USA > Indiana > Carroll County > Recollections of the early settlement of Carroll County, Indiana > Part 11
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With sentiments of high regard, I remain yours,
JOHN DUMONT.
HORATIO J. HARRIS.
THIS gentleman was born, if we mistake not, in New- ark, Ohio, and was the son of Dr. Harris, a prominent physician of that place. He graduated at Miami Uni- versity ; soon after which he came to Indianapolis, and resided for a short time in the family of Nicholas M'Carty, who was an old friend of his father. Not long afterward he procured the appointment of assist-
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ant engineer on the Wabash and Erie Canal, and in that capacity came to the Wabash. Some of the young men of this place having made the personal acquaint- ance of Mr. H., through their influence he was selected to deliver the Fourth of July oration, at the celebration of the National Anniversary, in 1837. Being a small man, and presenting nothing very intellectual in his ap- pearance, public expectation was by no means high. The surprise was very great, therefore, when the day came, and he pronounced the finest address ever listened to in the county.
Not many months afterward, he entered the office of Messrs. White & Lockwood, attorneys-at-law in La- fayette, and commenced the study of that profession.
In June, 1838, he returned to Delphi, and com- menced the practice of law.
In 1840, he was nominated by the Democratic party and elected, from the counties of Carroll and Clinton, to the State Senate, having been elected principal clerk of the House of Representatives the preceding Winter. At the expiration of his term as senator, in the Winter of 1843-4, he was elected Auditor of State. Having served ont his term as State Auditor, Mr. H. spent a few months in the city of New York, assisting the Agent of State in carrying the Butler bill into operation.
Having, in 1847, married an adopted daughter of Joseph E. Davis, of Mississippi (brother of Jefferson Davis), Mr. Harris removed to Jackson, Mississippi, and after remaining there about two years, he removed to Vicksburg. Through the influence of Jeff. Davis, who was a son-in-law of General Taylor, Mr. Harris, although a Democrat, received from President Taylor the appoint- ment of District Attorney for Mississippi, which office he continued to hold for several years, and perhaps up to the time of his death.
The author has a large bundle of letters from Mr.
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Harris, many of which would be interesting to the pub- lic; but he regrets that he can find room but for a few of them. The first one was written from Lafayette, while he was reading law. The following is a copy :
LAFAYETTE, October 8, 1837.
MY DEAR FRIEND STEWART,-Writing to you thus carly in reply to yours of yesterday, will indicate a de- termination to be a punctual correspondent, whether I have any other good quality as such or not. For the expression of your good-will toward me, I can only, at present, make you the return of my sincerest gratitude ; but I trust that the time may come when I shall be able to afford you a more substantial and valuable recom- pense. Wherever my future lot may be cast, whether in the rich valley of my native West, or in the sunny climes of the palmy South, I shall ever make it a mat- ter of pride that the reports that may reach your ears of my conduct, will convey the gratification of knowing that your counsel and your friendship have not been without their effect in molding my character to all that is honored and honorable in human nature. And I shall look to it also, that under no circumstances of life the charge may be brought against me of having undervalued the kindness of those who were my friends at a time when most I needed them, and when their friendship for me could be liable to no imputation of insincerity, no suspicion of cold-hearted and schem- ing selfishness. "Sweet are the uses of adversity," says the great poet; but in my estimation it has nothing more sweet than its power to test the purity of fecling and the strength of principle-a power equally efficient, whether it be brought to bear upon social, religious, or political life. Clouded and convulsed as my short life has been, I should, in all probability, long since have given myself up to dark and gloomy thoughts, if not to
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despair, had I not in some way or other, God only knows how, been successful in securing the smiles and the ap- probation of a host of friends to brighten my pathway and cheer me in my onward and upward progress. Among these, be assured, that you stand like Saul among his brethren, head and shoulders above them all. Per- haps I ought to except two or three, but I have not time at present to analyze my feeling accurately enough to de- termine whether I should do so or not. But I shall grow tedious by writing any thing further of this description.
