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A POPULAR 
 
 History OF Indiana. 
 
 WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY 
 
 MRS, THOMAS A. HENDRICKS 
 
 ILLUSTRATKD 
 
 DEC 81 1391 , ''^ 
 
 INDIANAPOLIS 
 
 THE INDIANAPOLIS SENTINEL CO. 
 
 1891 
 
Copyright. 
 
 E. C. SMEDLEY & CO. 
 
 1891. 
 
 
 VI. B. CONRtY CO.. PRINTLRS AND BINDERS. CHICAQO. 
 
DEDICATED 
 
 TO THE 
 
 YOUNG PEOPLE 
 
 OF 
 
 INDIANA 
 
 cAd^^ J^^ejyyu^i^ yr^ixU^y^-C^^^-^^^-^ 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 This book is intended to be, in the fullest degree, what 
 its title indicates — a "Popular History of Indiana'' — not only 
 in the sense of being a work for popular reading, but also 
 in the sense of being a history of the people of Indiana, 
 rather than a mere record of military and political events. 
 That a real necessity exists for such a work will, I think, 
 be conceded by all. This book is not claimed to be the 
 result of original research, or an effort of profound scholar- 
 ship. But the aim has been to present an accurate and im- 
 partial account of the origin and development of the great 
 commonwealth which occupies so proud a position before 
 the world. Several pens have co-operated in the preparation 
 of this book, which has been a labor of love, and I take 
 pleasure in being the medium through which it is offered 
 
 to the public. 
 
 Mrs. Thos. A. Hendricks. 
 
CONTBNTS. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 Chapter I.— EARLY HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 Indiana, the Home of Savage Tribes — Early Efforts of Missionary Explorers 
 — Breboeuf and Daniel — Allouez and Dablon — Martyrdom of Breboeuf — 
 Marquette and Joliet Explore the Mississippi — Varied and Devoted Services 
 to the Indians — Ultimate Death of the Brave and Saintly Marquette g 
 
 Chapter II.— EXPLORATIONS OF LA SALLE. 
 
 La Salle Explores the Ohio River — Builds the First Fort on the Illinois River — 
 Calls it "Broken-Heart" — Proceeds to the Mouth of the Mississippi— Rears 
 the Standard of Louis and Claims the Land for France — Marquette's Map of 
 the Mississippi — La Salle Ambitious to Found a Colony — The Great Ex- 
 plorer Foully Murdered i8 
 
 Chapter III.— LIFE AND MANNERS OF THE INDIANS. 
 
 The Miamis — Oubachi and Piankeshaws — Characteristics of the Sons of the 
 Forest— Firmly Wedded to Their Wild, Free Life— Sumrner in the Wig- 
 wam and by the Stream— Crude Domestic Habits — The Women Toil — The 
 Braves Hunt, or Fish, or Fight — Winter in the Woods 23 
 
 Chapter IV.— SUPERSTITIONS OF THE INDIANS. 
 
 Gods and Goddesses Abound — Vague Dreams of a Future Life — Wild, Barbaric 
 Dances — The Terrible War Dance — Methods with the Children — Indian 
 Lullabies — Cannibalism — The Site of Fort Wayne the Scene of Many Dia- 
 bolical Orgies Among the Man-Eaters 30 
 
 Chapter V.— FIRST MILITARY POSTS OF INDIANA. 
 
 The White Man Makes a Home in the West — The Peace of Ryswick — Ouia- 
 tenon, Vincennes, Miami— Ouiatenon, a Fur-Trading Center^The Home of 
 the First Soldiers and Merchants in Indiana — In 1635 the Village of Vincen- 
 nes Established — Miami, "Beautiful for Situation," Overlooking the Three 
 Rivers — The Old Apple Tree Still Bearing Fruit 3S 
 
ii HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 Chapter VI.— THE EARLY FRENCH SETTLERS. 
 
 New France Grows Slowly — Crude Methods of Agriculture — Love of Flowers — 
 Hardy Life and Homely Fare — Limited Amusements — Dancing in Great 
 Favor — "Barefooted Wagons" — Indians Held as Slaves — The Romantic 
 Voyageurs" — Their Wild, Free Life — French and Indians on Friendly 
 Terms 45 
 
 Chapter VII.— THE ENGLISH AND THE BATTLE OF QUEBEC. 
 
 An Indian Plot to Destroy the French — The Plot Revealed — Fort Miami Burned 
 The English Appear upon the Scene — Washington Has a Message for the 
 French^They are Ordered to Evacuate all Posts South of Lake Erie — Bat- 
 tle of Quebec — Treaty of Peace, 1763 — Indians Angered at the Departure of 
 the French 52 
 
 Chapter VIII.— PONTIAC AND THE GREAT CONSPIRACY. 
 
 Pontiac the "King of the Forest" — A Bitter Foe of the English — Unwise Policy 
 of the British — The Native Tribes Conspire to Destroy the Military Posts 
 and Exterminate the English — Pontiac and the Bloody Belts — Posts Cap- 
 tured — Ensign Holmes and the Treacherous Squaw — Treaty of Peace at 
 Detroit — Pontiac Assassinated 57 
 
 Chapter IX.— GEO. ROGERS CLARK, THE "HANNIBAL OF THE WEST." 
 
 Eastern Pioneers Settle in Indiana — Indians Become Jealous, Blood-thirsty, 
 Cruel — Pathetic Stories — George Rogers Clark — Patrick Henry's Order — 
 The British Fort at Kaskaskia — Forced Marches in Bitter, Cruel Weather — 
 Clark's Letter to Governor Hamilton — Sad End of a Brave Career 66 
 
 Chapter X.— GENERAL WAYNE AND THE INDIANS. 
 
 The Terrible Year 1782 — Colonel Crawford Burned at the Stake — Increase of 
 Settlers Arouses the Anger of the Indians — Troops Sent Out — "Chief- Who- 
 Never-Sleeps" Sends a Message to the Indians — Battle of August 20, 1794 — 
 Great Council of 1795— Little Turtle's Eloquence — Fort Wayne Named in 
 Honor of the Great General 76 
 
 Chapter XL— TECUMSEH AND THE GREAT COUNCIL. 
 
 Peshkewah, Chief of the Miami's — Fifteen Years of Peace — Tecumseh, Chief of 
 the "Arabs of the Wilderness" — A Second Pontiac — William Henry Har- 
 rison — Plots to Capture the Forts — The Great Council of 1810 — Tecumseh's 
 Speech — "The One-Eyed Prophet" — The Battle of« Tippecanoe 87 
 
 Chapter XIL— TECUMSEH AND THE BRITISH FORCES. 
 
 War Declared Against Great Britain — Tecumseh and His Braves Join the Eng- 
 lish — Battle of the Thames — Tecumseh Killed— Quaint Story of Tecumseh 
 
HISTORY OF INDIANA. iii 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 — The Young Man and the Oxen — End of the Indian Dangers — The Indian 
 Must "Move On." g5, 
 
 Chapter XIIL— THE BEGINNINGS OF GOVERNMENT. 
 
 Organization of the Northwest Territory— A Vast Region Dedicated to Freedom 
 — The First Tide of Immigration — Division of the Territory — William Henry 
 Harrison Governor of Indiana — Bitter Contest over Slavery — Land Specula- 
 tion and Jobbery — The First Criminal Code— Indian Troubles -Aaron Burr 
 in Indiana loo 
 
 Chapter XIV.— LATER TERRITORIAL HISTORY. 
 
 The People of Indiana Insist Upon Governing Themselves— Rapid Growth of 
 Population — The Early Governors — Jennings, the Anti-Slavery Leader — Gib- 
 son's Romantic Career — Removal of the Capital to Corydon — The Constitu- 
 tional Convention of 1816 — Indiana Admitted as a State ___ .... log 
 
 Chapter XV.— PAST AND PRESENT COMPARED AND CONTRASTED. . 
 
 Immigration of New Englanders After 1814— Poetic Picture of a Great Common- 
 wealth — Transportation Before the Days of Railroads — No Roads— Mrs. 
 Morss Tells Her Experiences — Cabins of the Pioneers — ^Few Amusements — 
 Dances— Quilting Bees — Dress of the Old Days— The Beau of the Period. . . iig 
 
 Chapter XVI.— COMMUNISM IN INDIANA. 
 
 The Famous Experiment at New Harmonie— What George Rapp and His Party 
 of German Emigrants Accomplished in Twenty-One Years— Advent of the 
 Owens — Robert Owen Puts his Philanthropic Theories in Practice — A Queer 
 Little Community and its Brief but Instructive History 128 
 
 Chapter XVIL— FROM JENNINGS TO WRIGHT. 
 
 Political History of the State Under the First Constitution — A Succession of 
 Strong Governors— Periods of Rapid Growth and Sharp Reaction — Begin- 
 nings of the Free School System— The Era of Internal Improvements — How 
 Indiana Lost Her Credit and How She Regained it 133, 
 
 Chapter XVIIL— PROGRESS IN MATERIAL GREATNESS. 
 
 The Wabash and Erie Canal — An Important Factor in the Development of the State 
 — Its Beginnings and Its Ending— The Advent of the First Packet Celebrated 
 with Great Rejoicings— The Indiana State Bank — Sketch of a Notable Institu- 
 tion 143 
 
 Chapter XIX.— "A GRAND NATIONAL FROLIC." 
 The Ever-Memorable "Log Cabin and Hard Cider Campaign" of 1840— Indiana 
 
iv HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 Ablaze with Enthusiasm — The Great Whig "RaUies" — Singing Harrison into 
 the White House — The Mexican War and Indiana's Part Therein 155 
 
 Chapter XX.— A NURSERY OF GREAT MEN. 
 
 Abraham Lincoln's Youthful Experiences in Indiana — Hardships of his Early 
 Life — Beginnings of Hugh McCulloch's Great Career — How Henry Ward 
 Beecher Electrified the State with his Eloquence— Ten Years of Noble 
 Achievement — Bishop Simpson's Work in Indiana 164 
 
 Chapter XXL— AN IMPORTANT EPOCH. 
 
 The Constitution of 1851 — A Notable Convention — Colfax, Hendricks and Eng- 
 lish Among Its Members — A Galaxy of Famous Indianians — Ashbel P. Wil- 
 lard — Joseph G. Marshall, "The Sleeping Lion" — Edward A. Hannegan, 
 Caleb B. Smith and Henry S. Lane— Jessie D. Bright, one of the Greatest of 
 Party Leaders — The Career of Oliver P. Morton 172 
 
 Chapter XXIL— THE GREAT CIVIL WAR. 
 
 Indiana Plays a Conspicuous and Noble Part— A Grand Uprising of the People 
 Without Regard to Party — The Stain of Buena Vista Forever Effaced— In- 
 diana Troops at the Front Everywhere — Their Splendid Valor Shown on 
 Many Battle Fields — John Morgan's Memorable Raid 181 
 
 Chapter XXIII.— INDIANA IN THE UNION ARMY. 
 
 Gen. A. E. Burnside — Manoeuvers of General Wallace — Career of Jefferson C. 
 Davis — Robert Huston Milroy — Adventures of A. D. Straight — Gresham as a 
 General — Other Historical Individuals i8g 
 
 Chapter XXIV.— RECENT POLITICAL HISTORY. 
 
 The March of Events Since the Close of the Civil War — The Memorable Cam- 
 paigns of '76, '80, '84 and '88 — Indiana's Part in National Politics — Schuyler 
 Colfax, William H. English and Thomas A. Hendricks — Benjamin Har- 
 rison's Nomination and Election as President — Administrations of Baker, 
 Hendricks, Wilhams, Porter, Gray and Hovey — Latter-Day Giants 199 
 
 Chapter XXV.— RECORD OF MATERIAL PROGRESS. 
 
 The Great Railroad System of Indiana— Its Origin and Development — The First 
 Railroad in the State — How the Advent of the Iron Horse was Celebrated — 
 Introduction of the Telegraph— Indiana's Wonderful Resources — Natural 
 Gas— Great Manufacturing Industries 216 
 
 Chapter XXVL— EDUCATION IN INDIANA. 
 Origin and Development of the Public School System— The Log Schoolhouses 
 
HISTORY OF INDIANA. v 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 of Pioneer Days— Growth of the School Fund, Now the Largest in the Coun- 
 try — The Academies, Seminaries and Colleges of the State — The Wonders 
 Wrought in Half a Century 224 
 
 Chapter XXVIL— INDIANA'S LITERARY HISTORY. 
 
 A Record of Notable Achievements in Fiction, Poetry, History and Belle Letters — 
 Lew Wallace and his Masterpiece, "Ben Hur" — James Whitcomb Riley, the 
 "Hoosier Poet" — Maurice Thompson, a Many-Sided Genius — The Eggles- 
 tons, Joaquin Miller and Other Celebrated Indiana Writers 235 
 
 Chapter XXVIIL— INDIANA'S WORK IN SCIENCE. 
 
 A Record of Notable Achievement — The Fruitful Labors of the Three Distin- 
 guished Brothers, Robert Dale Owen, David Dale Owen and Richard Owen 
 — Kirkwood, the Eminent Astronomer; Jordan, an Authority on Natural 
 History, and Coulter, the Botanist — An Array of Great Names 247 
 
 Chapter XXIX.— THE PULPIT AND PRESS. 
 
 The Beginnings of Religious Effort in Indiana — Splendid Labors and Heroic 
 Sacrifices of the Jesuit Priests — Worship in the Forests — The First Church 
 Building in Indiana — Life of the Pioneer Preachers— Peter Cartwright— 
 Earliest Protestant Sermon Preached in the State— Origin and Develop- 
 ment of the Newspaper Press of Indiana 254 
 
 Chapter XXX.— INDIANA AS IT IS. 
 
 A Brief Survey of a Great Commonwealth — Indianapolis, the Seat of Govern- 
 ment — A Beautiful, Prosperous and Progressive City — Its Public Buildings 
 and Institutions — The Three French Forts Supplanted by the Cities of La- 
 fayette, Vincennes and Fort Wayne — Material and Social Conditions Now 
 and in the Early Days — A Contrast 267 
 
 INDIANA OFFICIAL REGISTER. 
 
 Territorial Governors 281 
 
 Governors of the State, 1816-1857 281 
 
 Governors of the State, 1857-1891 ". 282 
 
 Lieutenant-Governors, 1816-1852 282 
 
 Lieutenant-Governors, 1852-1891 283 
 
 Judges of the Supreme Court, 1816-1853 283 
 
 Judges of the Supreme Court, 1853-1891 284 
 
 United States Senators, i8i6-i8gi 285 
 
 Appendix 286 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 FAOX. 
 
 Hendricks, Mrs. Thomas A Frontispiece. 
 
 A Lady of Pioneer Days 126 
 
 Baker, Conrad, Gov , 201 
 
 Battle Scarred Oak of Tippecanoe q4 
 
 Battle of the Thames 96 
 
 Beecher, Henry Ward 169 
 
 Bigger, Samuel, Gov 140 
 
 Bolton, Sarah T 241 
 
 Boone, Ratcliffe 137 
 
 Burning of Fort Miami 53 
 
 Burnside, Gen. A. E 189 
 
 Cartwright, Peter 261 
 
 Circle Hall, Beecher's First Church 168 
 
 Clark, George Rogers Gen 70 
 
 Colfax, Schuyler 199 
 
 Colfax's Monument 272 
 
 Colonel Crawford Burned at the Stake -]"] 
 
 Costumes of Early French Settlers 47 
 
 Des Bois, Coureur 50 
 
 Death of Pontiac 64 
 
 Death of Vincennes 41 
 
 Dunning, Paris C 141 
 
 Early Explorers and Traders 11 
 
 Eggleston, Edward 236 
 
 Emigrating West ^ 121 
 
 English, Wm. H 207 
 
 Father Anastase Reared A Cross Above the Remains 21 
 
 First Capitol at Corydon 113 
 
 Fitch, Graham N 176 
 
 Fort Wayne in 1794 76 
 
 Free Life of the Forest 25 
 
 General Clark's Expedition 71 
 
 General Harrison's Council with Tecumseh 90 
 
 Girty, Simon 78 
 
 vii 
 
viii HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 PAQE. 
 
 Gray, Isaac P., Gov 208 
 
 Gresham, W. Q ig6 
 
 Hammond, Abram A 1 75 
 
 Hanover College, 1 837 228 
 
 Harrison, Benjamin 210 
 
 Harrison, William Henry 105 
 
 Hendricks, Thomas A 202 
 
 Hendricks' Birthplace 202 
 
 Hendricks' Monument 205 
 
 Holman, William S 213 
 
 Hovey, Alvin P., Gov 211 
 
 Indian Canoe 26 
 
 Indian Dance 31 
 
 Indian Encampment ; 15 
 
 Jennings, Jonathan, Gov , 1 1 1 
 
 Julian, George W 213 
 
 Kerr, Michael C 206 
 
 Lane, Henry S., Gov 1 75 
 
 Little Turtle 83 
 
 Lincoln, Abraham, as a Student 165 
 
 Lincoln, Abraham 166 
 
 Manson, W. D 195 
 
 Map of Northwest Territory 88 
 
 Marshall, Jos. G 176 
 
 Miller, Joaquin 237 
 
 Morton, O. P., Gov 1 79 
 
 M'Culloch, Hugh 214 
 
 M'Donald, Joseph E 212 
 
 Niblack, Wm. E 215 
 
 Noble, Noah, Gov 138 
 
 Old State House 270 
 
 Owen, Robert Dale 1 29 
 
 Pappoose 33 
 
 Pennsylvania Wagons 124 
 
 Pontiac 58 
 
 Porter, Albert G., Gov 208 
 
 Posey, Thomas, Gov '. 115 
 
 Present State House at Indianapolis 271 
 
 Ray, James B., Gov 138 
 
 Riley, James Whitcomb 243 
 
 St. Clair 104 
 
 Scalp Dance 36 
 
 Scene at St. Clair's Defeat 81 
 
 Simpson, Bishop 170 
 
HISTORY OF INDIANA. ix 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 So Down the Beautiful Stream they Floated 13 
 
 Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument at Indianapolis 273 
 
 The Calumet 32 
 
 The First Temperance Society in America 84 
 
 The First Railroad in Indiana 217 
 
 The Indian Mother and Her Dying Child 34 
 
 The Obibua Girl and Major Gladwyn 61 
 
 The Old Apple Tree 43 
 
 The Old Song 68 
 
 The Old-Timer at the Campaign Rally 159 
 
 The One-Eyed Prophet 92 
 
 The Pioneer Preacher 259 
 
 The School-House— Old and New 225 
 
 The Temptation 152 
 
 Tecumseh 88 
 
 Tecumseh Buys the Farmer's Oxen 97 
 
 Thompson, Maurice 244 
 
 Thompson, R. W 214 
 
 Tippecanoe Battle Ground as it Looks To-day 93 
 
 Turpie, David 212 
 
 View of the Canal 146 
 
 Voorhees, Daniel W 212 
 
 Wallace, David, Gov 1 39 
 
 Wallace, Lew 238 
 
 Wampum , 29 
 
 Washington Visits the French Commandant 54 
 
 Wayne, Anthony, Gen 80 
 
 Whitcomb, James, Gov 141 
 
 Willard, Ashbel P., Gov 1 74 
 
 Williams, Jas. D., Gov 207 
 
 Wright. Jos. A., Gov. , 142 
 
CHAPTER I. 
 
