools of the locality and period. As a youth the subject of this sketch found employment as a post-rider, delivering newspapers to the widely scattered subscribers, as postoffices were at that time almost entirely limited to the county seats. In this humble calling the young man passed con- siderable time, traversing, week after week, the then wilderness of western Ohio. While still a mere youth, there came a pro- nounced exemplification of the inviolable integrity which ever indi- cated the man. In taking up a business enterprise in company with another young man, he assumed an indebtedness and was swindled out of the goods purchased, and while his partner secured immunity from payment by plea of infancy, Judge Hanna refused to resort to this method of evasion, holding the debt as one of honor, and ulti- mately paying in full-at what sacrifice we may dimly imagine, tak- ing into account the fact that he was but nineteen years of age at the time, and dependent entirely upon his own resources. In the connec- tion the following words have been written: "Integrity and upright- ness thus early evinced, amidst strong inducements to a contrary course, characterized his long and useful career and gave him im- mense influence over his fellowmen." That the subject made good use of such educational privileges as were his is manifest when we find record of the fact that he was for some time successfully engaged in teaching school. In 1818, with his brother Thomas, he attended the Indian treaty at St. Mary's, in the capacity of sutler or purveyor, furnishing both food for men and provender for horses, all being transported with ox teams from Troy, Ohio, while with his own hands he hewed out the feed troughs for the stock. The small amount of money realized in this connection was his first substantial acquisi- tion-the corner-stone on which his subsequent colossal fortune was reared. Here, too, his purpose was formed of emigrating to Fort Wayne, "where he was destined to act so conspicuous and important a part in developing the resources of the country and building up a city."
Judge Hanna arrived in Fort Wayne in 1819, being then in his twenty-second year. "He found the place a mere Indian trading
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post, with very few white inhabitants, and those merely remnants of the old military establishment. Outside of the 'post' and its im- mediate vicinity there were no white settlers, and the country in every direction, for hundreds of miles, was an unbroken wilderness, swarming with the red men of the forest. He immediately entered upon mercantile pursuits in a small way, at what is now the north- west corner of Columbia and Barr streets. The town was not then laid out. His first storehouse was a rude log cabin, erected mainly with his own hands. This primitive structure was soon superseded by a frame building, which in later years gave place to a substantial brick block of business houses.
"From his first settlement at Fort Wayne Mr. Hanna, at all times and on all occasions, evinced a strong desire to build up the town, to advance its material interests in every way, and to improve and de- velop the resources of the country; and though not inattentive to his own individual interests, this cardinal purpose was kept steadily in view during his whole life. In all meetings of the people for the promotion of public improvements or public welfare he was always a conspicuous and leading actor. He early perceived the indispen- sable necessity of opening and improving roads and other facilities for travel and intercommunication; but to fully appreciate his designs in this respect it may be necessary to revert to the condition of things at that time. As has already been remarked, Fort Wayne, as he found it, was situated in the wilderness, far removed from all im- provements. The country around afforded no supplies, except the inconsiderable amount yielded by the chase and a very small quantity of corn grown on the bottoms in the immediate vicinity by the occu- pants of the post or fort. Practically all provisions and supplies had to be brought from a distance-mostly from Miami county, Ohio, by way of St. Mary's, being transported by wagons to the latter place and thence on flatboats down the St. Mary's river to Fort Wayne. The facilities for obtaining goods were little or no better. They were mostly purchased in New York or Boston and brought up the Maumee in pirogues or packed through the wilderness from Detroit on horses.
"Samuel Hanna was emphatically a general in civil life. His name is intimately associated and blended with every period in the
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history of Fort Wayne. No public enterprise of importance was ever undertaken without his concurrence and aid. His vast and controll- ing influence is visible everywhere, and was potential for good wher- ever it extended. Soon after commencing operations in Fort Wayne he was appointed agent of the American Fur Company, which re- sponsible position he filled for a number of years, to the entire satis- faction of the company. He was also associate judge of the circuit court, and was repeatedly elected, at that early period and in subse- quent years, a member of the state legislature. As his means accu- mulated he extended his mercantile operations to other places, partic- ularly to Lafayette, Wabash and South Bend, and from all these he realized large returns. He became an extensive landowner in the Wabash valley and elsewhere."
