Rensselaer Republican, Volume 17, Number 43, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 2 July 1885 — THE PUBLIC MEN OF INDIANA [ARTICLE]

THE PUBLIC MEN OF INDIANA

‘ Gath ” Talks Briefly of Hosier Governors and Other Prominent Men General Harrison, John Gibson, Thomas Posoj, Jennings, Hoble, Wallace, Bigger, Howard, Wbitoomb, Marshall and Wright. [Letter In Cincinnati Eminlrer.l Mr. George W. Julian, of Indiana, considers Harriaon's nomination to have been a political mistake, and t-ays that hi* election Involved no principle whatever: th»t he not only *onght to Introduce slavery into the West, bnt took side* with it St the admission of Miaaonn in 1830; was opposed to the light of petition on the subject ot slavery, and had declared that “only an incoherent devil could look with approbation upon the schemes of the Abolitionists." Th>> battle of Tippecanoe, fought on Indiana soil, killed and wounded nearly two hundred whites and about the same number of Indians. Among the killed was Col. Jo Davie**, the brother-in-law of Chief Justice Marshal), and also the District Attorney who had prosecuted Aaron Burr, in Kentuoky. Barr visited Vincennes while Harrison was Governor, and obtained some of lit* volunteer* there. The Governor succeeding Harrison, John Gibson, removed the public offices of the Territory to Corydon, a town hardly twenty mile* west of Lonisvllle, in Kentucky. It was this officer who, a* Secretary, saved tne life of Harrison from Tecumseh's tomahawk. The third Ten itorial Governor, Thos. Posey, was from the banks of the Potomac, and had been a Revolutionary and Indian officer, and for a while Senator from Virginia. He died from the disease* incidental to a residence in that new country, at an advanced age. In one of his messages to the Legislature at Corydon ho wrote; “‘I he settling state of my health will not almit ot my longer continuance at thl* place. 1 And myself badly situated on account of the want of modical aid; my physician Is at Louisville, and I have taken ah the medicine brought with mo. ’ At Corydon was hold tho convention which adopted the ArstPConstltution of Indiana. In 1810 the State entered the Federal Union, with Jonathan Jennings as tho Ar*t Governor, Christopher Harrison a* Lieutenant-governor, and William Hendricks Representative in Congress. This Mr. Hendricks was a native of General Bt. ClalrV county, in Pennsylvania, and settled: at 1 Cincinnati. Hi* home in Indiana was at Madison, and although be had boon only two years in the State, his behavior in the constitutional convention carried him to Congress and to the Governor’s oillce. He had three terms in Congress as the Territorial Delegate, and became the second -Governor of the Mate, and after serving two term* ho laid down office forever. He brought into Indiana a printing 1 re-» anti published the second newspai«r in the State. His nephew I* the Vice President of the United .States. an<P two of his sons were Killed on the Federal side In the late civil war. He was a Mcthodi*t, and there 1* said to be no picture extant of him. Ho accumulated a considerable estate, chiefly in tho vigorous young city of Madison. Gov. Jennings, above referred to, was a Presbyterian minister’s bod, from Jersey, and his •fine handwriting made him clerk of the Indiana Territorial Legislature. He was the Arst determined opponent in Indiana of slavery taking root upon the soil, and the Attorney General of the Territory, Thomas Randolph, was equally ardent to encourage the institution. In the early settlement of Indiana the Vir-ginia-dcscendcd peopL, who held most of the official places, wanted slavery, while the New Jersey and Pennsylvania people, who finally got control of the Btate at ter it ceased to Ire a Territory', wanted the principles of the Articles of Confederation to stand. Hlavery virtually existed here for years, and slav es w< re bought and sold in the public market contrary to luw. A late reviewer of the Htate sat • that "public sentiment at Vincennes was aa pro-slavery as it Was at Richmond,” The Middle btate men were warmly seconded in their hostility to slavery by the Carolina Quakers, who came not only from North but from Bouth Carolina, and settled in the eastern portion of the Btate. These supported Mr. Jenirings almost to a man, and he defeated Randolph by a plurality, eiich getting little more than fonr hundred votes. Had Randolph gone to Congress, he would have Mt to