You are not the first one of my acquaintance who has given me the reputation of possessing ambition in a predominating degree. In fact, I have heard it objected to me more than once, that I have carried that passion to excess, and consequently to criminality ; but I have never thought so myself, and probably never shall. My own persuasion remains now, what it has long been, that the evils arising from an ambition like mine, will be only a personal inconvenience, while the good that may result from its exercise may be lasting and general: and, looking upon it in this light, I can certainly feel myself under no obligations to check, to repress, or destroy it. I trust I shall ever be found seeking to attain honorable ends by honorable means-bowing in submission to the dictum of no one without the exercise first of my own judgment, and conceding not one iota of my principles, until my own observation, reason, or experience convinces me that I am wrong, and that those who oppose me are right. In this way I hope that if, in the end, I shall have but little to congratulate myself upon, I shall at least have noth- ing to regret ; that if I should not be so fortunate as to sit in high places, among the wealthy, the influential, and the honored, I shall nevertheless, within an appro- priate sphere, be useful, respected, and respectable. Your advice with reference to the subject to which I
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alluded in my last, has determined me to follow out what was my own inclination before I wrote. If we can only get C. to aid, even indirectly, in tomahawking the measures, and scalping the principles of some of our great little men, we can then probably induce him to be of some use to the party to which he nominally belongs. Otherwise, I am afraid he will be of no more consequence than the salt about Jerusalem that has lost its savor.
I hardly know how to defend myself against the charge of having written poetry, as this is the first time it was ever brought, and consequently startles me much by its novelty. A general denial of the fact, I suppose, is all that is left me. I know of no young lady in Delphi whose eyes could induce me to make so great a blunder, except our friend Julia's, and begging her pardon a thousand times, I do not think that even hers, bright, beautiful, and witching as they are, could accom- plish so great a victory. God knows that there are enough miserable ingredients in my composition already, without being cursed with a desire to scribble poetry. It is, however, a matter of but little consequence at any rate, and rather than the verses should go out into the world like penniless orphans, at the next meeting of the pro- bate court of the Muses, I will sue out letters of admin- istration, and have myself appointed guardian.
Our friend, the colonel, is here yet, and looks as hale and smiling as if he had fifty Democratic victories inside of him. Present the assurance of my high re- gard to Mrs. Stewart, and my compliments to all other friends, should I be so fortunate as to have any besides her. You must please consider this letter as an off- hand, random one, and wait till next time, with the expectation of receiving a better. In the mean time think of me as
Your sincere friend, HORATIO J. HARRIS.
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P. S .- I have just got the Oracle, and read the poetry of which you speak. E'hew ! a mixture of ice and salt would not cool that fellow off. If you should hear of any one dying of spontaneous combustion, my word on it, he is the man who wrote the poetry.
FROM THE SAME.
LAFAYETTE, November 7, 1837.
FRIEND STEWART,-I have not had time to answer your letter of the 5th as soon as you wished, and in- deed, have not, even now, leisure enough to compose any thing that may be worthy of a perusal. I mention this fact in advance, in order that your indulgence may be extended toward me, should you find me even duller than is usual with me (which is dull enough, God knows), and feel inclined, after having waded through the mud and mire of my thoughts, to throw my letter aside with a hearty curse on my hapless head for troubling you with such trash. So much for an apology-a thing that I hate in my very soul, but which I feel sometimes obliged to make.