To Judge Hanna must be ascribed the credit and honor of matur- ing the first practical conception of the magnificent project of con- structing a canal to connect Lake Erie with the Wabash river, and his services in the connection were herculean and unflagging, result- ing in the congressional grant of each alternate section of land for six miles on each side of the proposed line, through its whole length, to aid in the construction of the canal. Strange as it may seem at the present time, much opposition was raised to the acceptance of the grant by the state, and as champion of the measure in the legislature, Judge Hanna made an ardent and protracted contest, which resulted in the acceptance of the grant and the appropriation of one thousand dollars to purchase the necessary engineering instruments and procure the survey and location of the summit level. Judge Hanna, David Burr and a Mr. Jones were appointed canal commissioners. "Judge Hanna went to New York, purchased the instruments, and brought them on horseback from Detroit to Fort Wayne. Civil engineers were scarce in the west at that day, but the commissioners secured one and immediately entered upon the survey, commencing on the St. Joseph's river, six miles above Fort Wayne, where the feeder-dam was afterward built. Mr. Burr operated as rodman and Judge Hanna as axman, both at ten dollars a month. The second day the engineer was taken sick and was compelled to abandon the work. Judge Han- na and Mr. Burr, alone, continuing and completing the survey of the summit feeder. They made their report to the succeeding session of
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the legislature, and Judge Hanna, being again a member, secured its adoption, and the passage of an act authorizing the construction of the Wabash & Erie canal. Thus originated and was inaugurated, almost, if not entirely, through the untiring energy, the indomitable perseverance of these two noble pioneers, Hanna and Burr, this stu- pendous work of internal improvement-the longest continuous line of artificial water communication on the American continent, if not in the world, and one of incalculable value to Fort Wayne and all northern Indiana. Judge Hanna was fund commissioner for several years, and negotiated for most of the money with which the work was carried on, and probably no one contributed more to the success of the canal policy during the first and trying years of its progress than did he."
Judge Hanna displayed distinctive wisdom and ability in his as- sociation with the organization of the State Bank of Indiana. As chairman of the committee on state banks, he drafted a charter, which passed both houses of the legislature, being approved January 28, 1834. "Thus was created the State Bank of Indiana, by common consent one of the best banking institutions that has ever existed in this country, and one that continued in operation twenty years, af- fording the people a safe and sound currency and yielding to the state a large accumulated fund at its close; an institution that exerted a marked influence on the subsequent bank legislation of many other states. A branch was at once established in Fort Wayne, and Judge Hanna was its president much of the time, while it was managed with pre-eminent skill and ability."
Judge Hanna platted an extensive addition to the city of Fort Wayne as early as 1836, and eventually he reaped large profits from the same, though through it his affairs were much involved for a time. With the thronging cares of his public and private interests, he was every ready to lend his aid and co-operation in the furthering of other enterprises for the general good. He was a prominent fac- tor in securing the pioneer plank road of northern Indiana-from Fort Wayne to Ontario. The construction of the first ten miles of this road, leading from Fort Wayne, he personally superintended, and, with ax in hand, helped to build. At the opening of the railroad era Judge Hanna again proved himself a leader. When that grand
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national line of railroad which is now the pride and strength of Fort Wayne, and with which his name is forever identified-the Pitts- burgh, Fort Wayne & Chicago-was projected, Judge Hanna was among the first to appreciate and take hold of the enterprise. The Fort Wayne & Chicago Railroad was organized in 1852, and Judge Hanna was elected its president, thus serving until the consolidation which gave birth to the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne & Chicago Railway Company, in August, 1856, when he became vice-president of the latter. He retained this incumbency until his death. No man con- nected with the management of this railway ever had a greater share of the confidence of all interested in it than did Judge Hanna. About three months before his death he was elected president of the Grand Rapids & Indiana Railroad Company, though he had hesitated to assume the responsibilities, seeming to feel a premonition of the com- ing of the hour when he should "rest from his labors." Always hav- ing in mind the welfare of Fort Wayne, he worked unceasingly for the establishment of the immense railroad shops and other manu- facturing industries here. He was associated in the establishing of the woolen factory, the great Bass foundry and machine shops, the Olds factories and other industrial undertakings whose inception and maintenance depended largely upon his capital.