work there to have the prohibitory danse repealed. One of the Terrltori'4 Judges from the Houth, named Taylor, endeavored to provoke Gov. Jennings into a duel. The pro-slavery candidate set up against him. Mr. Posey, got nearly 1,310 votes less. The first message of this Pennsylvania *don said: “I recommend to your consideration the propriety of providing by Jaw to 1 prevent more e.'iectually any nniawinl attempt* to seize and carrV into bondage person* of color legally entitled to their freedom.” Kidnaping pestered Indiana down to the very brink of the rebellion. It was Gov. Jennings who. in 1810, bad his Commissioners to lay Ont Indtanapo Is. He made the Indian treaties opening Indiana to white settlement, and, being sent to Congress, relapsed into too convivial habits there, anti shortened ids life. Mr. Randolph, aboye referred to, was a cousin of John Randolph of Roanoke, and bad married a daughter of Sir John Bklmvorth, and later a granddaughter ot Gen. Bt. Clair, Territorial Governor. In the political feuds of Indiana fights were not uncommon, and Randolph was once stabbed with a dirk, and be cut his adversary to the face with a pocket knife. Randolph and his belligerent friend Taylor, above referred to, were both killed at Tippecanoe. As soon as Indiana entered the Union, a university was created by law at Vincennes. James Brown Kay. a Kentncklan by birth, who succeeded William as Governor, was a peculiar Individual, who * 1 ways registered his name on steamboat* and at hotel* with the title added. In hi* Old age the boys wonid see him stopping in the street* and writing words in the atr with bis cane. On one occasion attbehanse- > ing of some white persons for murdering Indi-

an», one of th< ee. was pardoned'on *h® scaffold, anti the Governor rode to the v allows, where the voting man wa* seated on bis coffin. "Stand np," said the Governor to the astonished prisoner. “Do yon know in whose presence yon stand?" The nnfortnnat* man shook his head "There are hut two powers known to the law," suavely said toe Governor, "that can save yon from hang nc bv the neck until yon are dead One Is the errea. God ©? the universe the other 1* J. Brown Ray, Governor of the State of Indiana. The latter stands before yon. f Here he handed the yonn* man a written pardon, j Von are pardoned." The fourth Indiana Governor, Noah Softie, was a Virginian, at wbOse funeral, in mi, Rev. Henry Ward Beecher. then a citizen of Indians, performed some Of the services. The next Governor of the htate, David Wallace, a Pennsylvanian, pat in nomination for the Presidency on the held of Tippecanoe, In' va<■„ Gen. Harrison, and William Boas Wallace reed a po- in. The next Governor, Samuel JBigzer, was of the first crop of Western-bom men, a native of Ohio, and educated at one of her early co!lez< s. ‘ Hebesran the practice of law at Liberty,Tad., where General fcumslde’s father was clerk of court, and where Bomt.de himseif was born of parents descended from r ootn Carolina people. Burnside, It may be said in passing, was the most conspicuous officer Indians produced In the war. lie wa* sent to West Point by the ftiend*hlp of Caleb B. Smith, whose coat. It Is said, Burnside bad mended when he was a tailor's apprentice m the little town of Liberty. Barn-isle was born la a log cabin In Indiana. Hi* father, Edgehill B maide. a native of Booth Carolina, became a 1 edge. After be bad led his prominent career In the army. General Baraside built a railroad in Indiana, though he had become a citizen of Rhode Island, where he was married and bad been stationed before the war -• Governor Bigger, from the sane town of Liberty, was beaten by the Method st Church for re-election, he having raid, it was believed, when legislation was required for Asbarr University, in Indiana, that the Methodist Church did not need an educ ted rierry—an Ignorant cicrzy was better suited toll. Bssuop Arne* remarked on this; "It was the .men comer that defeated Bigger, and I hid a hand in the wort' ... * Mr. Bizcer defeated the most sots Me Democrat Indiana po**eesed prior to the war except /ease P. Bright. Tfcss was Tiijrtrggp a. Howard. Mr. Bigger was in tom ccleared by .lame* Whitcomb. who stands next to Howard in Democratic popularity among the Htate Governors. How-' ard was a native of iW/ntb Carolina, tboegb probably ot Maryland antecedents: hit father wa* a reToiariouary soldier arid a Baptist preacher. H s yonth was passed