I read the last Oracle with some attention, and was much pleased with the tone in which a number of the editorials were written. The editor seems, in my judg- ment, to have taken the proper course with reference to those soulless things called " Banks ;" and as a mem- ber of the Democratic party, I should be gratified to see all the papers that profess to advocate our principles take the same bold and fearless stand. In these days of political apostasy, when a man's friends are too often like Job's comforters, the duty devolves the more imperiously upon the truly faithful to make the stronger and more untiring exertions to rescue the cause of Republican freedom from the perils that surround it. The great question, whether the Bank shall triumph over the Government, or the Government over the
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Bank, should be presented before the people, and always kept in their view. That is, indeed, the true issue, and the one which must ultimately be joined. Any other would only delay the determination of the case, and be productive of fresh and greater evils. I look upon a total separation of the Government from the banks as an event that must sooner or later occur ; and why may it not as well be now as at some future day, when the poison shall have penetrated deeper and spread wider, and when the strength of the patient is less able to bear the necessary and unavoidable pain of the remedy? Why should we not as well calk the consti- tutional ship, while her bottom discloses only a single leak-hole, as to wait in blind recklessness until the worms have gnawed her timbers to dust, and she begins, as the waters gush in from every side, to settle down to a fathomless grave ? Shall we advise our physician to defer his prescriptions until the death-rattle is in our throats, the eyes are wild, the cheeks pallid, the frame nerveless, and the pulse gone ? Shall we wait until the impetuous current is dashing us against the rocks, and sweeping us irresistibly onward to the brink of the precipice, before we shall begin to think about the means of escape ? Shall we fold our arms and close our eyes, until the conflagration has gained its mightiest power, and the wealth of years of toil is perishing in a moment, and then begin to stir ourselves to check the progress of desolation ? Surely not. In a madman, such a course might be expected, but never could it be deemed the dictate of wisdom or the admonition of prudence. Now is the accepted time, and now is the day of salvation for the country, from the destruc- tive power of grasping, moneyed monopolies. Let the occasion be embraced as it ought, and the people will be free; let it be deferred, and their chains are forged. I know not when I shall come to
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Delphi, not for a week or two at least. My engage- ments with Mr. Lockwood will not permit me to stay with you any length of time. Pray tell me when the Thespians again astonish the natives? It may be that I can make it convenient to attend, and laugh at their tragedies and weep at their comedies. Are you one of them ? If so, I beg pardon for the last remark.
FROM THE SAME.
LAFAYETTE, May 8, 1868.
DEAR STEWART,-On next Sunday morning I shall start for Indianapolis to procure me a law library. After staying there long enough to get heartily tired of that sink-hole of political iniquity and corruption, which will take but a short time, I shall return here, and from here take up the line of march to Delphi, to commence practising as an attorney and counselor-at- law. I am resolved on this, and trust it will be for the best. I am aware that there will be many difficulties in my way, but you know I am not one of those who will venture nothing for fear there may be a " lion in the street." Lockwood goes in with me for that county ; but this between ourselves. Pray write me by return mail, and tell me whether I can have a comfortable office and a good boarding-house. I shall have my shingle nailed up by the 10th of June at farthest.
I heard, with much sorrow, of the death of your boy. There, indeed, would seem something like a fatality hanging over your children. Aware, as I am, how deeply your affections were centered in that child, I can readily conceive that the blow must have been more than an ordinarily severe one, both to you and to your wife. The dispensations of Providence are often dark and inscrutable, but should be bowed to in sub- mission, both as a dictate of reason, as well as religion. Remember me kindly to your wife, and assure her how
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much of happiness I anticipate from the continued manifestations of her friendship for me.
FROM THE SAME.
INDIANAPOLIS, December 12, 1839.
DEAR STEWART,-The Eastern mail this evening brings the news that Harrison has received the nomi- nation for President, and Tyler, of Virginia, for Vice- President. What think you of that? Can we muster sufficient force in Indiana to give her vote for Matty? I think we can, though the leading Whigs here think we can not.
Poor Tallmadge is laid on the shelf, to sleep unhonored and unknown. His fate I pity not; he has met a traitor's reward ; his treason was a grievous fault, and grievously hath Cæsar answered it.
It can not be concealed that the nomination of Har- rison will operate more injuriously upon the interests of our party, as far as this State is concerned, than the nomination of either Clay or Scott. The contest here will be a severe one, but if things are properly man- aged, if we bring out the proper man for governor on the 8th, and organize our party well, we are sure of success. Should we make a misstep on that day, or should our Legislature, in its action during the present session, give the Whigs any ground for objection, we may lose the State. I learn, by letter from Delphi, that probably no one will attend our Convention as a dele- gate from Carroll. We must be represented, however, and should Henry Bruce, Milroy, and myself, or either of us, be authorized to represent our county, I wish you would write me fully what you think are the wishes of our county, and generally, what you think the Convention should do. The probability at present is, that Ewing, of Cass, will receive the nomination for governor, and some one from the south, Mr. Tuley, for
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instance, that of lieutenant-governor. Would that be a strong team? How would Ewing go off in our county ? Dr. - has written me a letter, in which he states that, although he had no intention, when first spoken of, to present his name to the Convention, he has finally determined to do so, and requests that I should stand his friend. This places me, or rather would place me, in a delicate situation, should I be ap- pointed a delegate. Should I not vote for him, I incur, of course, his eternal displeasure, and to vote for him would be doing a very foolish thing. Every man knows that he can not be elected if nominated.