Judge Hanna literally remained in the harness until called upon to obey the inexorable summons of death, his final illness having been of comparatively brief duration. He passed to his reward on the IIth of June, 1866, in the fulness of years and well-earned honors. The city of his home and his affections returned then its tribute of grief, appreciation and deprivation. The city council passed resolu- tions of sorrow, the bells of all churches tolled, and, amid somber draperies on every side, a procession fully two miles in length fol- lowed his mortal remains to their last resting place, in Lindenwood cemetery. Thus ended the pure and noble life of one whose memory must ever be cherished by the citizens of Fort Wayne, which owes so much to him. In his religious faith Judge Hanna was in sympathy with the Presbyterian church, in which he was a ruling elder at the time of his death. In a fraternal way he was a member of the time- honored order of Free and Accepted Masons.
On the 7th of March, 1822, at Fort Wayne, Judge Hanna mar-
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ried Miss Eliza Taylor, who was born at Buffalo, New York, in 1803, the daughter of Israel and Mary (Blar) Taylor, natives of Massa- chusetts. She came to Fort Wayne in 1820, from Dayton, Ohio, on a visit to her sister, Mrs. Suttenfield. She made the trip out in a sleigh, but, the snow disappearing, she was compelled to delay her return. About the same time, her father purchased the land east of Fort Wayne now known as White's addition, where he built and oc- cupied the house now known as the Golf Club house. Mrs. Hanna was in many respects a remarkable woman, possessing nobility of character, great personal courage, and the ability to handle the affairs of home and society with ease. In her heart and home there was al- ways "room for one more." Though she already had the care and responsibility of rearing her own eight sons, she also took into her home Samuel Chute, the son of the first pastor of the First Presby- terian church here, an act which the beneficiary has always remem- bered with affection and gratitude. Mrs. Hanna's long life was spent in well-doing and she was beloved by a large circle of relatives and friends. Although delicate in appearance, she possessed a strong con- stitution and was very active all her life. Her death occurred on February 12, 1888, at Fort Wayne, in the house which she had oc- cupied for so many years. It is worthy of note that Mrs. Hanna's paternal grandfather Blar was an officer in the American army during the war of the Revolution, and that at the time of his death he was only a year short of one hundred years old.
Of the children of Judge and Mrs. Hanna we make the following mention : Jesse Bayless, the eldest son, was a member of the firm of S. Hanna & Sons, engaged in the general merchandise business at the corner of Columbia and Barr streets, Fort Wayne, the old build- ing being still in existence; Amos Thomas was also connected with this firm; Henry Clay was at one time in the grocery business in Fort Wayne and was also a partner in the firm of N. G. & H. G. Olds & Company; Charles was a partner in the firm of French, Hanna & Company, engaged in the manufacture of woolen goods; Samuel Teford was associated with his father in the railroad business, being the latter's private secretary while he was president of the Grand Rapids & Indiana Railroad Company; Samuel D. was a public-spir- ited man and at one time was an alderman in this city ; Horace Hovey
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was the partner with J. H. Bass in the firm known as Bass & Hanna; William Willis was a partner in the firm of French, Hanna & Com- pany, woolen manufacturers; Hugh Taylor, the only surviving son, is at present a resident of Fort Wayne; the only daughter, Eliza, is the wife of Fred J. Hayden, of Fort Wayne, whose sketch appears elsewhere in this volume.