la the county of Buncombe, which be has the credit ot having introduced to the wortdl He told a story in one of ti< speeches that a representative m the North C irofina Legt*Ut«rre from Buncombe County, when called to order by the speaker for aptesnfinthg h-uwetf to the <joe**i&n at hmm, repßed: "My speech is nog for the Legislature: hi* aB for Buncombe.” Mr- Howard remerred to ftstewet. and Ku tied law wMfe Hugh L. V. Jtto. Ifcere he hacatte a friend of ‘•am Hesntoh- Governor of the htate- and year* after west as representa-tveof thej.arted iteatestothe LepoUteof Texas. He took **• teTec there, an-. at Hcwrtoa. foe capital pf Texas. w» :»w, ag the early age of forJactoonfo Preeidesthti r.Dvxor* Ia Indiana. »***« &*•****« *» psactcee la*, be. became Isaac* Whitcomb s partner, and they mads the

-« • ■ -- - * f _ (U.a. ridOA# fa«| MrOnKMi I6k&i firm in umoi ni* JSS.feSiL'SKSMAaS'feK Ister. Gen. Jackson made Howard an Indian Commissioner *nd District Attorney, rad be wm only prevented from reaching the Governorship in 1840 by the popularity of Gen. Harrison, who w»* running for President. , There was a for os of character and ,a manly honesty about TUghman Howard wbiob loft a long Impression on the young Democrat* of Abo Bute, an one of bis letters b* wrote; "Never write to any bnt men of distinction." In another : "I have considered the matter of a public dinner. It is not Democratic." He was finally beaten for the United State# Senate by Edward A. Hannegan, and H la said that when an attempt was made to sell votes to Gen. Howard be replied t[iat he scorned the proffer, and refnaed to continue any longer in tbe contest. He was not a college man, but waa full of knowledge. On one occasion, upon making a public speech, h ■ read siouu a newspaper article charging him with a disreputable set. Having read tbe article through aloud he threw the paper down without a word and proceeded with his speech. Tbe legislature of Indiana some years after hi* death passed an set to remove his remains from Texas to the Bute of hi* citizenship. James Wbitoomb. hi* partner, was a Vermont boy, who cgme In childhood to Ohio, and went to collego at licxlngt n, Ky„ matm»tnlne himself by teaching In vaoatlon. He waa admitted to the bar at Lexington, and then settled at Bloomington, Ind , tbe seat of one of the most flourishing schools. Governor Ray. from Kentucky, already referred to, appointed him a I’rosecut ing Attorney. Ho entered the .State Legislature at the time the passion for Internal Improvement was general, and resisted it, and hence, upon the <ollap«4 he obtained the support of the poor Ux -payer*. Besides, resisting Internal improvements greatly recommended h m to President Jackson, who had antagonized Henry Clay on that point. Jack non made him Commissioner of the General Land Office at Washington, and he held that place for eight years. It i* a tradition that he learned the French and Spanish language* in order to comprehend tbe land grants. In course of time Thomas A. Hendrick* also took his office, there being an Indiana precedent tor holding it. Whitcomb, after bis long tenure at Washington, returned to Indiana aged fortysix, and opened a law office it Terre Haute. His practice became large, land case* being noUble then, and in two year* bo was nominated for Governor. He was elected, beating Joseph O. Marshall by nearly four thousand vote*. This man Marshall, by the way, wa* a most rebtarkahle character. A native of Kentucky and a Presbyterian preacher * son, be went to the lame college with Whitcomb, and partly at the same time, and also came to Indiana and settled at the flourishing business town of Madison, which has produced such banking house* a* Lanier <fe Co.’s. Marshall became sWhlg, wa* a Judge, and, after being beaten by Whitcomb for Governor, he tried in vain to enter the United Btate* Kenate. Hi* opponent at that time was Jesse D. Bright, who refused to let the Democrat* go into the election. Bright, a* Lieutenant Governor, gave the casting vote against this election. The next year Bright was sent to tbe Benate. Instead or Marshall, by a small majority. These two men, living in Madison, hated each other with bitter fury. Marshall would bare been sent to the Benate in 18 ,i but for the Democrats refusing to go into a-i election. Marshall was probably the ablest W hig Indiana ever had, and some think tbe ablest man the Btato ever had. He was the Tom Corwin of