. No organization of the House of Representa- tives in Congress up to the 6th inst. The probability of a row-a real Harrisburg affair-brightens every day. God only knows in what it will end. . . . Write me immediately, and believe me your sincere friend.
FROM THE SAME.
INDIANAPOLIS, January 1, 1840.
DEAR STEWART,-Your letter of the 26th was duly received. Whitcomb absolutely refuses to be presented to the Convention, and Read will probably do the same ; so your instructions are of no avail. I am satisfied, from what I have heard in the last three or four days, that General Howard will receive the nomination. Every part of the State is uniting upon him, and calling upon him to run. Tuley, of Floyd, will perhaps be the candidate for lieutenant-governor. In my opinion, this will be a strong ticket; it can not and will not be beaten. Should Howard accept the nomination, there will be a vacancy in my Congressional district, which it will be hard to fill with one of our party. Lane will be the Whig candidate, and will be a strong one, too. Hannegan could beat him, but no other man of our party could.
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FROM THE SAME.
SENATE CHAMBER, January 8, 1841.
DEAR STEWART,-Your books have been forwarded to you via Logansport. The delay was occasioned by the absence of Mr. Slater.
I received your letter inclosing two petitions, one on the subject of procuring the location of a bank at Delphi, and the other, praying that the members of the Carroll Light Infantry may be exempted from poll-tax and working on the roads. It is perfectly idle to think of getting a bank at our town, as there are two branches already authorized which can not be put in operation for the want of funds. The State has no money to take stock with. But even if that insur- mountable objection were not in the way, I doubt very much the propriety of having any such institution in our place. The corrupting influence of banks is well known, and I never wish to live near one, much less to have any connection with them.
We have passed the law repealing our mode of doing township business. It takes effect from the time of filing a certified copy thereof in your office. I will - have it forwarded to you for publication immediately. We have .no news of any consequence. Legislation is progressing slowly, and without much excitement.
FROM THE SAME.
INDIANAPOLIS, January 9, 1840.
DEAR STEWART,-We had the greatest convention, it is acknowledged on all hands, that ever assembled in the state of Indiana. Men who do not generally take part in political contests of the day, but content them- selves with silently casting their votes, have flocked here by thousands, and such excitement, such con-
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fidence of success, such enthusiasm, I never saw, and perhaps the like was never seen here, or elsewhere. Nathaniel West, of this town, was appointed president ; two old Revolutionary soldiers, one of whom had fought under General Harrison, and two or three other dis- tinguished gentlemen were chosen vice-presidents; and Hutchins, Glenn, Ellis, and Carlton (of Fountain), ap- pointed secretaries. An address to the people of the state was presented by Robert Dale Owen, and unani- mously adopted. It is, indeed and in truth, one of the most able documents that has ever been issued from our conventions. Fifty thousand copies were ordered to be printed.
Who shall we run against Henry S. Lane, to supply Howard's vacancy ? Chamberlain and Hannegan are talked of, and no doubt Bryce and Jackson will wish to take the track. We will have hard times in the Seventh. A false step, and all is gone.
Dr. Grimes handed me your letter this morning. I write this while a debate is going on in . the House, and have not time to add more.
FROM THE SAME.
JACKSON, MISS., April 14, 1848.
DEAR STEWART,-The mail of Sunday last brought' me your acceptable letter, for which you have my hearty thanks. You can hardly imagine with what in- terest I read your narrative of the events which have taken place in my own town since I heard from it last, which is now more than a year ago. Death, it seems, has made sad havoc among our old acquaint- ances, and I infer from what you say, that the charac- ter of our portion of the Wabash country has not much improved as respects salubrity. Many of those whom you inform me are now " moldering cold and low," were the very pictures of good health when I saw them last;
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they have been stricken down, while such lean-visaged and weakly fellows as you and I are still the spared monuments of God's mercy. I was truly sorry to hear of our old friends, Wilson's and Milford's decease. . About a week ago, my wife and boy (now just a year old) eame up from her friends', and we have got regularly to housekeeping. We have a nice little home, about a mile from Jackson, consisting of fifty acres of land with a comfortable dwelling-house and out-houses. I walk to town every morning, return in the afternoon, and spend the cool of the evening at work in the garden. This will have a salutary effect upon my health. In reference to business matters, I have nothing new to write. My prospects seem flatter- ing, and so far, I am well pleased with the South. · I hope you will keep me advised of such matters and things in Carroll and other parts of the state, as you may think would interest me. Please remember me to Mrs. Stewart, and to Dr. Elliott, when you write to, or see, him. Give, also, my compliments to my old and valued friends, Mr. and Mrs. Buford, and Lucinda Greenup, and Captain Gist and lady.