 EARLY HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 Indiana the Home of Savage Tribes— Early Efforts of Missionary 
 Explorers — Breboeuf and Daniel — Allouez and Dablon— Martyrdom 
 OF Breboeuf— Marquette and Joliet Explore the Mississippi — Varied 
 AND Devoted Services to the Indians — Ultimate Death of the Brave 
 and Saintly Marquette. 
 
 We have all read with a great deal of interest of Stanley's 
 adventures in the Dark Continent. He has told us of the 
 pathless forests he explored, of the great rivers he discovered, 
 of the savage peoples he found, and we wonder at the story, 
 and admire the heroic bravery and tireless perseverance of 
 the explorer. 
 
 But doubtless the accounts of the New World, which 
 the early explorers carried back to the old nations of Europe, 
 produced even greater astonishment in the minds of the 
 people, and aroused a more general spirit of adventure. 
 
 It is difficult for us to realize that this very region, now 
 occupied by the prosperous cities and towns and cultiv^ated 
 fields and farms of Indiana, was peopled only a little over two 
 hundred years ago by a race of savages, who were not only 
 wild rovers of the forest, unskilled in aught save warfare, 
 but many of whom were actually cannibals, as we shall see 
 later on. 
 
10 HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 At that time the country west of the Alleghanies and 
 north of the Ohio river was not of course divided into States 
 as it is now, but was a vast unbroken wilderness. The im- 
 mense forests, the boundless prairies, the grand rivers were 
 still to the white man a locked treasure land, from which, 
 however, in future years the wealth of soil and commerce 
 was destined to pour forth; but not into the laps of those 
 who first braved the privations and hardships of life among 
 savages in a trackless forest. All honor to the brave and 
 heroic men who were first to find the path through the 
 wilderness, and to follow the mighty rivers in their courses 
 to the sea. And who were they ? None other than the 
 earnest, zealous missionaries of the cross of Jesus Christ, who 
 have ever been the vanguard of advancing civilization. 
 
 As early as 1634 the Jesuit missionaries, Breboeuf and 
 Daniel, founded a mission station near a bay of Lake Huron, 
 where they are said "to have daily rung a bell calling the 
 natives of the region to prayer, and performed all those 
 kindly offices which were calculated to secure the confidence 
 and affection of the tribes on the lake shores." In 1665 
 Father Allouez visited the tribes on the southern border of 
 Lake Superior. Three years later he was joined by Da.blon 
 and Marquette, the latter, one of the most illustrious of the 
 Jesuit missionaries. Durmg the five succeeding years they 
 dwelt among the tribes found between Lake Michigan and 
 Lake Superior, explonng the country, learnmg the language 
 of the natives, and fulfilling with unselfish devotion and untir- 
 ing zeal the duties of their noble calling. They convinced 
 
HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 11 
 
 the savages, by their many acts of kindness, of their unselfish 
 motives in coming among them. It is related that some of 
 the tribes were so friendly with Father Allouez that at times 
 they sought him so often that he scarcely found time to sleep. 
 In after years, when explorers and traders came among the 
 
 KARI.Y EXPLORERS AND TRADERS. 
 
 Indians, these missionaries were often able to soothe and 
 subdue the ferocious temper of the natives, and prevent very 
 serious trouble with the whites. They were not, however, 
 always successful in these efforts, and man}', even of the 
 
12 HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 missionaries themselves, suffered the cruellest tortures at the 
 hands of those for whose welfare they had labored. The 
 missionary Breboeuf, who was slowly and horribly tortured to 
 death, met his fate with such sublime fortitude that after he 
 was dead and cut to pieces the savages tore out his heart, 
 and drank of his blood, hoping thereby to imbibe some of his 
 brave spirit. Marquette and Dablon established the posts of 
 Mackinaw, St. ]Mary and Green Bay, and during the years 
 1670, 167 1 and 1672 Fathers Allouez and Dablon explored 
 portions of Wisconsin and northern Illinois, and probably 
 visited that part of Indiana lying north of the Kankakee river. 
 "Soldiers and fur traders followed where these pioneers of the 
 church led the way. Forts were built here and there, and the 
 cabins of settlers clustered around the mission houses." 
 
 Fabulous stories of a great river far to the west, whose 
 course was north and south, having been told the French 
 by the Indians, Count de Frontenac, who was then governor 
 of Canada, was ver}^ anxious to have this river found. Mar- 
 quette was also desirous of visiting the tribes which dwelt to 
 the farther west, and, being in every way well qualified, was 
 the one chosen for the undertaking. So on the thirteenth dav 
 of May, 1673, James Marquette and M. Joliet, a French trader, 
 accompanied by five other Frenchmen and a few Indian guides, 
 left Mackinaw, and in two frail Indian canoes reached the 
 Mississippi river, entering it through the Wisconsin river, hav- 
 ing walked across the portage lying between that river and 
 the Fox, a distance of three miles, canying their canoes with 
 them. The Indians whom the}' met on the shores of the Wis- 
 
HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 13 
 
 consin river near its mouth tried to persuade them not to go 
 on, teUing them they would encounter many dangers and fierce 
 hostile tribes. The guides also refused to go farther, but 
 Marquette and his French companions had no thought of turn- 
 ing back. So down the beautiful stream they floated, surprised 
 and enchanted by the lovely scenery along its banks; saluted 
 
 so DOWN THE BEAUTIFUL STREAM THEY FLOATED. 
 
 at times by high, bold rocky bluffs on either shore, and again 
 greeted by smiling prairies arrayed in their beautiful spring 
 garb of green. On, on these intrepid men floated, the first 
 white men ever to drift down the mighty stream. They met 
 no sign of humankind until they reached what is now tlie 
 
14 HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 lower boundary of Iowa, w^here fourteen miles inland they 
 found the tribe of the Illinois. The name in the native 
 language signifies '' men." This tribe received them kindly 
 and gave them the '' pipe of peace," which assisted them in 
 securing kind treatment from the fierce tribes they met farther 
 down the river. 
 
 And still on, on they floated with the current of the stream, 
 past the great rivers now known as the Missouri and the Ohio, 
 down to. the mouth of the Arkansas, where they turned back, 
 and after pursuing their journey as far north as the mouth of 
 the Illinois river, entered it, and by way of Lake Michigan 
 reached Green Bay in September of the same year. 
 
 Father Marquette was not a strong man, and the fatigue 
 and exposure of the long and hazardous trip seriously injured 
 his health. He lingered, however, for two years teaching, 
 preaching and laboring for the good of the Indians, and peace- 
 fully died about Easter, 1675, surrounded by devoted and 
 faithful followers. 
 
 The reader may ask, wdiat all this story has to do with 
 the histor}' of Indiana. It is, in reality, the beginning of that 
 history. The discovery and exploration of the Mississippi 
 river was the first step toward establishing communications 
 between the great northern lakes and the Gulf of Mexico or, 
 as it was supposed to be then, the south sea, where it was 
 hoped a way w^ould be found to India and Japan. For these 
 countries w^ere the goals which beckoned the early explorers 
 ever onward and westward. And not many years later the 
 most direct route between the lakes and the Mississipj:)i river 
 
INDIAN ENCAMPMENT. 
 
HISTORY OF INDIANA. 17 
 
 was found to be through what is now Indiana, by way of the 
 Maumee river from Lake Erie, then by portage to the head of 
 Little river, then down the Wabash into the Ohio, and thence 
 to the Mississippi. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 EXPLORATIONS OF LA SALLE. 
 
 La Salle Explores the Ohio River— Builds the First Fort on the 
 Illinois River — Calls It " Broken-Heart "—Proceeds to the Mouth 
 of the Mississippi— Rears the Standard of Louis and Claims the 
 Land for France— Marquette's Map of the Mississippi— La Salle 
 Ambitious to Found a Colony — The Great Explorer Foully 
 Murdered. 
 
 At this time, the latter part of the seventeenth century 
 there hved in Canada a fearless and enterprising young, 
 Frenchman, Robert Cavelier de La Salle. He was the com- 
 mandant at Fort Frontenac, and a large tract of land around 
 the fort had been given him by the French government as a 
 reward for the useful services he had rendered in dealing with 
 the Indians. His trade with the Iroquois, with whom he was 
 on friendly terms for several years, but who were afterward 
 for a time his enemies, was highly successful. But La Salle 
 was of a restless, daring nature, and longed for adventure. 
 Accounts of the mighty river to the west had often been given 
 him by the Indians, and he longed to go and seek it. But 
 after he had read Marquette^s glowing description of his 
 voyage down the stream. La Salle's desire for an extended 
 and thorough exploration of the river was fully aroused, and 
 he resolved to devote his life to the accomplishment of this 
 object. He had, in the year 1669, with a party of fourteen 
 
 18 
 
HISTORY OF INDIANA. 19 
 
 men, visited the lower boundary of Indiana in an attempt to 
 explore the Ohio river. It is also very probable that during 
 the 3'ears 167 1 and 1672 La Salle had passed through the 
 northwestern portion of the state. In 1679 and 1680 he made 
 an effort to explore Illinois and the Mississippi river, but after 
 many disasters he returned to Canada, walking most of the 
 way, suffering no doubt many times from hunger and 
 exposure. During this expedition La Salle built on the 
 Illinois river a fort near where Peoria is now located, and 
 named it Creve Coeur (broken heart), expressing probably 
 his bitter disappointment at not being able to continue his 
 journey. 
 
 La Salle's courage and perseverance, however, were by 
 no means exhausted, and again with a small exploring party 
 he made his way back to the Illinois river, and reached the 
 great Mississippi he had so many years longed to visit, in the 
 year 1682. And now once more the white man floated down 
 the mighty stream, and, like those who had preceded him, was 
 enchanted with the beautiful valley through which it flows. 
 Here and there were found Indian villages on the banks. 
 Some of the tribes were friendly, offering the " pipe of peace," 
 while others were hostile,. but all alike yielded to the indomi- 
 table courage and resolute will of the brave, young explorer. 
 It has been said of La Salle that "he exercised over the savage 
 jnind remarkable power." Certain it is, as he himself wrote 
 in April, 1683, that "with twenty-two Frenchmen he had 
 obliged more than forty villages (Indian) to apply to him 
 for peace." 
 
♦20 HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 Upon reaching the mouth of the Mississippi the persever- 
 ing explorer and his companions " erected a cohimn and a 
 cross, attaching thereto the arms of France, with the following 
 inscription: ' Louis the Great, King of France and Navarre 
 reigns — the 9th of April, 1682.' All being under arms, after 
 chanting the Te Deum, they fired their muskets in honor 
 of the event, and made the air reverberate with the shouts of 
 ' Long live the King,' at once taking formal possession of the 
 entire country, to which they gave the name of Louisiana, in 
 honor of their king,'" Louis XIV. of France. 
 
 Soon afterward La Salle returned to Canada, and thence 
 went to France, where he was received with much honor at 
 court. The accounts of his discoveries and those of Mar- 
 quette and Joliet were received with great delight. The year 
 previous (1681) Marquette's map, which is said to be 
 '^ unquestionably the first ever published of the Mississippi," 
 was issued in Paris. It was impossible to make it without 
 having seen the principal objects represented. " The live 
 great rivers, Arkansas, Ohio, Missouri, Illinois and Wisconsin, 
 in regard to their relative positions and general courses, are 
 placed with a considerable degree of accuracy." 
 
 One who had become so famous naturally had enemies 
 jealous of his achievements and popularity. But notwithstand- 
 ing their attempts to defeat his projects. La Salle succeeded in 
 organizing an expedition for the planting of a colon}' at the 
 mouth of the Mississippi. lie was accompanied by soldiers 
 and settlers, and anticipated the accomplishment of great 
 things for himself and his country. The commander of the 
 
HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 21 
 
 vessel which was to bear them to their new possessions is 
 beheved, however, to have been in S3'mpathy with La Salle's 
 enemies, and, instead of landing his passengers where La Salle 
 
 desired, carried them 
 to the shores of 
 Texas. Here one 
 misfortune followed 
 another until, after 
 two 3'ears of fruitless 
 effort to establish a 
 colony, La Salle 
 started for Canada, 
 but on his way was 
 treacherously mur- 
 dered b}^ one of his 
 own men. The Jes- 
 uit, Father Anastase, 
 was near him at the 
 time, and expected 
 the same fate, but 
 was spared. 
 
 La Salle survived 
 about an hour after 
 he was shot, and, 
 though not able to 
 speak, pressed the hand of the good father, who afterward dug 
 the grave, tenderly buried the brave leader and erected a 
 cross over his remains. Father Anastase said of him: "He 
 
 svm:S,hX^4 
 
 FATHER ANASTASE REARED A CROSS ABOVE THE REMAIN'S. 
 
22 HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 who, during a period of twenty years, had softened the fierce 
 temper of a vast number of savage natives, was massacred 
 by his own people, whom he had loaded with benefits. He 
 died in the vigor of life, in the midst of his career and his 
 labors without the consolation of having seen their results. '^ 
 The territory which La Salle took possession of in the name 
 of his king was for many years called New France, and was 
 the subject of man}^ disputes and battles between the French 
 and English. 
 
 It is supposed that during the visit of La Salle to Indiana 
 in 1680 he erected a small stockade on the bank of the St. 
 Joseph river, near the site of the present city of Fort Wayne. 
 This is, however, doubted" by some very good authorities. But 
 we are assured that " during the winter of 1682-83 La Salle 
 was all through Indiana and Illinois, urging the tribes to unite 
 and join him at Fort St. Louis""; and also that his usual route 
 from Canada to the Illinois lay through the northern part of 
 Indiana, following the St. Joseph and Kankakee rivers and 
 crossing the portage at the site of South Bend. 
 
 These facts entitle Robert Cavelier de La Salle to the 
 honor of having been the first white man to traverse, to any 
 extent, the territory of our noble state. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 LIFE AND MANxNERS OF THE INDIANS. 
 
 The Miamis, Oubachi and Piankeshaws— Characteristics of the Sons 
 OF THE Forest— Firmly Wedded to Their Wild, Free Life— Summer 
 IN the Wigwam and by the Stream— Crude Domestic Habits— The 
 Women Toil— The Braves Hunt, or Fish, or Fight— Winter in the 
 Woods. 
 
 Now that we have glanced at the traces of the tirst 
 white man who visited this region, let us turn our attention for 
 a little while to the red man who then inhabited it. Since the 
 disappearance of the mound-builder from the valleys of the 
 Mississippi and Ohio rivers the Indians had undoubtedl}' held 
 undisputed possession of the land, and surel}' cannot be blamed 
 for resisting with tomahawk and war-club the encroachments 
 of a new race upon their native soil. 
 
 We can almost see the grim, fierce, savage faces peering 
 forth from the dense shadows of the forest, or glaring from the 
 birch-bark canoe as it glides down the current of a stream— a 
 picture familiar enough indeed to the first white man who 
 ventured to come among them. 
 
 Friendly and hospitable these red men were to many of 
 the white intruders, and they did many acts of kindness to the 
 "pale faces." 
 
 The tribes which dwelt within the -limits of the present 
 state of Indiana were the Miamis or Twightwees, the Oubachi 
 
 3 ^' 
 
24 HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 (Wabash) and the Piankeshaws. These tribes were members 
 of the great Algonquin family, one of the eight primitive 
 peoples found in North America. The Miamis lived in 
 northern Indiana, and their most important village was located 
 at the head of the Maumee river and called Kekionga, which 
 in English means a blackberr}' patch, and signified, in the 
 language of the Miamis, antiquit3\ The Oubachi lived 
 near the river now bearing their name, and their villages called 
 Wea were near the site of Ouiatanon, while the villages of the 
 Piankeshaws were near where Vincennes now stands. Ban- 
 croft, the great historian, says that " in the latter part of the 
 seventeenth centur}' the Miamis were the most powerful 
 confederacy of the west, and their influence extended to the 
 Mississippi." They have been described as fine looking, with 
 long straight hair falling over their ears; good warriors and 
 fond of instruction. In after years they adapted themselves 
 more readil}' to many habits of the white man than did most 
 of the other tribes. As a people, however, the American 
 Indians have proved the most difficult to civilize or Christianize 
 of any of the races of humankind. The hunt, the chase, the 
 wild free life of the forest and the prairie are their delights, 
 and comparatively few have ever accepted a different mode 
 of life. 
 