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JAMES L. WORDEN.
One of the conspicuous figures in the history of Indiana is the distinguished jurist and lawyer to whom this memoir is dedicated. He was honored as a citizen and his career conferred credit and dignity upon the commonwealth of whose supreme court he was an associate justice, while his abilities significantly heightened the fame of the bench and bar of the state. He held distinctive precedence as an eminent lawyer, statesman and jurist and as a man of high intellectual attainments, his reading and investigations having been carried into almost every realm of thought which has engaged the attention of the brightest minds of the world. A strong mentality, an invincible courage and a most determined individuality so entered into his make-up as to render him a natural leader of men and a director of opinion. No name is more honored in the annals of Fort Wayne than his, and it is essential to the consistency of this publi- cation that a tribute to this strong and noble citizen be entered within its pages.
James Lorenzo Worden was born in Sandisfield, Berkshire county, Massachusetts, on the 10th of May, 1819, being a son of John and Jane Worden and a scion of sturdy New England stock, the respective families having been founded in America in the early colonial era of our national history. When Judge Worden was about eight years of age his father died, and a year or two later he accompanied his widowed mother on her removol to Portage county, Ohio, where he passed his youth on a farm and received such ad- vantages as were afforded in the common schools of the locality and period, while he early manifested a marked predilection for literary pursuits. At the age of nineteen years he began the study of law, and in 1839, for the purpose of further prosecuting his technical
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reading and discipline, he entered the office of Thomas T. Straight, a representative member of the bar in Cincinnati, Ohio. In 184I he was admitted to the bar of the supreme court of Ohio, at Lan- caster, and for two or three years thereafter was engaged in the practice of his profession in Tiffin, that state. In the spring of 1844 the future jurist removed to Columbia City, Whitley county, Indiana, where he opened a law office, while he took an active part in the presidential campaign of that year, working in the interests of the Democratic party, to which he gave an unequivocal allegiance throughout life. In the autumn of 1845 Judge Worden, who had married in the meanwhile, removed to Albion, Noble county, where he soon gained distinctive recognition in his profession, building up a representative practice. In 1848, while still resident of Albion, he made quite a reputation and made friends in Fort Wayne by the brilliant manner in which he conducted the prosecution of a man who had been indicted for murder in Noble county, the case having been transferred to Allen county on change of venue. In harmony with the solicitations of these new friends he removed to Fort Wayne in 1849, and here he continued to make his home until the close of his long and useful life. In 1850 he was elected prosecuting attorney for the twelfth judicial circuit, embracing the counties of Allen, Adams, Wells, Huntington, Whitley, Noble, Steuben, La- Grange and Dekalb, and he remained an incumbent of this office three years. Two years after his election the state was redistricted for judicial purposes, and Allen county became a part of the tenth circuit, which also included the counties of Adams, Wells, Hunt- ington, Wabash, Whitley, Noble, Dekalb, LaGrange, Steuben, Elk- hart and Kosciusko. A year later the counties of Huntington and Wabash were taken from the circuit. Of this tenth circuit Mr. Worden was appointed judge in 1855, by Governor Joseph A. Wright, to fill a vacancy. At a general election, in the autumn of that year, Judge Worden was elected to the bench of the circuit for a full term of six years, without opposition. Judge Worden was a lawyer and not a practical politician, and had no desire for an office which would deflect him from the line of his profession. In 1857, however, while he was still on the bench, his popularity was such that, contrary to his known inclination, his party associates made
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him their candidate for congress. The district being largely Repub- lican, he met defeat with the remainder of the party ticket. In 1858 he resigned his position on the bench to accept the appointment, ten- dered by Governor Williard, as associate justice of the supreme court of the state, to fill a vacancy caused by the resignation of Judge Stuart, of Logansport, and he delivered his first opinion in the case of Mills et al. versus the state of Indiana, ex rel., Barbour et al. reported in 10 Indiana, 114, said opinion being delivered in open court on the first day of the May term of that year. In 1859 he was elected a judge of the supreme court for a full term of six years, ending in January, 1865. In 1864 he was renominated for another term, but suffered, the defeat which attended the party ticket in general.