Indiana, with more tenacity of purpose. Although a Kentuckian, betook an earnest antislavery position, and difended Abolitionist* and those who broke the fugitive-slave law. Bright and Marshall were about to have a duel ,in I*6l, and Marshall lay for Bright with a bowle knife on the streets of Madison. Gen. McKee Dunn, who is still alive In Washington, was one of the seconds of Marshall when he was about to fight Henator Bright. John Dcfree* tailed Marshall "the Webster of Indiana." To return to Governor Whitcomb. He came into power when the Htate was suffering with debt,‘«nd paying lo interest, and In his administration resumption became feasible. He wa* one of the anthor* of the philanthropic Btate Institutions, and he called out the soldiers for the-Mexican war, five regiment*. Being sent to the United Htate* Senate, bo wa* attacked with gravel and died in New York nine year* before tbe war. Joseph A. Wright, whom I knew personally, having met him in Berlin, when tie wa* Minister thi re during the war between Austria and Prussia in 1*66, wa* one of tbe lmme<lla:« links be- - tween the old Democratic party and the present Republican party. He came from the same town in Pennsylvania where James G. Blaine was educated, Little Washington. At Bloomington College he made Are* and rang bell* to set hi* schooling, and did a little brick-work and masonry also, lie went to Rockville to practice law, slid was sent to tbe Btate Legislature in 1838, to the Btate Benate on tbe great Harrison boom of into, next to Congress, and, having been once defeated for Governor, he was elected in 185 v, and the Pierce administration sent him to Prussia. After Jesse D. Bright wa* expelled from the United Btate* Benate, Gov. Morton saw a chance to reconcile one wing of the Democracy, and he appointed Wright, snd soon after Mr. Lincoln sent him back to Germany, and there be died in 1867, Jn Prussia he spent most of hi* time in extricating naturalized American* from their own lollies or the persecutions of Bismarck. .

htate Item*. —Green castle and vicinity are rapidly acquiring a reputation as a fruit-growing center. 'JgL -•-• —— 7 —The several national banks at Lafayette refuse to pay the tax on their capital stock, and the Lafayette National has made a test case. r-The catalogue of De Pauw University makes a pamphlet of 126 pages, containing all necessary statistics and information concerning the university, —lndianapolis treats tramps after the fashion prescribed in Boston in the Wayfarer’s Lodge, and last year made a profit on its wood-yards over all expenses of SSOO. —An insane man named A. H, Somers, captured la Colorado and now held at Greeley, that Btate, is thought to he a former resident of Wabash, He was barefooted and bareheaded, and his feet and hands torn and bleeding from contact with the cactus. —Relatives of John Butcher, who murdered a man near Oakland City, and then, it is supposed, committed suicide, breathe threats of rengeanee. They say Butcher did not kill himself, but was shot by an officer. Persons who assisted in the pursuit of Butcher hare been arior.ymott-.ijr warned.

—Alexander Adair, an o.'d resident of Indianapoh-*, died suddenly in the house of a colored fam ly to whom he rented one of bis house*, and with whom hej lived- He owed eo-fddeeabie property, a:,<\ left three sons whose address are not known. Mr. Adair was considered the champion checker player of the West, and was also proficient at chess. He left a book in written i manuscript on these subjects, which eontains many difficult problems, sod bis room ; was filled with boards and other devices of I the game. Borne years .ago he played a series of games wish Wylie, the so-called champion of the world, who was making a tour of this country. George Dams, the 1, M. sod J. express messenger who was so terribly wounded in the recent celebrated robbery near Bloom--1 ington, has almost entirety recovered bts | usual health. He is in better flesh now than usual, and Ms general condition is good. The wounds in his head htve about healed. His eyesight still appears to be Koewktt unpaired, and he finds s difficulty is remembering the names of the most familiar objects The simplest sod most ordinary words escape bis gasp, and lie struggles like a child for the proper words in which to make himself understood. He is gradually overcoming this difficulty, and in due time will probably be as round in *U resoeets as ertr. ■ .