 As a race, they are superior intellectually to any other, 
 excepting the Caucasian, although their mental faculties are 
 not so well balanced as those of many lower races. They are 
 sullen, serious and free from levit}\ Even in their social 
 pastimes (for they have them) we find little of that jollity 
 
HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 25 
 
 which existed in the social pleasures of our very remote 
 ancestors when they gathered together in the wilds of Britain 
 many, many centuries ago. 
 
 FREE LIFE OF THE FOREST. 
 
 Through the summer months the Indians lived mostly in 
 -their villages, which were composed of a number of wigwams 
 clustered toe^ether near the bank of a stream. These wig- 
 
26 
 
 HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 warns were tents made of bark or skins of animals supported 
 by poles. Around them patches of ground were cleared, and 
 corn, beans, squash, Indian cucumbers, pumpkins, melons and 
 tobacco were raised. But these fields were not tilled by the 
 men, as 7ve should naturally suppose, but by the women or 
 " squaws." And not with hoe, or ^pade, or rake, or other 
 sharp implement were they cultivated, but with the sharp bones 
 of animals, or tortoise shells, or flat stones. The work of 
 
 INDIAN CANOE. 
 
 husbandry was thus very much harder for the Indians than for 
 the whites. Later on, after the w^hite traders came among 
 them, the Indians exchanged their furs for hoes and other 
 garden implements. Thus the women toiled in the fields as 
 well as in the wigwams, for of course they had all the cooking 
 to do, and, though this was done in the rudest possible way, it 
 included jerking the deer, bear and buffalo meat, drying the 
 
HISTORY OF INDIANA. 27 
 
 wild fruits and g-athering the wood for the fires. The only 
 manual labor the men ever did was to make bows and arrows 
 and tomahawks and war-clubs for the light, and canoes, which 
 were either made of logs slowly burned out and then smoothed 
 with sharp shells, or of birch bark, which the women sewed 
 together with long, strong threads which tliey peeled from the 
 roots of trees. 
 
 So their summers passed, the women toiling willingly for 
 their braves, who would have forfeited the esteem and affec- 
 tion of the dusky matrons had they stooped to menial labor, 
 and the braves themselves gambling", fishinir or fiorhtino; a 
 hostile tribe, or devoting themselves to their toilets — 
 painting, tattooing and otherwise decorating their bodies. 
 
 But when the leaves began to change their color to the 
 tints of autumn, and the birds to turn southward in their 
 flight — for the Indians, it must be remembered, had no other 
 way of computing time than to follow the hands of nature's 
 timepiece — they left their villages for the hunting grounds. 
 Then it became the duty of the women to carry the heavy 
 luggage. Their mode of proceeding has thus been described: 
 "The master of the family, as a general thing, came leisurely 
 bearing a gun, and perhaps a lance, in his hand. The woman 
 followed with the mats and poles and wild rice, and not 
 infrequently the household dog perched on the top of all. If 
 there is a horse or pony in the list of family possessions the 
 man rides, the squaw trudges after. This unequal division of 
 labor is the result of no want of kind, affectionate feeling on 
 the part of the husband. It is rather the instinct of the sex to 
 
28 HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 assert its superiority of position and importance when a proper 
 occasion offers. AVhen out of the reach of observation, and in 
 no danger of compromising his own dignity, the husband is 
 wilHng enough to reheve his spouse from the burden that 
 custom imposes on her/' Thus their winters were spent in 
 hunting the deer, the otter, the bear and the buffalo, all of 
 which abounded in our forests. And when they were 
 admonished by budding trees and flowers and green grass and 
 the return of singing birds that spring had come, they gathered 
 again in their villages. 
 
 These villages were divided into families, each of which 
 had its chief, the family life usuall}' being independent in its 
 domestic management. Each village had its head chief or 
 sachem, but he did not possess absolute authority. If any 
 important question was to be decided a council of chiefs was 
 called, and the opinions of each were listened to with great 
 respect, approval being expressed by low grunts; but never 
 was a speaker rudely interrupted. Man}- of the Indians were 
 very eloquent and fond of using figurative language. '• To 
 make war was to raise the hatchet ; to make peace was to take 
 hold of the chain of friendship; to deliberate was to kindle the 
 council fire ; a state of war was typified by a black cloud ; a 
 state of peace b}^ bright sunshine." Famous among them for 
 oratory were Little Turtle, a Miami chief, and Tecumseh, the 
 great Shawnee warrior and leader. 
 
 The Indians dressed in the skins of wild animals, which 
 they embroidered in a rude way with beads made of shells. 
 They were fond of decorations, and used the beaks and 
 
HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 29 
 
 feathers of birds and the teeth and claws of animals for such 
 purposes. The seashell beads they wrought into bracelets, 
 necklaces and belts. These latter were called wampum belts 
 
 and were used in their coun- 
 cils as pledges, or exchanged 
 with each other when treaties 
 were made. "These belts 
 were carefully preserved as a 
 substitute for written records"; 
 and " they were often worked 
 in hieroglyphics, expressing 
 the meaning they were de- 
 signed to preserve. Thus at a 
 ''^^''^''''- treaty of peace the principal 
 
 belt often bore the figure of an Indian and a white man 
 holdinof a chain between them." 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 SUPERSTITIONS OF THE INDIANS. 
 
 Gods and Goddesses Abound— Vague Dreams of a Future Life — Wild 
 Barbaric Dances— The Terrible War Dance — Methods with the 
 Children — Indian Lullabys — Cannibalism^The Site of Fort Wayne 
 the Scene of Many Diabolical Orgies Among the Man-Eaters. 
 
 The religious belief of the Indians was full of superstitions. 
 They reverenced and worshiped the Great Spirit. To them 
 "the sun was a god, and the moon a goddess," and a "spirit 
 was embodied in every mountain, lake and cataract." They 
 also believed in an Evil Spirit, and in a life after death, and 
 that all good warriors went to what was heaven to them — 
 the "Happy Hunting Ground." The Indians were fond of 
 games, especially those of chance. The little boys pla3'ed 
 ball, flew kites, and indulged in many of the games so greatly 
 enjoyed by civilized children to-day, such as hide-and-seek, 
 tag, and hunt the moccasin (instead of the slipper). The girls 
 too, it is said, had their dolls, and probably, in making clothes 
 for them of little animal skins, learned the art of embroidering 
 with beads and porcupine quills from their mothers. 
 
 The Indians were fond of wild, barbaric dances, and 
 indulged in a great variety of them. They had the corn- 
 planting dance, which of course took place in the spring, and 
 was a solemn affair, for its object was to secure the favor of 
 
 30 
 
HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 31 
 
 the Great Spirit, that their crops might be boimtifuL The 
 beggar dance was one seldom indulged in b}' the Miamis. 
 The one who gave this dance sought for gifts and favors from 
 the spectators. Then there was the replacement dance, which 
 was given after a death. Before the dance a game of chance 
 was played, and he who won the game became heir to the 
 possessions of the deceased, after which all joined in a merry 
 
 INDIAN DANCE. 
 
 dance. The complimentary dance was given in honor of a 
 medicine-man, after he had, as was believed, effected some 
 cure. But, as is well known, the M^ar dance was the one in 
 which they took .the greatest delight, . as it is with their 
 descendants of to-day. Before engaging in this dance, the 
 Indian warriors would chant the wild war song, then, "painted 
 and blackened, with the feathers of the eagle, hawk or other 
 
32 
 
 HISTORY OF IJSDIANA. 
 
 bird as a crown above their heads, or long, black, coarse hair 
 
 streaming wildly back over their 
 shoulders, or cut close to their 
 skulls, leaving onl}' a top-lock," and 
 the scalps they had previously 
 taken dangling from their belts,, 
 would majestically stride through 
 the dance, "around the midnight 
 camptires or through the streets of 
 their villages." 
 
 The calumet, or peace-pipe, was 
 emblematic of friendly feelings, and 
 when presented to a stranger or 
 former enemy was a sufficient as- 
 surance of good will and protec- 
 tion. It was held sacred by all 
 Indian tribes. 
 
 The Indian mother was very 
 fond of her little ones. When they 
 were infants she wrapped them in 
 warm, furry skins of wild animals. 
 And is it not possible that, in this 
 habit of the wild Indian mother^ 
 tlie nursery rh3'me so familiar to 
 us all, 
 
 Bye o' baby bunting, 
 Papa's gone a-hunting 
 To get a little rabbit-skin 
 THK CALiMF.T. To Wrap the baby bunting in, 
 
HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 3» 
 
 had its origin? Certain it is that the rhyme most aptly apphes. 
 Another nursery song, so pretty and popular, might also have 
 been suggested by the habit the Indian mother had of placing 
 her infant in a little birch-bark cradle, carefully adorned with 
 feathers and beads and fragrant grasses, and then hanging^ 
 the cradle to the bough of a tree, where the breezes gently 
 lulled these babies, who were most truly children of nature, to 
 sleep. And the Indian mother, if she had but known the 
 refrain, could have most appropriatel}' sung: 
 
 Rock a bye, baby, on the tree top, 
 When the wind blows the cradle will rock; 
 When the bough bends the cradle will fall, 
 And down will come baby, and cradle, and all. 
 
 Sometimes the little creatures, strapped to a flat piece of 
 wood, were hung from the bough of a 
 tree, without being placed in a cradle, and 
 were often so carried on the mother's 
 back. Indeed, soon after they were born, 
 they were strapped to a flat piece of 
 i^ wood, and spent most of their babyhood 
 in this position, which probably is one 
 reason why they were, when grown, so 
 straight. 
 
 A touching little story is told of an 
 Indian mother, who was seen by a white 
 woman approaching the bank of a river 
 with a little child in her arms, and seem- 
 ingly in great distress. The white woman, 
 
34 
 
 HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 Avondering what the cause of the trouble could be, and de- 
 sirous of giving any assistance in her power, as quickly as 
 
 THE INDIAN MOTHER AND HER DYINC. CHIIO. 
 
 possible joined the Indian woman, who said "that she had 
 
HISTORY OF INDIANA. 35 
 
 onl}' a little while before noticed that her child was d\ing,'^ 
 and she had hastened to the river to baptize it. '' If the little 
 papoosa die," said she, "before it is put in the water, it can 
 only see the spirits about it; it can't go up where the Great 
 Spirit is." The white woman gave the needed assistance, and 
 the child died soon afterward, but the mother was comforted. 
 
 When a child was born, or when the first tooth made its 
 appearance, there was a celebration; also, when the young 
 Indian brave returned from his first successful hunt. 
 
 But from this picture of some of the pleasanter features 
 of their domestic life, we must now turn to a custom, most 
 horrible and revolting to think upon, which existed among the 
 Miamis — that of cannibalism. Revenge and a Spartan-like 
 endurance of suffering are leading traits of the Indian char- 
 acter. No matter how terrible his suffering, the Indian would 
 think himself degraded if he manifested it, and is seldom 
 known to shed a tear or utter a complaint. But if he is 
 able to endure the crudest tortures, he is just as capable of 
 inflicting them upon others. 
 
 The institution of cannibalism dated back to a remote 
 period, and was not given up until after the year 1812. It 
 was first established by the Miamis as a means of terrifying 
 their enemies, and was confined to what was called the "man- 
 eating society." The duty, or privilege, whichever they 
 thought it, was restricted to one famih', and was transmitted 
 from one generation to another. The obligation was sanc- 
 tioned b}^ religion, and could not be avoided. It compelled 
 those who rested under it to eat the flesh of the prisoners 
 
36 
 
 HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 delivered to them, after first burning the poor victims to 
 death. 
 
 "The extreme point of land just below the mouth of the 
 St. Joseph river (near the present city of Fort Wayne) is 
 
 SCALP DANCE. 
 
 said to have been the accustomed place for burning prisoners. 
 * * "^^ And the records of human depravity furnish no 
 more terrible examples of cruelty " than were furnished on this 
 spot. The prisoners, who had been captured and reserved 
 for this horrible rite, were bound to stakes, then slowly burned 
 to death. They were then devoured by the savage, blood- 
 
HISTORY OF INDIANA. 37 
 
 thirsty fiends in the presence of the whole tribe, who had 
 assembled to witness the awful spectacle. The last poor 
 victim sacrificed in this way, at this place, is said to have been 
 a young American from Kentuck}^ who had been captured 
 in the latter part of the Revolutionary war. That the now 
 quiet, peaceful banks of the St. Joseph river were ever wit- 
 nesses to such scenes of savage cruelty is^ indeed, hard to 
 realize. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 FIRST MILITARY POSTS OF INDIANA. 
 The White Man Makes a Home in the West— The Peace of Ryswick— 
 
 OUIATANON, ViNCENNES, MlAMI — OuiATANON, A FuR-TrADING CeNTER — 
 
 The Home of the First Soldiers and Merchants in Indiana — In 
 1635 THE Village of Vincennes Established — Miami, "Beautiful for 
 Situation," Overlooking the Three Rivers — The Old Apple Tree 
 Still Bearing Fruit. 
 
 But the native tribes were no longer to inhabit western 
 wilds alone. The white man had found a pathway through the 
 forests and over the prairies, and the two races were destined 
 henceforth to share them with each other. This they did for 
 many years, sometimes peaceably, but more often as enemies. 
 Through the right of discovery and exploration the French 
 now claimed the territor}', of which La Salle had taken 
 possession in the name of his king. 
 
 In the old world the leading nations were at war over 
 political questions. France and England were powerful rivals 
 for supremacy on sea and land, and were ever finding new 
 cause for contention. On the new continent England attempted 
 little else between the years of 169 1 and 1696 than the protec- 
 tion of her colonies lying east of the Alleghany mountains. 
 In 1697 a treaty was signed by France, Spain and England, 
 known in histor}' as the Peace of R3-swick. By this treaty 
 
HISTORY OF INDIANA. 39 
 
 there was assigned to France " the whole coast and adjacent 
 islands from Maine to beyond Labrador and Hudson's bay, 
 besides Canada and the Mississippi valley. The boundary lines 
 were left as subjects for wrangling," and this for 3'ears was a 
 sufficient cause for many a bloody battle between the two 
 great nations. 
 
 For over a century the black war cloud hung over the 
 new world. France and England jealously watched each 
 other's acquisitions of new territory and not only contended 
 between themselves, but incited the native tribes to fight each 
 other. The English, French, Indians and finally the Ameri- 
 cans, were involved in these contests, and only for short 
 intervals of time did peace rest upon the beautiful new land, 
 so coveted and fought for by foreign powers. The}' contended 
 not only for territory, but for the control of fisheries on the 
 eastern coast and the fur trade of the interior. The eighteenth 
 century saw the birth of the grandest nation on God's earth, 
 but it was baptized with the blood of many a noble hero 
 and many an Indian brave. 
 
 The first military' posts established within the present 
 limits of the state of Indiana were Forts Ouiatanon, Vin- 
 cennes and Miami. These were built with others in thewest 
 for the purpose of strengthening the claim the French had 
 made to this territory and to protect intercourse between the 
 French settlements around the lakes and those of the lower 
 Mississippi, where d'Ibberville — more successful in his efforts 
 than La Salle — had planted French colonies. 
 
 Fort Ouiatanon was the first of the three posts established 
 4 
 
40 HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 in Indiana, for most conclusive evidence has been furnished that 
 this post was built in 1720, seven years previous to the one at 
 the present site of Vincennes. The exact location of Fort 
 Ouiatanon has been disputed, but very lately strong proof 
 has been furnished by Prof. Craig of Purdue University and 
 others that it was about four miles southwest of Lafayette, on 
 the onlv prominence on the north side of the Wabash that juts 
 into the river in its vicinity. Aniong the proofs which fix the 
 exact site of this post is the fact that many relics have been 
 found in the location, indicating the presence of French soldiers 
 and Jesuit priests at some former time. Among these were 
 the fragment of cloth from a French uniform of the kind worn 
 by the soldiers stationed at the fort, and the iron head of a 
 halberd with the spear point and ax edge and point. Two flat 
 silver crosses with the double cross arm, such as were used by 
 the Jesuit priests, with the letters 'T " and "S^' decipherable 
 on them, a part probably of the inscription "I. H. S.," were 
 also found. These, together with a small silver plate, bore the 
 word "Montreal," indicating that they came from the north 
 rather than from the south. Copper earrings, a copper kettle 
 and two or three fragments of armor, parts of the cuirass, were 
 also in the collection. 
 
 Ouiatanon was not only a militar}' post, but for many 
 years a trading point of great importance. In 1760 its busi- 
 ness in fur trading amounted to from $35,000 to $40,000. 
 Here also the transfer of merchandise was made from the small 
 canoes which floated down the river from Kekionga to the 
 larger canoes and piroques which passed down the broader, 
 
HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 41 
 
 deeper stream to the Ohio. This river was named by the 
 French La Belle Revierre, and for many years was known as 
 Beautiful River on account of the beautiful banks on either 
 side. The post of Ouiatanon consisted of only about a dozen 
 cabins and a stockade, and here dwelt our first soldiers and 
 
 
 DEATH OF VINCENNES. 
 
 merchants. This having been without doubt the first post 
 established in the present territory of Indiana, and the point 
 where the commercial life of our state began, its site is an 
 important and interesting spot historically. 
 
 The most probable date of the establishment of the post 
 of Vincennes is 1727, Monsieur Vincennes, a French officer, 
 
42 HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 with a few soldiers, built a little palisade fort at the Indian 
 village lowest on the river Wabash, and for many years it was 
 known as Poste du Oubache, but its name was afterward 
 changed to Vincennes in honor of its first comm.andant, Sieur 
 de Vincennes. He was a brave and capable officer, and 
 remained in command of the post until 1736, when he was 
 killed in a fight with the Indians. After being mortally 
 wounded " he ceased not until his last breath to exhort the men 
 to behave worthy of their religion and their country." "Be 
 that his epitaph," says Dunn, the accomplished historian of 
 Indiana, "and be it a matter of pride to Indiana that her first 
 ruler was so brave a man and so true." 
 