With sentiments as in the olden time, yours truly, in F. L. and T., HORATIO J. HARRIS.
ALBERT S. WHITE.
WASHINGTON, July 15, 1861.
DR. J. H. STEWART-Dear Sir,-At your request I subjoin a personal memoir, which you may put through your sieve as often as you please, and if you act wisely, will perhaps rejeet the whole, since probably neither my " name nor station " will add to the interest of your history.
I was born in Blooming Grove, Orange County, N. Y., on the 24th of October, 1803. My paternal ances-
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tors (English) settled at Weymouth, Massachusetts, in 1636. Captain Thomas White, my first American an- cestor, was a member of the Legislature of Massachu- chetts Bay Colony, as early as 1638. His grandson, Ebenezer (my ancestor in the fifth degree), emigrated to Southhampton, on Long Island, near the close of the seventeenth century. He and his son, Silvanus, both graduates of Cambridge, were Presbyterian ministers. One settled at Southhampton, the other at Bridge- hampton, where he preached fifty-five years to one congregation. My grandfather, Silvanus, who was a farmer and son of the Rev. Silvanus, emigrated to Blooming Grove about 1755, and built the house, still standing, wherein both my father and myself were born. My father, Nathan H. White, graduated at Columbia College in 1791, being contemporary there with the father of the Rev. Samuel R. Johnson, D. D., late of Lafayette.
I was educated at Union College, where I graduated in 1822, under Dr. Nott; was lieensed as an attorney in the Supreme Court of New York, in 1825, and im- mediately emigrated to the West. Having practiced intermediately, first at Rushville and next at Paoli, I came to Lafayette in March, 1829. During the session of 1828-29, I reported the Legislative Debates for the Indiana Journal, which was the first session the current debates were reported in Indiana. From 1830 to 1835, I was clerk to the Indiana House of Representatives, two years assistant and three years principal. This was the period of the prosecution of our canal policy, which induced me thus to prolong my service as clerk, though adverse to my professional business at home. I at- tended all the earlier courts in Carroll, from the time of their inauguration in Mr. Baum's log house.
In 1833, I was an unsuccessful candidate against Ed- ward A. Hannegan for Congress; was elected in 1837, and served in the House of Representatives during the
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memorable Twenty-fifth Congress. The Calhoun policy, already adumbrated, of annexing Texas and expanding the area of the empire of slavery, produced a reaction, especially in New England, flooding Congress with pe- titions, most of which took extreme ground on the other side, and have not since been adopted in the platforms of any of the great political parties.
During my term in the House of Representatives, and afterward in the Senate, where I served from 1839 to 1845, I voted and acted with the conservative Whigs, steering, if possible, between the Scylla and Charybdis of this dangerous Mediterranean, adhering to every so- cial obligation in our constitutional compact, but per- sistently voting against the policy of Texas annexation in all its forms.
It was my fortune, while in Congress, to assist in obtaining the land grants for the extension of our canal, first to Terre Haute and afterward to Evansville. Leav- ing Congress in 1845, I resumed, for a short time, my profession, but soon renounced it entirely, and have since, with but little intermission (until 1860), been en- gaged in helping to pioneer and build the railroads penetrating the Upper Wabash Valley. I was president of the Lafayette and Indianapolis Railroad Co., from its organization until 1856, and, during three years of that period, served also as president of the (now) Toledo, Wabash, and Western Railroad Co., having, at the com- mencement of the last-named enterprise, negotiated with Eastern capitalists to become the principal proprietors, and to build the road. Its accomplishment, so useful to the country, has been attended with great loss to its proprietors.
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