In January, 1865, at the close of his service on the supreme bench, Judge Worden returned to Fort Wayne and engaged in the general practice of his profession. In the following May he was elected mayor of the city, but after remaining incumbent of the office about a year he resigned the same, in order to give his undivided attention to his practice, which had become large and important. From that time until January, 1871, he was associated in practice with Hon. John Morris, who was his lifelong and most intimate and confidential friend and of whom a memoir appears on other pages of this work. In 1870 Judge Worden was again elected a judge of the supreme court of the state, serving the full term of six years, at the expiration of which, in 1876, he was renominated by his party. After the state convention a person, whose name need not be mentioned here, being disappointed and dissatisfied with some appointments which had been made by the supreme court, raised an unreasonable and unfounded clamor about the expenses of that tribunal. Some of the judges who had been renominated by the same convention concluded, unwisely and unnecessarily, to decline the nomination and to leave the matter to be adjusted by the Democrats of each of the supreme-court judicial districts. Judge Worden was thus called upon, as are all men long in public life, to meet the complaints and charges of the jealous, envious and disappointed. The state was then, as now, divided into five supreme-court judicial districts, corresponding with the number of judges on the supreme bench. The constitution of the state re-
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quired, and still requires, that a judge of the supreme court shall reside in each of those districts, although they are elected by the people of the entire state. Judge Worden's district comprised the counties of Allen, Whitley, Huntington, Wells, Adams, Grant, Black- ford, Jay, Delaware, Randolph, Howard, Madison, Hancock, Henry, Wayne, Fayette, Union and Franklin. In compliance with the order of the Democratic state central committee, a convention was called and assembled in that district and was attended by the most influential and substantial men of the party. Judge Worden's private and official life was not only approved and commended but it was also unanimously resolved that he should stand as the candidate for the position of supreme judge. That decision was approved by the people, and he was re-elected by a handsome majority. By virtue of this election Judge Worden entered upon his third term as judge of the supreme court in January, 1877, so that his term would expire in January, 1883. In 1882 his friends throughout the state insisted that he should become a candidate for re-election, but he felt that after having served on the supreme bench and performed the arduous and exacting labors involved during a period of almost nineteen years, he should not further prolong the service, and he declined re- nomination. Upon this declination becoming known, his friends at home determined to place him upon the bench of the superior court of Allen county, and he was nominated and elected to that position without opposition, at the general election in November, 1882. This rendered it necessary for him to resign his position upon the supreme bench, which he did soon after the election. He at once entered upon the discharge of his duties as judge of the superior court, and he remained in tenure of the office until his death, which occurred at half past nine o'clock on the evening of the 2d day of June, 1884. His death caused a wave of sorrow to sweep over the entire state which he had honored and by which he had been honored. Upon the 4th of June a meeting of the Allen county bar was held, and ad- dresses of highest commendation of the deceased were delivered by Judge Morris, Hon. J. K. Edgerton and other representative members of the local bar, while similar words of eulogy and sorrow came from the judges of the supreme court, the governor of the state and other distinguished men of Indiana. At the funeral those who had been
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Judge Worden's associates on the supreme bench, and also his suc- cessor, and Judge Morris, his longtime associate in practice and also associated with him as a commissioner of the supreme court, acted as pall bearers. At the opening of the November term of the supreme court in 1884, a meeting of the bar was held and Judge Morris, in behalf of that bar, presented an address upon the life, character and work of Judge Worden, and the court ordered the same to be spread upon its records and published in one of the reports of the decisions of the court.
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