 Louis St. Ange was the successor of Vincennes and 
 remained in command of the post during the time of the 
 French occupation of this territory Though not an educated 
 man he proved a wise and judicious ruler, and was much 
 honored and beloved by the settlement which grew up around 
 the post. For if Ouiatanon is entitled to the honor of being the 
 first military and fur-trading post established in Indiana, Vin- 
 cennes can unquestionably claim the honor of being the first 
 permanent European village, since during the years 1634 and 
 1635 a number of French families gathered around the post, 
 built their cabins, kindled their hearthstone fires, cleared and 
 cultivated the fields and introduced into the very heart of the 
 wild and seemingl}' interminable forests the habits and customs 
 of foreign life. During the entire French occupation of the 
 state " Vincennes was the only post that could be considered a 
 town." " In 1769 there were sixty-six heads of families at this 
 
HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 43 
 
 settlement, with fifty women and 150 children; while at Fort 
 Ouiatanon, near Lafayette, there were only twelve heads of 
 families, and at Fort Miami, now Fort Wayne, there were 
 but nine." 
 
 In the year 1734 Monsieur de Vincennes is said to have 
 visited the point where the junction of the St. Joseph and St. 
 Mary's forms the Maumee, and there built a fort, referring 
 afterward to the locality as the "key to the northwest." 
 Kekionga, the favorite village of the Miamis, was situated at 
 this point, and was "their chosen central home. Here the 
 tribes gathered in council for war or peace." That it was 
 regarded by the Indians as a most important and desirable 
 location was shown by the vigilance with which they ever 
 defended it. Their appeal at the Greenville treaty in 1795, 
 
 after their country had been 
 conquered, for permission to 
 still occupy this spot was 
 made by Little Turtle, a 
 Miami chief, and was elo- 
 quent and touching. The 
 site of the old fort was a 
 beautiful one, overlooking 
 as it did the junction of the 
 three rivers, and its location 
 was connected with most of 
 the important events which 
 occurred in the northwest 
 during its early history. 
 
 THE OLD APPLE TREE. 
 
44 HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 Around the posts were gathered many of the huts and 
 wigwams of the Miamis, and in the midst of them stood an old 
 apple tree, which Chief Richardville, who was about eighty 
 years old when he died in 1841, used to say was a bearing 
 fruit tree when he was a little bo}'. The tree is still living, 
 and it is thought that its age must now be 175 years. In one 
 of the huts near this tree this celebrated chief was born, 
 and "out of this tree an Indian, during the siege of 181 2, was 
 shot by one of the soldiers from the fort, a distance of many 
 hundred yards. ^' * * In an exulting spirit one of the 
 besiegers was in the habit of climbing the tree each day for 
 several days, and, throwing his arms much like the rooster his 
 wings, would utter a noisy cry like this fowl when crowing, 
 which was finally answered by the crack of a rifle from the 
 fort, and the Indian was seen to fall." 
 
 Of the three French posts so early established in our state, 
 Forts Ouiatanon and Miami were under the government of 
 Canada, and Vincennes was subject to Louisiana or New 
 France. The boundary line between the two provinces was 
 not well defined, but on the Wabash it was placed at the "site 
 of the present city of Terre Haute." 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE EARLY FRENCH SETTLERS. 
 
 New France Grows Slowly— Crude Methods of Agriculture— Love of 
 Flowers — Hardy Life and Homely Fare — Limited Amusements^ 
 Dancing in Great Favor— " Barefooted Wagons" — Indians Held as 
 Slaves — The Romantic "Voyageurs" — Their Wild Free Life — 
 French and Indians on Friendly Terms. 
 
 The French settlement of the Mississippi valley did not 
 increase rapidly. The population of New France, more than 
 half a century after the first attempt at colonization by La 
 Salle, "did not exceed 5,000 whites and half that number of 
 blacks." During this same time, England's colonies on the 
 Atlantic coast had grown rapidly, and were fast developing 
 into a young nation. 
 
 Around the military posts so widely scattered through 
 French territory a few families had gathered, and into these 
 villages we will now go for a time, and learn a little of the 
 w^ays and habits of our early French residents. Their homes 
 were at first made somewhat after the manner of the Indian 
 wigwams, with poles and skins of animals, but later on were 
 made of logs, the spaces between the logs being filled with 
 mud, and the roofs thatched with branches of trees and dried 
 leaves or straw. These afterward became more pretentious, 
 having several large rooms with cellars and garrets in which 
 
 45 
 
46 HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 were dormer windows. Agriculture and fur trading were the 
 chief pursuits. After the French settler had cleared a patch 
 of ground around his rude home, he raised vegetables, grain 
 and tobacco to supply himself and family through the winter, 
 and besides every fall sent "barges loaded with flour, pork, 
 tallow, hides and leather down the Mississippi to New Orleans, 
 from which point the cargoes were reshipped to France and 
 the West Indies. In return came sugar, metal goods and 
 European fabrics." The agricultural implements in use were 
 very primitive, though an improvement on those of the Indians. 
 Besides a rudely made plow, the only other implement was " a 
 heavy iron hoe with a long shank." There were water mills 
 among them, where their grain was ground, which "was 
 transported almost altogether in bags made of elk skins." 
 They plowed with oxen, horses seldom being used. The 
 furniture of their houses was of course very rude and rough, 
 the chief luxury in which they indulged being the feather bed, 
 in which, with the soft pillows and gaily-colored patchwork 
 quilt, the housewives took especial pride. For these French 
 prized comfort, neither did their native love of beaut}' leave 
 them in this western wilderness, for around the rude and rustic 
 huts, in addition to their gardens of vegetables and in bright 
 and beautiful contrast to the dark green of the towering forest, 
 they cultivated flowers, which budded and blossomed and 
 made glad their hearts, and reminded them of the fair garden 
 spot of the sunny France they loved so well. 
 
 The early French settler lived a careless, free-and-easy 
 life, and gave little thought to the future. "He lived happily 
 
HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 47 
 
 in the midst of poverty, content if he could but gain the means 
 to fill his tobacco pouch and decorate the cap of his lady love 
 with a ribbon." The women were generally handsome and 
 
 dressed gail}'; the}' 
 " wore a gaudy pet- 
 ticoat reaching to 
 the ankles, and 
 above this a habit 
 or skirt reaching to 
 the knees, with 
 large straw hats in 
 summer and fur 
 caps or bonnets in 
 winter." They 
 were "very fond of 
 adorning their 
 heads, the hair of 
 which was always 
 curled and pow- 
 dered and ornamented with glittering bodkins or aigrettes." 
 "The peasant or farmer wore a coarse blue surtout, fast- 
 ened around the waist with a red strap or sash, and on 
 his head a red cap," with a tassel in the center. This suit 
 was for dress occasions, the sash being replaced in the 
 working day costumes by a leather girdle or belt, and the 
 head covered with a gaily-colored knotted handkerchief. 
 The priests of course wore their long black gowns, with 
 cords around their waists, from which hung the silver 
 
 COSTUMES OF EARLY FRENCH SETTLERS. 
 
48 HISTORY OF IXDIAXA. 
 
 crucifix, much as the priest of to-day. The French soldier 
 wore a uniform of "white, faced with bhie, red, yellow or 
 violet," that of the officer being brightly trimmed in gold lace^ 
 while the English soldier furnished a conspicuous target in his 
 bright red uniform. 
 
 The religion of these early settlers was that of their 
 native country — Roman CathoHc. Their amusements must 
 have been very limited, and no doubt partook largely of such 
 as the forests and the streams could offer. Hunting, and 
 perhaps skating in the winter, fishing and picnic parties in the 
 summer, when "buoyant and gay, they made the wilderness 
 ring with merriment," were popular recreations. Dancing, 
 however, was, as it always is with the French under all condi- 
 tions, a favorite pastime. Mardi Gras was annually cele- 
 brated. "The evening passed in entertainment at the house 
 of some one of the wealthier citizens. Cooking pancakes, 
 such as we call 'flap-jacks,' was made an amusement in which 
 all the guests took part, the sport consisting in the rivalry of 
 tossing and turning them. The one who tossed them highest 
 and landed them safely again in the long-handled skillet 
 received the compliments of all, while laughter and ridicule 
 were the lot of the unskillful. When cooked, the cakes were 
 piled up on plates, with maple sugar, to form the chief dish 
 for supper. After the feast came dancing until midnight, 
 when the guests bade farewell to worldly gayeties till Lent 
 was over." 
 
 The only vehicles found in these settlements were two- 
 wheeled carts without ironwork of any kind. They answered 
 
HISTORY OF INDIANA. 49 
 
 the purpose of both wagon and carriage. They had no seats, 
 but when used for the latter a buffalo robe was thrown over 
 the rough bed of the box-like structure. They were some- 
 times called "barefooted wagons" by the Americans. 
 
 It is hard to realize that the institution of slavery once 
 flourished on the soil of Indiana, as it did at this period, sur- 
 viving until the early years of the present century. In the 
 early French settlements both negroes and Indians were held 
 in bondage. That Indians v/ere kept in servitude seems strange 
 when such friendly relations existed between them and the 
 French. But it sometimes happened that a victorious tribe, 
 after taking a number of prisoners from the tribes it had con- 
 quered, would sell them as slaves to the whites. These Indian 
 slaves were called Panis, and were more frequently found in 
 the northern than in the southern settlements. The laws gov- 
 erning this system of slavery were comparatively mild. 
 "Slaves were required to be baptized and educated in the 
 Catholic religion. They were not allowed to work on Sundays 
 or holy days. Their masters were required to furnish them 
 a regular amount of food and clothing, fixed by public officers, 
 and to support them in sickness and old age." The punish- 
 ment of slaves was also restricted by law. It was the mildest 
 form of slavery that ever existed in North America. But the 
 institution did not die when French rule ceased. It continued 
 until after Indiana had become a state. 
 
 The most conspicuous and romantic characters of those 
 days were perhaps the coureurs de bois or voyageurs, or forest 
 rangers. They were daring, reckless and immoral. They 
 
50 
 
 niSTOkV OF I \ DIANA. 
 
 ignored all civil, religious or military authority and indulged in 
 all sorts of wild carousal and dissipation. They wore a 
 
 ''blanket coat or a frock 
 of smoked deer-skin, carried 
 a rifle on the shoulder and 
 a knife and tomahawk in 
 , the belt." They conducted 
 the traffic in furs between 
 the Indians and settlers, car- 
 rvinor with them for trading^ 
 purposes "blankets, red 
 cloth, guns and hatchets, 
 liquor, tobacco, paint, beads 
 and hawk's bells." They 
 penetrated into every part 
 of the forest where there 
 was an Indian who had a 
 skin to trade, and paddled 
 their light canoes over the 
 streams, camping at night 
 near a river or spring, when "a pile of evergreen boughs formed 
 their bed and the saddle or knapsack a pillow." A day's rations 
 were a "quart of hulled corn and a pint of bear's grease, though 
 at a later period the voyageurs sometimes revelled in bean or 
 pea soup flavored with a piece of salt pork and sea biscuit." We 
 doubt not, however, that they often added to this plain fare a 
 haunch of venison or a fish contributed by forest or stream. 
 Their mode of life was much more like the Indian's than the 
 
 COUKf:L'R DES BOIS. 
 
HISTORY OF INDIANA. 51 
 
 white man's, yet all classes of French treated with respect the 
 opinions, beliefs and customs of the red men, adapting them- 
 selves to their strange characters and wild ways. They lived 
 with them on terms of friendly intercourse, often joining with 
 them in their barbaric feasts and wild dances, and many a 
 dusky maiden became a white man's bride. 
 
 While in command of the posts it was the habit of the 
 French to supply the surrounding Indians with guns, ammuni- 
 tion and clothing. When the chiefs visited the forts, they were 
 often received with every attention of honor. The firing of 
 cannon and the roll of the drum announced their approach. 
 These attentions, of course, greatly pleased the Indian warriors 
 and gratified their pride. So it is not strange, as we shall see, 
 that they became in later years the warm friends and firm 
 allies of the French and joined them in resisting the encroach- 
 ments of the English. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 THE ENGLISH AND THE BATTLE OF QUEBEC. 
 
 An Indian Plot to Destroy the French— The Plot Revealed— Fort 
 Miami Burned — The English Appear upon the Scene— Washington 
 Has a Message for the French — They Are Ordered to Evacuate 
 all Posts South of Lake Erie — Battle of Quebec— Treaty of 
 Peace, 1763— Indians Angered at the Departure of the French. 
 
 Having won the friendship of the red man, the French 
 lived in peaceful security with the tribes around them until the 
 year 1747. At this time Nicholas, a Huron chief, who has 
 been described as a "wily fellow full of savage cruelty," 
 planned a conspiracy to attack and destroy all the Fretich in 
 the country. The English fur traders had been made welcome 
 to his villages and kindly treated. These traders no doubt 
 incited Nicholas to greater enmity against the French, who 
 had in some way aroused the ill humor of this chief. All the 
 western tribes, " excepting those in the Illinois country," 
 entered into this conspiracy. Each tribe was to seize and 
 destroy the French in its part of the country. This plot was 
 revealed by a squaw, who, having climbed into the garret of 
 the house where the council was being held, overheard the 
 plans of the Indians and told them to a Jesuit priest. He at 
 once notified the French commandant at Detroit. But the plot 
 was not discovered in time to prevent the Indians from 
 
 52 
 
HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 53 
 
 burning Fort Miami to the ground, the garrison being captured 
 by the Miamis. In the following year (1748) the post was, 
 
 however, rebuilt 
 by Lieut. Du- 
 brusson and, 
 Nicholas and his 
 followers having 
 sued for peace, 
 France again 
 controlled the 
 line of stockade 
 posts between 
 Canada and the 
 Mississippi. Dur- 
 inof this same 
 year " an associ- 
 ation called the 
 Ohio Land Com- 
 pany was formed 
 by the English 
 with the view 
 of making settlements beyond the Alleghanies/' For English 
 pluck and English enterprise had been looking over the peaks 
 of those eastern mountains and had seen and coveted the rich 
 fertile valley which lay be3-ond them. 
 
 The French of €ourse claimed that the English had no 
 right to send fur traders to this territory or plant colonies in it. 
 Captain de Celeron, a French officer, sent the following 
 
 BURNING OF FORT MIAMI. 
 
54 
 
 HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 ,.,.m,n."im\i{ik 
 
 message to the Governor of Penns3'lvania: "That if any 
 Enghsh traders should thereafter make their appearance on the 
 Ohio river they would be treated w^ithout any delicacy." This 
 message did not, however, in the least alarm the English, nor 
 prevent their continuing to make inroads upon the territory 
 claimed by the French. And for several years both nations, 
 while infringing on each other's lands, established many new 
 military posts for future defense, and courted the friendship and 
 following of the Indians. In these efforts the French were 
 
 more successful, 
 for the haughty 
 warriors did not 
 Mill \ {K^'^'S forget the kind 
 and courteous 
 
 Pw "^^'^y ^" which the 
 French had ever 
 treated them. 
 
 In 1753 Gov- 
 ernor Dinwiddle 
 of Virgmia, learn- 
 ing: of what he con- 
 sidered the pre- 
 suming steps the 
 French were tak- 
 ing in the Ohio 
 valley, sent 
 /^W"^ " George Washing- 
 
 WASHINGTON VISITS THE FRENCH COMMANDANT. tOU, tnCn, tnOUgn 
 
HISTORY OF INDIANA. 55 
 
 but twenty years old, adjutant-general of the Virginia militia, 
 to order the immediate evacuation of the frontier posts the 
 French had built south of Lake Erie and in the Ohio valley. 
 The young messenger is said to have walked the entire way, a 
 distance of 400 miles, and received as an answer from the com- 
 manding officer at Le Boeuf, Legardeur de St. Pierre, " that his 
 orders were to hold possession of the country ; and that he would 
 do it to the best of his ability." This message was duly carried 
 back by Washington and hostilities began the following spring 
 between the two countries, fleets being sent over from both 
 France and England. But it is not our purpose to follow this 
 war in all its bloody details, but to pass on at once to its close, 
 for it is only then that it comes within the scope of this 
 narrative. 
 
 The decisive battle was fought at Quebec in September, 
 1759. There General Wolfe, the commander of the British 
 forces, fell mortally wounded. After receiving the fatal shot 
 he heard an officer near by exclaim, "Oh, how they run!" 
 He opened his eyes and said, "Who run.^" " The enemy, sir," 
 replied the officer; " they give way everywhere." Then after 
 giving an order to be sent to one of his regiments. General 
 Wolfe continued, "Now God be praised; I will die in peace." 
 Montcalm, the commander of the French forces, also received 
 a mortal wound and died during the battle, after exclaiming: 
 "I am happy that I sh ill not live to see the surrender of 
 Quebec." The battle was over and "that point was forever 
 wrested from the power of the French," for the victory was 
 won by the British. 
 5 
 
C6 HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 In 1763, a treaty of peace having been made between 
 the two countries, France surrendered all her possessions in 
 North America to the British, excepting those immedi- 
 ately around the mouth of the Mississippi. At the time of the 
 surrender Major Robert Rogers of the English army was sent 
 to take command of the western ports, and not long after- 
 ward British soldiers were ordered to take possession of Forts 
 Miami and Ouiatanon, and Indiana passed forever from under 
 French rule. But on account of the hostilities of the Indians, 
 the English could not reach all the posts that were included in 
 the capitulation, and so had to leave them for some time in the 
 hands of the French. Among these posts was Vincennes, which 
 St. Ange did not leave until May, 1764. 
 
 That the French should thus be forced to leave the 
 country greatly surprised and enraged the Indians, for they had 
 had such boundless faith in the power of their French father, 
 as they called the French monarch across the sea, that they 
 could not understand how it was possible that he would thus 
 allow his subjects to be conquered. The red men saw with 
 sorrow and bitterness the departure of their French allies, and 
 received the English with distrust, and indeed with defiance. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 PONTIAC AND THE GREAT 'CONSPIRACY. 
 
 PONTIAC THE " KiNG OF THE FoREST" — A BiTTER FOE OF THE ENGLISH — 
 
 Unwise Policy of the British — The Native Tribes Conspire to 
 d.estroy the military posts and exterminate the english— pontiac 
 AND THE Bloody Belts— Posts Captured— Ensign Holmes and the 
 Treacherous Squaw— Treaty of Peace at Detroit— Pontiac A.ssas- 
 sinated. 
 
 A bold, determined, lordly figure now appears in the 
 'picture of the past in the form of the Indian chieftain, Pontiac. 
 Pie was of the Ottawa tribe and lived near Detroit. He was 
 called the "King of the Forest," and his fame and influence 
 extended from the Atlantic to the Mississippi and from the 
 lakes to the gulf. We meet with him just when Major Robert 
 Rogers came to Detroit to take command of the western 
 posts. Pontiac, hearing of the coming of the victorious Eng- 
 lish, visited the British officer and said to him: "How have 
 3^ou dared to enter my country without my leave .'^^ "I come," 
 replied the English agent, "with no design against the Indians, 
 but to remove the French out of your countr}' and to give 
 the wampum of peace." 
 
 But Pontiac returned a belt, which arrested the march of 
 the party until his leave should be granted. "The next day 
 the chief sent presents of bags and parched corn, and at a 
 
 57 
 
58 
 
 HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 second meeting smoked the calumet with the leader, inviting 
 him to pass onward unmolested, with an escort of warriors to 
 assist in driving his herd of oxen along the shore/' 
 
 Pontiac jj:ave this outward assent to the 
 
 Although 
 
 entrance of the English 
 into his country, he was 
 not at all pleased with it. 
 And he soon began with 
 crafty cunning and strong, 
 resolute will to unite the 
 different Indian nations 
 in a desperate and power- 
 ful resistance to the Eng- 
 lish invasion. In this 
 same year, 1763, "the 
 English government, ap- 
 portioning out her new 
 acquisitions with separate 
 governments, set apart 
 the valley of the Ohio and 
 adjacent region as an 
 Indian domain, and by 
 proclamation strictly for- 
 bade the intrusion of set- 
 tlers thereon/' But this 
 amounted to no more 
 than similar orders from 
 our own government have 
 
HISTORY OF INDIANA. 59 
 
 ill later years. The Indians felt that such restrictions were 
 tyrannical and that their freedom and liberties were interfered 
 with. Besides this, their pride was constantly being humili- 
 ated. Instead of being received at the military posts with the 
 honors they had been accustomed to have from the French, 
 they had cold looks and harsh words from the officers and 
 sometimes blows from the brutal soldiers. " The Indians also 
 missed the trinkets, clothing and ammunition the French had * 
 been accustomed to give them. But, even worse than this, the 
 Indians were often sorely punished when they violated treaties, 
 which they really did not understand when signing them." 
 
 The English, now that their French foes were conquered, 
 no longer felt the need of the natives as allies, so they did not 
 even treat them as well as they had formerly done. They 
 showed them no courtesy and bestowed upon them no gifts or 
 favors. So it was not strang'e that even hostile tribes were 
 willing to bury the hatchet and join together in the great con- 
 spiracy of Pontiac. The French settlers and fur traders of 
 course favored this uprising of the Indians against the English, 
 and told them their "Great French Father was only asleep, 
 and would soon awaken, when he would send many boats and 
 men across the water to help them." Pontiac distributed war 
 belts among the tribes and sent b}^ messengers a speech which 
 was attentivelv listened to in the councils of the braves and 
 fired the savage hearts to deeds of bloodshed and cruelt}'. 
 Pontiac^s plan was to attack all the western posts held by 
 the English simultaneously. It was the greatest Indian con- 
 spiracy ever formed. 
 
60 HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 With long hair flowing over his shoulder, a crest of 
 hawks' and eagles' feathers round his head, his body bright!}' 
 decorated with the war paint, Pontiac led his warriors through 
 the war dance, grasped tomahawk and war knife and was soon 
 ready for the first attack, which was to be made at Detroit. 
 Forts Miami and Ouiatanon had now been occupied by the 
 English for over tw^o years. It is not possible, I suppose, for 
 us to even imagine the complete loneliness and dreariness of 
 life in one of these outlying forts. Shut in by an unbroken 
 forest, infested only with wild animals and wilder savages, cut 
 off from communication with the world be3^ond, except as the 
 lawless fur traders occasionally visited the Indian villages near 
 by, how dreary must have been the twilight hour, how long 
 the cold winter night and how solitary even the bright summer 
 days ! 
 
 Through the commander at Fort Miami, Ensign Holmes, 
 the positive proof of Pontiac's conspiracy was made know^n. 
 An Indian, who had found in Holmes a friend, came one da}" 
 in the spring of 1763 and told him "that the warriors of one 
 of the villages near by had recently received a bloody belt,. 
 with a speech pressing them to kill him (Holmes) and demolish 
 the fort there and which," whispered the friendly Indian, "the 
 warriors were then making preparations to do." 
 
 Ensign Holmes soon afterward sent the following letter to 
 Major Gladwyn, commanding the fort of Detroit: 
 
 "Fort Miami's, March 30, 1763. 
 
 "Since my last letter to you, wherein I acquainted you of 
 the Bloody Belt being in this village, I have made all the 
 
HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 61 
 
 search I could about it, and have found it out to be true; 
 whereon I assembled all the Chiefs of this Nation, and after a 
 long and troublesome spell with them I Obtained the Belt, with 
 a speech, as you will Receive Enclosed. This Affair is very 
 timely Stopt, and I hope the News of a Peace will put a Stop 
 to any further Troubles with these Indians, who are the Prin- 
 ciple Ones of Setting Mischief on Foot. I send you the Belt 
 with this Packet, which I hope you will Forward to the 
 General." 
 
 Notwithstanding this warning the Indians succeeded in 
 
 THE OJIBNA GIRL AND MAJOR GLADWYN. 
 
 capturing all of the posts except Detroit. The latter post 
 was saved from falling into the hands of the Indians by a 
 beautiful Ojibna girl, who went to see Major Gladwyn, of 
 whom she was very fond, ostensibly to present him with an 
 embroidered pair of moccasins, but in reality to disclose the 
 plot which Pontiac and his warriors intended to carry out the 
 next day. They were to enter the fort, as it would seem, for 
 
62 HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 friendly council and to smoke the pipe of peace, but hidden 
 beneath their blankets they were to carry shotguns and at a 
 signal from Pontiac were to fall upon the soldiers, kill the 
 officers and take the fort. Being foiled in this plot, Pontiac 
 and his warriors began a long and determined siege of Detroit 
 which, however, failed. 
 
 Fort Miami was treacherously taken on Ma}' 27, when 
 a young squaw, in whom Ensign Holmes had perfect confi- 
 dence, called on him and asked him to visit a sick woman in 
 a hut not far from the fort. Holmes followed without sus- 
 picion of evil, but was soon shot down by Indians concealed 
 near by. The sergeant, thoughtlessly going out of the fort to 
 see the cause of the shots, was captured by the savages. A 
 Canadian then came forth from among them and told the 
 soldiers still in the fort that, if they would at once surrender, 
 their lives should be saved; if not, all would be killed without 
 mercy. It was useless for them to resist, so they opened the 
 gates of the garrison to the Indians, who took possession, and 
 Enorjish control was lost for a time. 
 
 It was the intention of the Indians to surprise Fort Ouia- 
 tanon and kill the garrison on the night of May 31, but two 
 Canadian fur traders persuaded them to use milder measures. 
 So the commander. Lieutenant Jenkins, on the next morning 
 being asked to call at one of the cabins, did so, without think- 
 ing of danger, and was at once made a prisoner. The fort 
 was taken and all the soldiers captured, but, so the account 
 runs, were kindly treated by the Indians. For the two follow- 
 ing years the entire Ohio valley was under the rule of Pontiac. 
 
HISTORY OF INDIANA. 63 
 
 But after his vain attempts to capture Fort Detroit, and after 
 being told that he need no longer expect aid from the French 
 father, a treaty of peace having been signed between France 
 and England, Pontiac withdrew, with man}' of his chiefs, to 
 the bank of the Maumee river. 
 
 In the spring of 1765 Colonel Crogham was sent to effect, 
 if possible, a treaty of peace between the English and the 
 hostile tribes. He came down the Ohio river in May, but 
 had scarcely reached the mouth of the Wabash when he and 
 his party were attacked by the Kickapoo Indians. Several 
 were killed in the encounter, and Crogham, with the others 
 remaining, were made prisoners. They were carried to Vin- 
 cennes, where friendly Indians secured for them freedom and 
 kind treatment. Crogham then went to Fort Ouiatanon 
 where he arranged for a council of peace and started for Fort 
 Chartres in the Illinois country. But soon meeting Pontiac, 
 with many of his chiefs and warriors, they all returned to 
 Ouiatanon, where a great council was held and arrangements 
 were made for the treaty of peace which was afterward con- 
 summated at Detroit. At the council held at Ouiatanon, 
 Pontiac "complained that the French had deceived him" and 
 said that he would war against the English no longer. The 
 great chieftain kept his promise, gave up fighting for hunting, 
 and finally left his old home on the banks of the Maumee, a 
 few miles from Fort Miami, and lived in the Illinois country. 
 There, opposite the present city of St. Louis, in 1769 he was 
 treacherously murdered by an Indian of the Kaskaskia tribe. 
 Some accounts say that the assassin was hired to kill Pontiac 
 
64 
 
 HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 by an Englishman, who agreed to give him a barrel of whisky 
 and something else for the bloody deed. 
 
 
 '4 ''li' 
 
 DEATH OF PON'TIAC. 
 
 St. Ange, whom we remember to have last met as com- 
 mander of the post of Vincennes, was at this time the com- 
 mandant at St. Louis. When he heard of the death of 
 
HISTORY OF INDIANA. 65 
 
 Pontiac he sent across the river for the body "and buried it 
 with honors of war at St. Louis." Parkman says of this 
 great Ottawa chieftain: "The American forest never produced 
 a man more shrewd, pohtic and ambitious." 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 GEORGE ROGERS CLARK, THE "HANNIBAL OF THE WEST." 
 
 Eastern Pioneers Settle in Indiana — Indians Become Jealous, Blood- 
 thirsty, Cruel — Pathetic Stories— George Rogers Clark — Patrick 
 Henry's Order — The British Fort at Kaskaskia — Forced Marches in 
 Bitter, Cruel Weather — Clark's Letter to Governor Hamilton — 
 Sad End of a Brave Career. 
 
 After the close of Pontiac's war, the treaty of peace 
 having; been made bet'ween Enoland and the tribes of the north- 
 west, the forts were again garrisoned by British soldiers. 
 
 Many adventurous settlers now began crossing the Alle- 
 ghanies and seeking homes in the western wilderness. They 
 would leave the eastern settlements in small bands, then after 
 going into the interior would separate from each other and 
 settle far apart. A stor}' is told of one pioneer who left his 
 clearing^ and started farther west because another had settled 
 so near him that he could hear the report of his rifle; and of 
 another, that on noticing, through the valley around him, 
 "smoke curling in the distance, he went fifteen miles to dis- 
 cover its source and, finding newcomers there, quit the country 
 in disgust." Deprived of all the restraining and helpful 
 influences of civilized life, surrounded only by wild animals and 
 Indians, it is not strange that it has been said of these hardy 
 men, " wild as untamed nature, the}' could scream with the 
 
 Cfi 
 
HISTORY OF INDIANA. 67 
 
 panther, howl with the wolf, whoop with the Indian and fight 
 all creation." 
 
 Of an entirely different nature from the Frenchmen, these 
 pioneers from the colonial settlements could not readily make 
 friends of the red men, but came into the wilderness prepared 
 to fight their way, despising alike privation, hardship and 
 savage cruelty. " Each settler claimed for himself 300 acres 
 of ground and the privilege of taking 1,000 more contiguous 
 to his clearing." 
 
 But while there were men who thus dwelt as far apart as 
 possible, there were others who brought their 'families and, 
 building their cabins near each other, formed little settlements. 
 These settlements were in constant danger of being destro3"ed 
 by bands of Indians, who prowled through the forests and came 
 stealthily upon them. Often most terrible massacres would 
 occur. Sometimes whole families would be driven out into the 
 cold, while all that they had struggled so hard to obtain would 
 be destroyed by fire; some would be killed, others narrowly es- 
 cape the tomahawk and scalping knife and still others, perhaps 
 of the same family, taken as prisoners, would be led through 
 long, wearisome marches to Indian villages. Many touching 
 stories have been told of scenes that occurred when families 
 were reunited, perhaps after years of separation, during which 
 time their fate was unknown to each other. 
 
 During General Boquet's campaign against the Indians 
 many white prisoners were brought or escaped to his camp. 
 An old woman who, nine 3'ears before, during the French and 
 Indian war, had lost her grandchild, thought perhaps here she 
 
68 
 
 HISTORY OF INDIAXA. 
 
 would find her. "All her other relatives had died under the 
 knife." So she came to the camp, " and, searching with 
 
 THE OLD SUNG. 
 
 '\i -J 
 
 trembling eagerness e^ach face, she at last recognized the 
 altered features of her child. But the girl had forgotten her 
 
HISTORY OF INDIANA. Cd 
 
 native tongue, and returned no answer and made no sign." 
 The old woman groaned and complained bitterly that the 
 daughter she had so often sung to sleep on her knees had for- 
 gotten her in her old ag^e. Soldiers and officers were alike 
 overcome. "Sing," said Boquet to the old lady; "sing the song 
 you used to sing." As the low trembling tones began to 
 ascend the wild girl gave one sudden start, then listening for a 
 moment longer, her frame shaking like an ague, she burst into 
 a flood of passionate tears. She was indeed the lost child. All 
 else had been effaced from her memory save the recollection of 
 that sweet song of her infancy. She had heard it in her 
 dreams. Even the Indians who witnessed the scene, though 
 "their temperament Ayas iron," and they were said "to have 
 held such expressions of the heart in contempt," were overcome 
 with emotion. 
 
 But after the great war with England had begun and the 
 young colonies on the east were making their bold stand for 
 independence, the lot of the western frontiersmen became even 
 more perilous than before. British troops were overrunning 
 the Atlantic coast and British troops stationed at the frontier 
 posts in the west, on the Wabash, the Maumee and at Kas- 
 kaskia, were " inciting the Indians to deeds of rapine and 
 murder." From these posts arms and ammunition were 
 distributed to the savages and the attacks on the settlements 
 became more frequent and terrible. 
 
 For the conquests of these western posts and deliverance 
 in these troublous times from British rule and for .the sav- 
 ing to the United States of all the vast region of country 
 
70 
 
 HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 afterward known as the Northwest Territory, not only is In- 
 diana but the whole entire country indebted to General George 
 
 Rogers Clark more than 
 to any other one man. 
 He has been called the 
 "Hannibal of the West" 
 and in his bold, daring 
 and determined persever- 
 ance he most certainly 
 bore a strong resemblance 
 to the great Carthaginian. 
 Neither recognized any 
 obstacle that could not be 
 overcome, be they the 
 Alps of Italy or the 
 swamps of the wilder- 
 ness. 
 
 Clark was a Virginian by birth, but had lived many years 
 in Kentucky and spent much time among the western tribes. 
 He "felt sure that if the British could be successfully driven 
 from the northwest there would be very little trouble with the 
 Indians." Patrick Henry was governor of Virginia and to him 
 Clark went with a plan for capturing the British frontier posts. 
 To this plan the governor readily assented, as he himself had 
 felt greatly concerned over the hazardous position of these 
 frontiersmen. 
 
 On January 2, 1778, Governor Henry directed Clark, then 
 lieutenant-colonel, " to proceed with all convenient speed to 
 
 GENERAl, GEORGE ROGERS CLARK. 
 
HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 71 
 
 K^WKTHt OHVO rv\\(t?^ 
 
 
 „i;;illliill. 
 
 
 ' ii|)!;,j::iilli!i 
 
 liii 
 
 1%^ 
 
 — ^^ 
 
 - - 'jr . < -^x A) ^, 
 
 ■9^ 
 
 GENERAL CLARK'S EXPEDITION. 
 
 raise seven companies of soldiers, 
 to consist of fifty men each, 
 officered in the usual manner and 
 armed most properly for the en- 
 terprise, and with that force to 
 attack the British fort at Kas- 
 kaskia." Clark was also in- 
 structed to treat the French set- 
 tlers living around the post 
 kindl}-, as they were thought to 
 feel friendly toward the Ameri- 
 cans. And such was afterward 
 found to be the case. Clark did 
 
72 HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 not succeed in raising more than i 70 men, but with them he 
 tioated in boats down the Ohio river to the mouth of the 
 Tennessee, where he sank the boats to prevent discover}^ and 
 marched with his men through the swamp and forests, 150 
 miles, until on the night of July 4, 1778, he reached Kaskas- 
 kia. Here, through strategy and diplomacy, Clark won a 
 bloodless victory. The inhabitants of the village as well as 
 the Indians had been told most horrible stories of the cruelty 
 and brutality of the " Long Knives," as the American soldiers 
 were called by them. And when they found that they, were 
 not only to be left unharmed but also to be received and pro- 
 tected as citizens of the United States, their surprise and joy 
 were unbounded. " They adorned the streets with fiowers 
 and pavilions of different colors, completing their happiness by 
 singing," etc. 
 
 Detroit, Kaskaskia and Vincennes were considered the 
 three most important posts then held by the British on the 
 frontier. 
 
 Kaskaskia was taken and Clark resolved that Vincennes 
 must next be captured. This was accomplished through the 
 aid of M. Gibault, the priest of Kaskaskia, and Dr. LaFonte, 
 who, fearing for the welfare of their French friends in Vin- 
 cennes, if Clark and his arm}' attacked the post, offered to go 
 and persuade the garrison to yield without resistance. This 
 was done, another bloodless victory was achieved and the 
 American fias: was unfurled for the first time above Indiana 
 soil. The fort, after its capture, was called Patrick Henry and 
 Captain Helm was placed in command and made superintendent 
 
HISTORY OF INDIANA. 73 
 
 of Indian affairs on the Wabash. Friendly relations were soon 
 established with the surrounding tribes of Indians and not long 
 afterward the settlements of the Wabash and upper Mississippi 
 were organized with the " County of Illinois " and were subject 
 to American control, Colonel John Todd being appointed civil 
 commander. 
 
 However, Vincennes was not destined to long remain in 
 possession of the Americans. The British governor at Detroit, 
 Henry Hamilton, hearing of its capture, immediately deter- 
 mined upon its recover}', so with a mixed army of Canadians, 
 British regulars and Indians he left Detroit and, by way of 
 Fort Miami, reached the Wabash and on December 15 
 attacked the fort, intending to destroy the entire American 
 garrison. But Captain Helm stood heroically at his post and, 
 with match in hand beside a loaded cannon, threatened "to 
 blow to atoms ^' the first who dared to approach. At this the 
 Indians fled to the woods and Hamilton, supposing from 
 Helm's defiant manner that the post must be well garrisoned, 
 thought best to concede to it the honors of war if it would 
 surrender. What must have been the astonishment of 
 Hamilton and his force of 480 men when Captain Helm and 
 one private marched out of the fort! 
 
 It was impossible for Clark to rest with Vincennes again 
 in British hands. The following February he leaves Kas- 
 kaskia, having previously started a boat by river laden with 
 cannon and provisions and with his little band, so true and 
 tried, begins the toilsome march. It is in the dead of winter, 
 but instead of snow and frost there is rain, and the swamps 
 
74 HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 are almost impassable. Many nights they cannot find dry 
 ground on which to camp. The streams are swollen, the 
 boat fails to meet them at the appointed time and place and 
 their provisions become exhausted. But on they march, faint 
 and weary but resolute, through "water that is at places 
 deep as to their necks," and, carrying their rifles above their 
 heads, they at last camp on a little knoll, but before them 
 stretches a marshy plain which they must cross before Vin- 
 cennes can be reached. The weather turns cold and their 
 clothes freeze on them, and the plain is covered with water, 
 but into it Clark plunges, breaking the ice over the surface,, 
 and the men, inspired by his spirit, follow. "Many would 
 reach the shore," says Clark, "and fall with their bodies 
 half in the water, not being able to support themselves without 
 it." Finally, reaching an eminence, they build flres, capture 
 food from some Indians and, thus made comparatively com- 
 fortable, are ready for an attack upon the post. Clark 
 realizes the many disadvantages of his position, but determines 
 to capture the post by means of pure bravado. He accord- 
 ingly, after a little skirmish has taken place between the 
 troops, sends the following note to Governor Hamilton, the 
 commander of the post: 
 
 "Sir: In order to save yourself from the impending 
 storm that now threatens you, I order you immediately to 
 surrender yourself with all your garrison, stores, etc., etc., 
 for, if I am obliged to storm, you may depend on such treat- 
 ment as is justly due a murderer. Beware of destroying stores 
 of any kind, or any papers or letters that are in your posses- 
 
/ 
 
 HISTORY OF INDIANA. 75 
 
 sion, or hurting one house in town, for, by heavens! if you do 
 there shall be no mercy shown you. G. R. Clark. 
 
 *' To Governor Hamilton." 
 
 This was answered by Hamilton and the battle was 
 renewed, but Clark soon had the satisfaction of dictating to 
 the British commander and Vincennes again passed into 
 American hands. Governor Hamilton, Major Hay and several 
 others were sent as prisoners to Virginia, where they were 
 kept in confinement for a time as punishment for having 
 instigated, as was believed, Indian massacres, but were 
 finally released on Washington's recommendation. 
 
 Clark's brilliant and invaluable services were never 
 properly requited nor even acknowledged, as they should 
 have been, by the government. During a temporary season 
 of peace on the frontier he was dismissed from the military 
 service. Disheartened and dejected, he fell a victim to drink. 
 His health became shattered and he was a sufferer many 
 years, dying at the home of his sister near Louisville in Feb- 
 ruary, 1818. He was a man of real genius and lofty patriotism 
 and merited a better fate. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 GENERAL WAYNE AND THE INDIANS. 
 
 The Terrible Year 1782— Colonel Crawford Burned at the Stake — 
 Increase of Settlers Arouses the Anger of the Indians— Troops 
 Sent Out— "Chief-Who-Never-Sleeps" Sends a Message to the 
 Indians — Battle of August 20, 1794— Great Council of 1795 — Little 
 Turtle's Eloquence— Fort Wayne Named in Honor of the Great 
 General. 
 
 After Vincennes had been recaptured by General Clark, 
 
 fort WAYNE in 1794- 
 
 the British made no further attempt to take any of the western 
 
HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 77 
 
 posts. And after the close of the Revolutionary war, wlien 
 the treaty of peace was si«rned between England and the new 
 nation, the United States, in 1783, all of the territory lying 
 northwest of the Ohio river was ceded to the United States by 
 Virginia. The British retained the post at Detroit for several 
 
 COLONEL CRAWFORD BURNED AT THE STAKE. 
 
 years, where they continued to give the Indians more or less 
 encouragement in their resistance to the coming of American 
 settlers. 
 
 During the period of the Revolutionary war the village 
 of Kekionga was held by the British and Indians. It was the 
 
7S 
 
 HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 seat of an official for Indian affairs and was held as an im- 
 portant trading post. After Clark had recaptured Vincennes 
 he made plans to possess both this point and Detroit, but was 
 not able to carry them out. An expedition was formed, how- 
 ever, by one LaBalme, who, inspired by' Clark's wonderful 
 success, thought to accomplish a similar achievement in the 
 capture of Kekionga and Detroit. With a small force, which 
 he succeeded in raising at Kaskaskia, LaBalme took the 
 village of Kekionga by surprise in the summer of 17S0. The 
 inhabitants fled in dismay, but as soon as they discovered the 
 paucity of LaBalme's following, the Indian warriors of the 
 
 vicinity, led by their chief. Little 
 Turtle, fell upon them and mas- 
 sacred the entire part}'. 
 
 The 3'ear 1782, it is said, was 
 the "most terrible ever known 
 on the western frontier." It was 
 during this year that some of the 
 most shocking massacres oc- 
 curred. Colonel Crawford with 
 a force of 480 men was defeated, 
 the colonel taken prisoner, and, 
 after being tortured in ways too 
 revolting to even describe, was 
 burned at the stake. It was also 
 during this year that Girty, more 
 iiend than man, led an army of Indians to victory. But fol- 
 lowing these bloody events came a season of comparative 
 
 SIMON GIRTY. 
 
HISTORY OF INDIANA. 79 
 
 freedom from Indian hostilities, during which every effort was 
 made by the government to conclude treaties with the tribes 
 of the northwest. But as the Indian saw the tide of immisfra- 
 tion from the east increasing, new forts being established and 
 substantial towns building within his domains, he became 
 more determined than ever not to yield his claims and refused 
 to enter into negotiations for the surrender of his lands or the 
 security of the white settlers. 
 
 In consequence of this unsettled and unsafe condition of 
 affairs the government, in 1790, decided to send a detachment 
 of regular troops under General Harmar to the northwest, 
 with instructions to march against the Indian villages and 
 inflict upon them such chastisement as would protect the 
 settlements from further depredations. This campaign ended 
 in utter defeat, the final desperate engagement being fought 
 with the Indians at their village of Omi on the banks of the 
 Maumee river, about twelve miles west of Fort Wayne, in 
 October, 1790. 
 
 It is said that "as early as 1785 Washington had been 
 impressed with the superior advantages of the Miami villages 
 at the confluence of the St. Mary's and St. Joseph's rivers for 
 the erection of a fort, and it now became the paramount pur- 
 pose, during 1791, to build this fort and establish a chain of 
 military posts from Fort Washington, located near the present 
 site of Cincinnati, to the head of the Maumee." With this 
 object in view. General St. Clair was placed in command of the 
 forces in the west after Harmar's defeat, and with large rein- 
 forcements it was hoped he would be able to repress the 
 
80 
 
 HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 savages and protect the white settlements. Before entering 
 into any private warfare with the tribes Generals Scott and 
 Wilkinson conducted a successful campaign against the 
 Indians in the southern portion of the state, destroying man\' 
 fields of corn and burning a number of villages, among theni 
 the Ouiatanon towns. . . 
 
 St. Clair's campaign, however, proved more disastrous 
 than Harmar's, and left the Indian problem in very much the 
 same condition in which the government to-day finds it — per- 
 plexing and hard to solve. But it was necessary to afford 
 relief and protection to the western settlements, so as soon as 
 practicable the forces were reorganized and placed under 
 command of General Anthony Wayne. This valiant soldier 
 
 had won great distinction in the 
 Revolutionar}' war by his man}' 
 deeds of valor and his wise man- 
 agement of troops at critical 
 times. He was given the sobri- 
 quet of "Mad Anthony" on ac- 
 count of his daring spirit, but he 
 ^y j had great sagacity and prudence, 
 and, during his campaigns against 
 the Indians, always endeavored 
 to enter into reasonable and 
 (D_^^?v^//^'i^ generous treaties with them be- 
 
 fore giving them battle. The Indians called him "Black 
 Snake" on account of his watchfulness; also the " Chief-who- 
 never-sleeps." In June of 1792 General Wayne organized his 
 
HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 81 
 
 army at Pittsburg, but thought it wise to devote several 
 months to drilHng and disciplining it before moving into the 
 Indian country, so that it was not until Christmas of 1793 
 that he reached the spot where St. Clair had met such a ter- 
 
 rible defeat. Here a stockade post was built and aptly named 
 Fort Recovery. Six hundred skulls were found on this spot, 
 a ghastly testimony to the carnage enacted there two years 
 before. 
 
K2 HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 General Wayne continued his march into the heart of the 
 Indian country, but before attempti .g to capture the point 
 where the Miami villages were located, he thought best to 
 offer the tribes a last opportunity to enter into a treaty of 
 peace. In a report to the secretarj' of war General Wayne, 
 after stating that he had given the Indians such opportunity, 
 said: "But, should war be their choice, their blood be upon 
 their own heads. America shall no longer be insulted with 
 impunity. To an all-powerful and just God I therefore com- 
 mit myself and gallant army." In the address he sent to the 
 tribes General Wayne kindly entreated them to lay down their 
 arms and "experience the kindness and friendship of the 
 United States of America and the invaluable blessings of peace 
 and tranquility." 
 
 In a council of the confederate tribes, Little Turtle made 
 every effort to induce them to accept General Wayne's offers 
 of peace, but some of the chiefs accusing him of cowardice he 
 said no more, but sorrowfully led his warriors forth to battle. 
 On August 20, 1794, on the bank of the Maumee, near Presque 
 Isle, about two miles south of the site of Maumee City, the 
 two armies met. The engagement was quick and decisive. 
 General Wayne gaining a complete victory over the savages, 
 who wildly fled in every direction. Not only were the armies 
 of the two races led b}' notable warriors in this engagement — 
 Wayne and Little Turtle — but they were assisted by those 
 who, in after years, became conspicuous figures in the histor}' 
 of the northwest. William Henry Harrison, at that time a 
 lieutenant, was General Wayne"'s aid-de-camp and Tecumseh, 
 
HISTORY^ OF INDIANA. 
 
 83 
 
 the famous Shawnee chief, fought bravely in Little Turtle^s 
 band. 
 
 A few days after the victory General Wayne proceeded 
 with his troops to the Miami villages, where he built the fort 
 so long projected. This important post was completed Octo- 
 ber 2 2, 1794, and placed under the command of Lieutenant- 
 Colonel Hamtramck, who, after firing fifteen rounds of cannon, 
 named it Fort Wayne, in honor of the great soldier. On the 
 ninety-third anniversary of this victory, which had given 
 Americans the final and complete control of the Indians in this 
 disputed portion of the country, a suitable celebration was held 
 in the city built on the same site and bearing the same name 
 as the post. A worthy citizen, Henry M. Williams, inclosed 
 the grounds with an iron fence and erected a lofty ship's mast, 
 from which floats the stars and stripes. 
 
 In the year following Gen- 
 eral Wa3'ne's important victory 
 over the Indians, 1795, a coun- 
 cil of all the tribes of the 
 northwest was held at Green- 
 ly, ville and a final treat}^ of peace 
 agreed upon. There it was 
 that Little Turtle, who "was 
 the master spirit on the part 
 of the Indians," made his elo- 
 quent appeal for the privilege 
 of still holding the glorious gate at Fort Wayne. He had 
 been the leader of the savage warriors when Harmar and St. 
 
 i.rrxi.r, turtle. 
 
S4 HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 Clair met with such overwhehning defeats. Although con- 
 quered in warfare by General Wa3-ne, Little Turtle, who has 
 
 THE FIRST TEMPERANCE SOCIETY IN AMERICA. 
 
 been called "the gentleman of his race," met him in the council 
 with dignity and calmness. At the end of the council, which 
 
HISTORY OF INDIANA. 85 
 
 lasted from June i6 to August 7, he withdrew with courtesy, 
 expressing satisfaction with the treaty and friendship for the 
 p-overnment and asking that he mio^ht be informed of any 
 measures which the great council of the Fifteen Fires, as the 
 fifteen states were called by the natives, might adopt, in which 
 the interest of their children should be concerned. Ever after 
 he remained the firm friend of the whites, locating with his 
 tribe on the banks of the Maumee and the Wabash, where he 
 used his influence over them for their moral advancement. To 
 him the honor must be given of forming one of the first tem- 
 perance societies in America, for he pleaded with his people 
 with all the power of his native eloquence to let the " accursed 
 fire-water," with which the white man tempted them, alone. He 
 enforced his teachings with his own example of total absti- 
 nence. Yielding to his persuasions, his braves pledged them- 
 selves to abstain entirely from the use of spirits, and during 
 the life of their noble chief the pledges were almost universally 
 kept. 
 
 Little Turtle, brave in war and wise in peace, died at the 
 ''old orchard" near Fort Wayne on July 14, 181 2. At this 
 spot he was buried with all the honors accorded a white war- 
 rior. In the grave beside his body were placed his implements 
 of war and a sword and medal presented him by General 
 Washington. 
 
 "Plaudits and thanks, public and private, were showered " 
 upon General Wayne after his success in the west and he 
 was appointed sole commissioner to treat with the northwest 
 Indians and receiver of the military posts given up by the 
 
86 HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 British. But he did not long fill these positions, as in Decem- 
 ber, 1796, he died, after a brief illness, and was buried at the 
 foot of the flag-staff of the garrison at Erie. His body was 
 reinterred by his son in 1809 in the family cemetery in Chester 
 county, Pa., where a monument was erected to his memory 
 by the Pennsylvania State Society of the Cincinnati. 
 
HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 ■^ 
 
 ^'iS0(//o, ^ 
 
 Ofi^O /^ 
 
 ;/^ 
 
 MAP OF NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 
 
CHAPTER XL 
 
 TECUMSEH AND THE GREAT COUNCIL. 
 
 Peshkewah, Chief of the Miamis — Fifteen Years of Peace — Tecumseh, 
 Chief of the "Arabs of the Wilderness"— A Second Pontiac— 
 William Henry Harrison — Plots to Capture the Forts — The Great 
 Council of i8io— Tecumseh's Speech— "The One-Eyed Prophet" — The 
 Battle of Tippecanoe. 
 
 We shall leave for another chapter the account of many 
 important events which took place between the 3'^ears 1787 and 
 181 2, in connection with the settlement of this portion of 
 country, which in 1787 had been organized into the Northwest 
 territory, and the formation of its government, and shall con- 
 tinue to follow the trail of the Indian until it is forever effaced 
 by advancing civilization. 
 
 After the death of Little Turtle, Peshkewah, or John B. 
 Richardville, as he was better known by the whites, became 
 the chief of the Miamis. His father was a Frenchman and his 
 mother a chieftainess. He lived for many years in a large, 
 comfortable brick house, on the banks of the St. Mary's river, 
 about four miles from Fort Wa3'ne, and adopted many of the 
 customs and habits of the white man. He showed great busi- 
 ness capacity in the management of the affairs of his people, 
 always securing for them the best terms possible from the gov- 
 ernment. A little incident which occurred when he was a 
 
 87 
 
88 
 
 HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 young man and before he had been installed as chief (although 
 he had been designated as such) proved him to be of a kind 
 nature. A white prisoner had been bound to the stake to be 
 burned. Richardville's mother, who had great influence with 
 the tribe, had made every effort to have him released, but had 
 failed. Just as the Indians were ready to light the torch Rich- 
 ardville rushed into the circle of savages, cut the cords that 
 bound the white man, and the prisoner, through the aid of the 
 chieftainess, made his escape. "Many years afterward the chief, 
 on a journey to Washington, D. C, stopped at a town in Ohio. 
 A man approached him, throwing his arms around his neck in 
 grateful embrace. It was the rescued prisoner." Richardville 
 at his death, which took place in 1841, left an estate valued at 
 half a million dollars. His remains rest in the Catholic ceme- 
 tery at Fort Wayne. 
 
 For about fifteen years after the tribes had signed the 
 treaty of peace at Greenville they lived and hunted on the 
 
 lands allotted them by the gov- 
 ernment, received the annuities 
 promised them and gave little 
 annoyance to the pioneers. That 
 so many of the pale-faces should 
 seek homes in the west greatly 
 astonished the wild hunters of 
 the forest and, as the tide of im- 
 migration increased and more 
 land was demanded of them, 
 TECUMSEH. they became restive and anxious 
 
HISTORY OF INDIANA. 89 
 
 lest they should forever be driven from their favorite hunting 
 grounds and the homes and the graves of their ancestors. 
 
 Tecumseh, whose name signifies " Shooting Star," a chief 
 of the Shawnees, who have been called " the Arabs of the 
 wilderness," was especially enraged over the last land grant, 
 made at Fort Wayne in 1803. This chief possessed an influence 
 not only over his own tribe but over all the tribes of the west, 
 " which no other prophet, warrior or priest ever held on this 
 continent." Tecumseh rose far above his fellow-savages in 
 intellectual ability and in generous, noble traits of disposition, 
 and the fact that he was true and loyal to his own people 
 should, of course, increase our admiration for his character. 
 He was a true " child of the woods." The comforts of civil- 
 ized life had no attraction for him, as he believed they were 
 obtained at the expense of too much drudgery. Tecumseh, 
 like Pontiac, planned a confederacy of all the western tribes 
 and determined to drive the American forever from their 
 country. He understood that there would soon be war 
 between England and the United States and felt that he could 
 surely depend upon British aid. 
 
 General William Henry Harrison, governor of Indiana 
 territor}', lived at Vincennes, the capital of the territory. 
 Reports reached him that Tecumseh was uniting the tribes in a 
 plot to capture the posts — Detroit, Fort Dearborn (the present 
 site of Chicago), Vincennes and St. Louis — so he at once sent 
 messengers to the chief and arranged for a council. 
 
 On August 12, 1810, Tecumseh, with 400 warriors, passed 
 down the Wabash and encamped near Vincennes. The council 
 
90 
 
 HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 was held in the grove adjoining the governor's residence. Here 
 Governor Harrison, attended by judges of the superior court, 
 several army officers and a number of citizens, received the great 
 
 
 tiLiM.RAL HAKKISON'S COUNCIL WITH TECUMSEH. 
 
 chief, who came to the council accompanied by about twenty 
 of his braves. " Tall, athletic and manly, dignified, but grace- 
 ful," Tecumseh approached the governor, who, through the in- 
 
HISTORY OF INDIANA. 91 
 
 terpreter, asked the chief to come forward and take a seat, say- 
 ing that " it was the wish of their great father, the President of 
 the United States, that he should do so." 
 
 Tecamseh paused for a moment; then, raising his tall figure 
 to its greatest height and fixing his fyes first upon the gov- 
 ernor and then upon the skies above, lifted his arm and, with a 
 voice indicating great contempt for the idea that the President 
 of the United States was his father, replied, "My father? The 
 sun is my father, the earth is my mother, and on her bosom I 
 will recline." So sa3'ing, he stretched himself on the green 
 lawn. Durino- the council Tecumseh became so excited and 
 indignant as he recounted the wrongs of the red man that, 
 after Governor Harrison had made some remarks in regard to 
 the last purchase of lands from the Indians, the chief turned to 
 the interpreter with the exclamation, "Tell him he lies!" 
 Governor Harrison then said he would hold no further council 
 that day. 
 
 Other meetings followed this, however, during which 
 Tecumseh claimed that no tribe had a right to sign away its 
 lands without the consent and approval of the entire confed- 
 eracy of Indian tribes. He declared that no objection should 
 be made to such an alliance when the " Seventeen Fires " 
 (seventeen states) were joined together in a like confederacy. 
 
 Governor Harrison said that he would make known these 
 views to the President, to which Tecumseh replied: " Well, as 
 the great chief is to determine the matter, I hope the Great 
 Spirit will put sense enough into his head to induce him to give 
 up the land. It is true he is so far off he will not be injured by 
 
92 
 
 HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 the war. He may sit still in his town and drink his wine while 
 you and I are left to tight it out," which indeed they did 
 within the next few years. 
 
 After this many "talks " were held, but no agreement was 
 reached, and Governor Harrison finally said " that the right of 
 the United States would be supported by the sword," if need 
 be, "So be it," was the stern and haughty reply of the 
 Shawnee chieftain, and soon afterward he drifted down the 
 rivers in his birch-bark canoe to visit the tribes in the south- 
 west and to persuade them to join in the great uprising. He 
 told them that when the proper time came he would stamp his 
 
 foot and the whole conti- 
 nent would tremble. It so 
 happened that soon after 
 his return to the north there 
 was a dreadful earthquake. 
 When Tecumseh went 
 '^/j south he left the affairs of 
 „ .^// the north in the hands of 
 (//{ his brother, the " One- 
 Eyed Prophet," who was a 
 medicine man and had 
 great influence over the 
 tribes on account of sor- 
 ceries and incantations he 
 successfully practiced. On leaving, Tecumseh charged his 
 brother to preserve friendly relations with the whites and not 
 on any account to allow an outbreak of hostilities during his 
 
 THE ONE-EYED PROPHET. 
 
HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 93 
 
 absence, but to strengthen their cause by inducing other tribes 
 to unite with them in the effort to drive the white people from 
 the Wabash and lUinois country. 
 
 Tecumseh left feeling confident that his instructions would 
 be carried out. But a number of whites having been murdered 
 by the Indians, and reports having reached the governor of an 
 
 TIPPECANOE BATTLEGROUND AS IT LOOKS TO-DAY. 
 
 ■uprising of many of the tribes led by the Prophet, and rumors 
 of the proposed massacre at Vincennes, Governor Harrison 
 marched with a force of about 800 men to the mouth of* the 
 Tippecanoe river, where Prophet's town was located, a few 
 miles from the present site of Lafayette. Before attacking the 
 Indians the governor sent messengers to the Prophet and 
 
94 
 
 HISrORV OF INDIANA. 
 
 offered him an opportunity of entering into a treaty of peace. 
 These messengers the Indians tried to capture. By dayl'ght of 
 the following morning, November 7, 181 1, the battle was 
 raging. The Indians fought with more than their usual 
 bravery and energy, but were completely routed. The defeat 
 of the Prophet was overwhelming, his power was broken and 
 Tecumseh's grand plan of the confederacy of the tribes for- 
 ever destroyed. When this great chief returned from the 
 south and found his hopes ruined by this untimely battle, his 
 disappointment and rage were so great that he threatened to 
 kill the Prophet and ne\er indeed forgave him. 
 
 ft^N^' 
 
 liATTI.i; SCAKK!'') (1 ' k ( i|- IIFPLLANOE. 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 TECUAISEH AND THE BRITISH FORCES. 
 
 War Dfxlared Against Great Britain— Tecumseh and His Braves Join 
 THE English— Battle of the Thames — Tecumseh Killed -Quaint 
 Story of Tecumseh— The Young Man and the Oxen — End of the 
 Indian Dangers— The Indian Must "Move On." 
 
 The following year, 1812, war was declared between 
 Great Britain and the United States. Tecumseh, with a large 
 following of Indians, joined the British forces against the 
 Americans and was soon made a brigadier-general in the 
 British army. During the early part of this war the British 
 and Indian forces were victorious in most of the engagements. 
 They captured Detroit, threatened Fort Wayne and defeated the 
 Americans at Frenchtown, where, after the surrender to the 
 British, most of those taken prisoners were massacred by the 
 Indians. These disasters were followed by another defeat of 
 the American forces at Fort Meigs. But in September, 18 13, 
 Commodore Perry gained his great naval victory over the 
 British in Lake Erie, and General Harrison, having been 
 appointed commander-in-chief of the forces in the west and 
 northwest, invaded Canada. 
 
 On October 5 the great battle of the Thames was fought 
 not many miles from Detroit. In this battle Tecumseh was 
 killed and the power of the Indians and British in the North- 
 
 95 
 
9^5 HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 west territory was forever destroyed. A great chieftain had 
 fallen. He was not only a devoted patriot and brave warrior, 
 
 BATTLE OF THE THAMES. 
 
 but his mode of warfare was noble and chivalrous. Unlike 
 most of his race, he never stooped to the use of artful and cun- 
 ning measures to accomplish his purposes. 
 
HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 97 
 
 Of many anecdotes illustrating his nobility of character 
 we shall give but one. After one of the victories won by the 
 British and Indians, the country having been pillaged of 
 
 TECUMSEH BUVS THE FARMER'S OXEN. 
 
 almost everything by the invading armies, it transpired that an 
 old man who was lame had managed to conceal a pair of oxen, 
 with which his son was able to make a scanty living for the 
 
98 HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 famil}'. But one day while the man was at labor with the 
 oxen Tecumseh, meeting him in the road, said: "My friend, 
 I must have those oxen. My young men are very hungry; 
 they have had nothing to eat. We must have the oxen." 
 
 The son told the chief that if he took the oxen his father 
 would starve to death. 
 
 "Well," said Tecumseh, "we are the conquerors and every- 
 thing we want is ours. I must have the oxen. My people must 
 not starve, but I will not be so mean as to rob you of them. I will 
 pay you $ioo for them and that is far more than the}' are worth." 
 
 Tecumseh got a white man to write an order on the 
 British agent. Colonel Elliot. The oxen were killed, large 
 fires built and the forest warriors were soon feasting on their 
 flesh. But when the order was presented to Colonel Elliot he 
 refused to honor it. The 3'oung man sorrowfully returned to 
 Tecumseh who said: "He won't pay it, will he? Stay all 
 night and to-morrow we will go and see." The next morning 
 the two went to the British agent, to whom Tecumseh said: 
 ^'Do you refuse to pay for the oxen I bought.^" 
 
 "Yes," said the colonel. 
 
 "I bought them," said the chief, "for my young men were 
 very hungry. I promised to pay for them and they shall be 
 paid for. I have always heard the white nations went to war 
 with each other and not yith peaceful individuals; that they 
 did not rob and plunder poor people. I will not." 
 
 "Well," said the colonel, "I will not pay for them." 
 
 "You can do as you please," said the chief; "but before 
 Tecumseh and his warriors came to fight the battles of the 
 
HISTORY OF INDIANA. 99 
 
 great king they had enough to eat, for which they had only to 
 thank the Master of Life and their good rifles. Their hunting 
 grounds suppHed them with food enough ; to them they can 
 return." The colonel knew that the withdrawal of the Indian 
 warriors from the British forces would be disastrous, so he 
 yielded to Tecumseh, saying: "Well, if I must pay, I will." 
 
 "Give me hard money,'' said the chief, "not rag money." 
 Tecumseh handed the hundred dollars in coin to the young 
 man and then demanded "one dollar more" from the colonel, 
 and, giving that also to the young man, said: "Take that; 
 it will pay for the time you have lost in getting your money." 
 
 Tecumseh never allowed the massacre of prisoners, a 
 custom usual in Indian warfare. The question as to who 
 killed the noble chieftain has been much discussed, but to 
 Colonel R. M. Johnson the deed is usually ascribed. 
 
 In the death of Tecumseh "the hope of the prairie and 
 lake tribes became extinct." "The danger to the settlements 
 was over." The calumet was again smoked, and friendly rela- 
 lations were soon established between the two races which were 
 never again seriously interrupted in Indiana. The treaties made 
 in later years provided for further purchase of their lands and 
 the removal of many of the tribes to lands beyond the Missis- 
 sippi. And so, like "poor Joe," the Indian has ever since been 
 compelled to "move on" by a force stronger and more 
 powerful than any London police — the force and power of a 
 mighty civilization, which now began to throw out branches 
 in every direction from the roots which had been planted in the 
 midst of danger and peril and hardship. 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 THE BEGINNINGS OF GOVERNMENT. 
 
 Organization of the Northwest Territory— A Vast Region Dedicated 
 TO Freedom— The First Tide of Immigration— Division of the Terri- 
 tory — William Henry Harrison Governor of Indiana— Bitter Con- 
 test over Slavery— Land Speculation and Jobbery — The First 
 Criminal Code — Indian Troubles— Aaron Burr in Indiana. 
 
 George Rogers Clark's victories in the west brought the 
 territory north of the Ohio river, between the western boundary 
 of Pennsylvania and the Mississippi river, into the possession of 
 Virginia. The inhabitants, who were mostly French, took the 
 oath of allegiance to Virginia, and the assembly of that state 
 erected the conquered country into the county of Illinois. The 
 limits of this territory were not, however, well defined, and 
 when the confederation was in process of formation consider- 
 able difficulty was caused by the conflicting claims of Massa- 
 chusetts, Connecticut, Virginia and the Carolinas to the lands 
 between the mountains and the Mississippi river. All of these 
 states, under their charters, extended to the Pacific, or to the 
 Mississippi after that river had been fixed as the British 
 western boundary. In 1780 Virginia offered to cede to the 
 United States all claim to the territory northwest of the Ohio 
 upon certain conditions, which were not, however, agreed to. 
 Four years later these conditions were withdrawn by Virginia, 
 
 100 
 
HISTORY OF INDIANA. 101 
 
 and her offer, as modified, was accepted by Congress. Mr. 
 Jefferson, then a member of that body from Virginia, reported, 
 as chairman of a committee, a plan for the government of the 
 entire western region. This contemplated the division of this 
 territory into seventeen states, with a proviso, that, "after the 
 year 1800 there shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servi- 
 tude in any of the said states other than in the punishment of 
 crimes, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted." 
 This proviso was stricken out and the plan adopted. In 1786, 
 however, it was modified by Congress so as to reduce the num- 
 ber of states to five or three. In the following year the 
 " ordinance for the government of the territory of the United 
 States northw^est of the Ohio" was finally adopted. This ordi- 
 nance was reported by a committee, of which Nathan Dane 
 of Massachusetts was chairman. The passage of this ordi- 
 nance, which received the unanimous vote of the eight states at 
 the time represented in Congress, was an historical event 
 which ranks second in importance only to the adoption of the 
 Federal constitution. The Northwest territory was the first 
 territory organized by the United States. Vital principles 
 were formally recognized in this famous instrument, which have 
 brought untold blessings to the people of this great region and 
 of the entire country. Under the English law the property of 
 the father descended to the eldest son. This kept the great 
 estates intact and perpetuated inequalities of fortune. This 
 law, which was in force in some of the older states, was dis- 
 carded in the new territory. The ordinance contained a pro- 
 viso that the estates of all persons dying in the territory with- 
 8 
 
102 HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 out wills should be divided equally among their children or 
 next of kin in like degree. The ordinance gave perpetual 
 guarantees to the inhabitants of the territory of perfect 
 religious freedom, of trial by jury, of the writ of habeas 
 corpus, and all the other rights of civil liberty. It stipu- 
 lated that education should be encouraged, and that 
 good faith and humanity should be exercised toward the 
 Indians. The anti-slavery proviso, first proposed by Jefferson, 
 was inserted in the ordinance, to take effect at once; but pro- 
 vision was made for the return to their owners of fugitives 
 from slavery. Provision was made for the future division of 
 the territory into three or five states, at the pleasure of the 
 Congress. Each state was to be admitted into the Union as 
 soon as it contained 60,000 free inhabitants, or sooner in the 
 discretion of Congress. These states were to have the same 
 rights and privileges as the original states and were to assume 
 the same obligations, including their share of the burdens of 
 the general government. The governor and all executive and 
 military officers were to be chosen by Congress. The}' were 
 to adopt and publish civil and criminal laws, selected from the 
 laws of the states, which were to be in force unless disapproved 
 by Congress. As soon as the territory should have 5,000 
 inhabitants, however, the legislative power was to be trans- 
 ferred to a General Assembly, elected in part by the people, 
 whose acts, if in harmony with the ordinance and approved by 
 the governor, were to be valid and binding. A delegate to 
 Congress, with the right of debating, but not of voting, was to 
 be chosen by this General Assembly. 
 
HISTORY OF INDIANA. 103 
 
 These were the leading features of this ^^reat ordinance, 
 which forever dedicated to civihzation, to rehgious Hberty and 
 to poHtical freedom, a fertile territory with an area of about 
 250,000 miles, whicli to-day (1891) contains a population of 
 nearly 14,000,000. The precedents established in this ordi- 
 nance have been followed in the organization of all the terri- 
 tories. 
 
 The capital of the new territory was located at Marietta, 
 on the Ohio river. The town was named for the French 
 queen, Marie Antoinette. The territory embraced the vast 
 region in which now are included the states of Ohio, Indiana, 
 Michigan, Illinois and Wisconsin, and a small part of Minne- 
 sota. General Arthur St. Clair was appointed governor and 
 Winthrop Sargent secretary. General St. Clair was a native 
 of Scotland, of noble birth. Inheriting a fortune, he had 
 received a university education, and having purchased a com- 
 mission in an English regiment, had come to this country in 1757 
 with Admiral Boscawen's fleet. He had served under General 
 Wolfe at Quebec and in 1762 had resigned from the British 
 service. In 1764 he had settled in Ligonier county. Pa., where 
 he had remained, filling important official positions from time to 
 time, until 1775, when he had been made a colonel of militia. 
 His services during the revolutionary war had been distin- 
 guished. He had been court-martialled indeed for an apparent 
 failure in his duty at Ticonderoga, but had been acquitted with 
 the highest honor. He had served on the court-martial which 
 had condemned Major Andre and had been a delegate to the 
 continental congress. He was a brave, high-minded and 
 
104 HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 accomplished man, although his administration as governor was 
 not popular. He was removed by President Jefferson in 1802 
 and spent the remainder of his life in poverty, dying at Greens- 
 burg, Pa, in 1818, at the age of eighty-four. 
 
 For several years after the organization of the Northwest 
 territory it was the scene of constant and bloody Indian 
 warfare, of which the story has been told in previous chapters. 
 Notwithstanding the disturbed condition of affairs, however 
 there was a considerable influx of settlers from the east. Before 
 the arrival of Governor St. Clair a temporary government was 
 established at Marietta. The governor reached there on July 
 21, 1787. Four days later the first law, which was "for regu- 
 lating and establishing the militia," was promulgated. On 
 September 2 the first court was held with impressive cere- 
 monies. From 1790 to 1795 the governor and judges pub- 
 lished sixty -four statutes. In 1798, the population of the terri- 
 tory having reached 5,000, the election of a general assembl}'^ 
 was ordered. This body organized at Cincinnati on September 
 24, 1799. General William Henry Harrison was elected a dele- 
 gate to Congress. The legislature at the first session passed 
 forty-eight acts, of which eleven were vetoed by the governor. 
 The most important among the new laws related to the sale of 
 public lands, the administration of justice, taxation and the 
 militia. 
 
 In 1800, the Northwest territory was divided into the 
 territories of Ohio and Indiana, "^^he former comprised the 
 region embraced within the limits of the present state of Ohio; 
 the latter comprised the remainder of the original territory, or 
 
GKNICKAI. ST. CI AlK. 
 
niSrORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 105 
 
 what now constitutes the states of Indiana, IlHnois, Michigan, 
 Wisconsin and a small part of Minnesota. The seat of govern- 
 ment was fixed at Vin- 
 cennes and General Harrison 
 was made governor. His 
 commission was dated 1801, 
 although the act creating 
 Indiana territory had taken 
 effect July 4, 1800. John 
 Gibson was made secretary 
 and William Clarke, Henry 
 Vanderburg and John Grif- 
 fin judges. The territorial 
 act was brief, providing sim- 
 ply for a division of the orig- 
 inal territory and the crea- 
 tion of an additional government " in all respects similar " to 
 the government created by the ordinance of 1787. It stipu- 
 lated, however, that a legislature should be chosen as soon as a 
 majority of the freeholders of Indiana territory signified a 
 desire for one. The civilized population of the new territory 
 was estimated at 4,875. 
 
 General Harrison reached Vincennes January 10, i8oi,and 
 assumed the reins of government which had been temporarily 
 held by John Gibson, the secretary. On the 12th, the governor 
 and judges went into session and adjourned on the 26th, hav- 
 ing adopted seven laws and three resolutions. 
 
 At an election held in Indiana territory September 11, 
 
 WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 
 
100 HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 1804, a majority of 138 was recorded in favor of organizing a 
 general assembly. Early in the following year a house of rep- 
 resentatives was elected. The upper house or council of five 
 was selected by President Jefferson through Governor Harri.^on 
 from ten names submitted by the house of representatives and 
 on July 29, 1805, the first general assembly of Indiana territory 
 met at Vincennes. A few days before this the territory of 
 Michis^an had been detached from Indiana. From that time 
 until February 3, 1809, when the territory of Illinois was organ- 
 ized, Indiana consisted of all the original Northwest territory 
 except Ohio and Michigan. The separation of Illinois from 
 Indiana in 1809 reduced the latter to the dimensions of the 
 present state, which has an area of 3^^,350 miles. 
 
 The territorial history of Indiana was eventful. The Indian 
 and slavery questions were all-absorbing. Notwithstanding 
 the prohibition of 1787, negroes were held, to some extent, in 
 slavery. There was a strong and persistent movement in favor 
 of the suspension of the anti-slavery provision of the ordinance 
 of 1787, in so far as it applied to Indiana. In December, 1802, 
 a convention, which had been elected by the people, met at 
 Vincennes to consider this matter. Governor Harrison pre- 
 sided. The convention prepared a memorial to Congress, which 
 was signed by the delegates and other citizens, in favor of such 
 an amendment to the ordinance of 1787 as would permit the 
 admission of slaves into Indiana territory for a period of ten 
 years. Congress refused to change the ordinance. The mat- 
 ter was repeatedly brought before that body. There was a 
 considerable opposition to the change among the people of 
 
HISTORY OF INDIANA. 107 
 
 Indiana, which manifested itself in public meetings, resolutions, 
 memorials to Congress, etc. Feeling ran high throughout the 
 state. The effort to introduce slavery into Indiana was finally 
 •defeated in 1807 when the matter was before Congress for the 
 last time. 
 
 Between 1800 and 1805 there was considerable immigra- 
 tion from the east. Land speculation was rife, and there was 
 a good deal of official rascality in connection with it, which 
 Governor Harrison exposed in reports to President Jefferson. 
 Great confusion existed in land titles, arising from the conflict- 
 ing grants which had been made by the French, the English, 
 Indian treaties, etc. From 1804 to 18 10 a commission created 
 by Congress was engaged in the examination of titles and 
 claims. They confirmed a large number and rejected a large 
 number, and their decisions, ratified by Congress, are the 
 foundation of most land titles in Indiana to-day. 
 
 In his message to the first legislature. Governor Harrison 
 urged the passage of a law to prohibit the sale of spirits to 
 the Indians. He drew a vivid picture of scenes which were 
 then familiar in Indiana. "You have seen our towns crowded 
 with drunken savages; our streets fiowmg with their blood; 
 their arms and clothing bartered for the liquor that destroys 
 them, and their miserable women and children enduring all the 
 extremities of cold and hunger. So destructive has the prog- 
 ress of intemperance been among them that whole villages 
 have been swept away." 
 
 The legislature met annually and passed laws covering a 
 wide range of subjects. 
 
108 Hjsronv of Indiana. 
 
 In 1807 the laws then in force were revised and codified.. 
 The work of revision was done by John Rice Jones and John 
 Johnson. The laws were published' at Vincennes by Messrs. 
 Stout and Smoot, printers to the territory. The criminal code 
 made four offenses capital — treason, murder, arson and horse 
 stealing. A number of offenses were punishable, in whole or in 
 part, by whipping — among them burglary, robbery, larceny, 
 hog-stealing, bigamy and " disobedience by children or serv- 
 ants." Forgery was punishable by fine, disfranchisement and 
 "standing in the pillory." 
 
 Between 1805 and 1807 the movements of Aaron Burr 
 created much commotion in Indiana. He was organizing an 
 expedition supposed to be of a treasonable character and 
 was in close correspondence with some of the leading men 
 of the territory. He visited Jeffersonville, Vincennes and 
 other points and enlisted a number of inhabitants in his 
 enterprise. But his projects came to naught. In 1807 he 
 was arrested in Mississippi and brought to trial for treason. 
 His expedition had, however, been abandoned before his arrests 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 LATER TERRITORIAL HISTORY. 
 
 The People of Indiana Insist Upon Governing Themselves — Rapid 
 Growth of Population— The Early Governors— Jennings, the Anti- 
 Slavery Leader— Gibson's Romantic Career — Removal of the Capi- 
 tal TO CoRYDON— The Constitutional Convention of' i8i6— Indiana 
 Admitted as a State. 
 
 Under the ordinance of 1787, which was continued in force 
 by the act of 1800 creating the territory of Indiana, the appoint- 
 ment of territorial governors, secretaries and judges was con- 
 ferred upon the president, " by and with the advice and consent 
 of the senate." Until a legislature was elected the governor 
 and judges, or a majority of them, were to have the right of 
 adopting civil and criminal laws subject to rejection by Con- 
 gress. A legislature was to be established only when 
 demanded by a majority of the freeholders of the territory. 
 No one could sit in the legislative council unless possessed of 
 500 acres of land, or in the house of representatives unless pos- 
 sessed of 200 acres. The members of the council were 
 appointed by the president from among persons nominated by 
 the house of representatives. Among the qualifications of 
 electors of members of the latter body was the ownership of 
 fifty acres of land. The governor had the appointment of all 
 militia officers and of the county officers and justices of the 
 
 109 
 
110 HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 peace. He also had the exclusive power to divide the territory 
 into districts, to apportion representatives, to veto any bill 
 passed by the general assembl}', and to convene, prorogue and 
 dissolve that body at his pleasure. The people of the infant 
 territor}' were restive under these restrictions upon their privi- 
 leges as citizens. Scared}- had the territory been organized 
 when a strong movement for an extension of the suffrage 
 developed. The legislature of 1807 attempted to enlarge the 
 suffrage, and Congress, in the following year, did, in some 
 degree, modify the qualifications of electors. In 1809 Congress 
 conferred upon the qualified voters of the territory the right to 
 elect the legislative council and a delegate to Congress, and 
 two years later it abolished the property qualifications of voters 
 by extending " the right of voting for members of the general 
 assembly and for a territorial delegate to Congress to every 
 free white male person who had attained the age of twenty-one 
 years, and who, having paid a county or territorial tax, " had 
 been a resident of the territory for one year. 
 
 The first general assembly elected Benjamin Parke, an 
 able and worthy man, as delegate to Congress. Mr. Parke 
 was a native of New Jersey and had come to Indiana in 1801. 
 In 1808 he resigned his place in Congress to take a seat on the 
 supreme bench of the territory. Jesse B. Thomas, then 
 speaker of the Indiana house of representatives, succeeded Judge 
 Parke as delegate to Congress. On May 22, 1809, the first popu- 
 lar election of a delegate was held. Jonathan Jennings, who was 
 a conspicuous figure in the early histor}^ of Indiana, and to whom, 
 more than to any other man, the preservation of the territory 
 
HISTORY OF INDIANA. Ill 
 
 from the blight of slavery was due, was elected over Thomas 
 Randolph by a small majority. The total vote polled was 911. 
 Jonathan Jennings was born in New Jersey in 1784. His father 
 was a Presbyterian minister. He passed his childhood and early 
 youth in Fayette county, Pennsylvania, where he received an 
 excellent education. He removed to Indiana territory when a 
 very young man and was appointed clerk of the first territorial 
 
 legislature. He was a determined anti- 
 slavery man. In the congressional cam- 
 paign of 1809 the issue was the slavery 
 M-, ^t* J^ question. A strong party led by Gov- 
 ernor Harrison was striving to have the 
 /^^J^^^^H^J ordinance of 1787, prohibiting slavery in. 
 the territory, amended or repealed. Jen- 
 nings and his followers earnestly resisted 
 GOV. JONATHAN JENNINGS ^^I'xs movcmcut. At that time, notwith- 
 standing the lav/, negroes were freely bought and sold in 
 Indiana. The contest was extremely bitter. Jennings, who 
 was a very 3'oung man, was opposed by most of the leading 
 men in the territory. His election was contested by his oppo- 
 nent, but Congress admitted him. 
 
 In 18 10, the population of the territory had grown to 
 24,250. For several years following, the tide of immigration 
 from the east was checked by Indian troubles in the territory 
 and the disturbed condition of the country caused by the war 
 with Great Britain, which was declared on June 18, 181 2. 
 Governor Harrison, then fresh from his triumph at Tippecanoe, 
 was called again into the military service. In August he was 
 
112 HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 appointed a major-general of the Kentucky militia, and in the 
 following autumn was made commander of the army operating 
 against the British in the northwest. The duties of governor 
 then devolved for a time upon John Gibson, who was one of the 
 most unique and interesting characters of the day. He was 
 over seventy years of age, having been born in Lancaster, Pa., 
 in 1740. He had had an adventurous career. In early life he 
 had taken part in an expedition against the Indians in Pennsyl- 
 vania. For a number of years he had lived at Fort Pitt (now 
 Pittsburg) where he was an Indian trader. At one time he 
 was captured by the Indians and condemned, with a number of 
 other white men, to be burned at the stake. An old squaw, 
 who had conceived a fondness for him, rescued him from this 
 terrible fate and adopted him as her son. For a number of 
 years he lived among the Indians, adopting their customs and 
 learning their language. He pined for civilization, however, 
 and at the first opportunity made his escape and returned to 
 Fort Pitt. He served as colonel of a regiment in the Revolu- 
 tionary war and for a time was in command of the western 
 frontier. In 1788 he was a member of the convention that 
 framed the constitution of Pennsylvania. In iSoo he was 
 appointed secretary of Indiana territory and organized its gov- 
 ernment. It is said that his knowledge of the Indian character 
 and language enabled him to prevent an outbreak at the famous 
 conference between Harrison and Tecumseh. He had a 
 marked influence with the Indians, among whom he was known 
 as " Horsehead.'"* He served the territory for one year both 
 as governor and secretary. He died in 1822 near Pittsburg. 
 
HIS WRY OF INDIANA. 
 
 113 
 
 The legislature of 1813 passed a number of important laws, 
 one of which provided for the removal of the territorial capital 
 from Vincennes to Corydon, Harrison county. During that 
 year the settlers were thrown into a panic by Indian depreda- 
 
 FIRST CAPITOL AT CORYUON. 
 
 tions. The Indians, incited by emissaries of the British, fre- 
 quently attacked the settlements, stealing horses, killing men 
 and women and committing other outrages. Between Febru- 
 ary and July, fourteen or fifteen white persons were killed by 
 
114 HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 the savages and a large number wounded. Acting-Governor 
 Gibson called into the service of the United States sixteen com- 
 panies of territorial militia for the purpose of protecting the 
 settlers against the hostile savages. Several companies of 
 mounted rangers also took the held. The}' numbered about 
 one hundred each. " Each man," says Dillon, " was armed 
 with a rifle and a large knife and many of the rangers carried 
 tomahawks. No uniforms were required to be worn by these 
 troops, but the men generally wore hunting shirts, some of 
 which were made of linsey and others of linen. The discipline 
 that was required in the ranger service was not so strict as that 
 which was observed in the regular service, but more strict than 
 that of the militia companies. Each ranger carried his ow^n 
 supply of provisions, consisting of flour or corn-meal, bacon, 
 etc. Their orders of march and encampment were generalU' 
 determined by the character of the country over which they 
 passed. Through heavily timbered districts they marched 
 in single file. Those who marched in front on one day 
 were thrown in the rear on the succeeding day. The horses 
 in the rear of the line of march always suffered more from 
 fatigue than those in front, because in passing over fallen 
 trees, ravines, gullies or any other obstructions each horse, 
 after the first, would lose some distance which he was 
 forced to regain by increased speed; and in a troop of loo 
 the horse that passed last over an}- such obstruction would be 
 compelled to gallop a considerable distance in order to main- 
 tain his proper place in the file." It was not until 1814 that 
 the territory became quiet and peaceful. 
 
HISTORY OF INDIANA. 115 
 
 On February 27, 1813, President Madison nominated ^ • > 
 Thomas Posey, then a United States senator from Tcnncs^gr, f^r^^^'^-Ui 
 as governor of Indiana territory. He was confirmed on March 
 3 and assumed his duties in the following 
 May, Pose}' was born on the banks of 
 the Potomac July 9, 1750. His parents 
 were poor and his early advantages very 
 limited. In 1774 he joined Dunmore's 
 
 ,,, expedition a^'ainst the Indians. He 
 
 .j\li • ^ ^ 
 
 P fousrht in the Revolutionary war and was 
 !f{l one of General Wayne's ablest lieutenants 
 GOVERNOR THOMAS POSEY, ^n hls ludlau Campaign. Returning from 
 the military service with the rank of major-general he located 
 in Tennessee. After the admission of Indiana as a state he 
 was defeated for governor by John Jennings and was 
 appointed an Indian agent for Illinois territor}', but died soon 
 after reaching Shawneetown, March 19, 1818. He is 
 described as a tall, athletic, handsome man, graceful and easy 
 in manner. He was a devout member of the Presbyterian 
 church and a maia of uprightness and considerable ability. 
 
 The territorial general assembly met for the first time at 
 Corydon in 181 3. Among the important acts passed was one 
 to prevent duelling. It required every public official in the 
 service of the territory, either civil or militar}', and every 
 attorney-at-law, to take the following oath: "That he or they 
 (as the case may be) has neither directly nor indirectly given, 
 accepted or knowingly carried a challenge to any person or 
 persons, to fight in single combat or otherwise, with any 
 
 9 
 
116 H [STORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 deadly weapon, either in or out of this territory, since Febru- 
 ary 15, 1814; and that he or they will neither directly nor 
 indirectly give, accept or knowingly carry a challenge to any 
 person or persons, to light in single combat or otherwise, with 
 any deadly weapon, either in or out of this territory during 
 their continuance in office." 
 
 In 18 1 5 a census was taken of the territory, which showed 
 a total free white population of 63,897. The act organizing 
 Indiana territory provided that whenever the free white popu- 
 lation of Indiana exceeded 60,000 it should be admitted into 
 the Union as a state. In December, 181 5, the territorial legis- 
 lature adopted a memorial to Congress, praying that body to 
 order an election of delegates to a convention for the purpose 
 of determining whether it was expedient to form a constitu- 
 tion or provide for the holding of another convention for that 
 purpose. The memorial contained this language: "x\nd 
 whereas the inhabitants of this territory are principally com- 
 posed of emigrants from every part of the Union, and as 
 various in their customs and sentiments as in their persons, 
 we think it prudent, at this time, to express to the general 
 government our attachment to the fundamental principles of 
 legislation prescribed by Congress in their ordinance for the 
 government of this territory, particularly as respects personal 
 freedom and involuntary servitude, and hope they may be 
 continued as the basis of the constitution." A bill to enable 
 the people of Indiana territory to form a constitution and 
 state government was reported b}' a committee of which Mr. 
 Tennings was chairman. This bill became a law April 19, 
 
HISTORY OF INDIANA. 117 
 
 1816. Under its provisions ^ convention w^as chosen, which 
 was in session at Corydon from June 10 to June 29, 1816, and 
 which framed the constitution under which the people of 
 Indiana Hved in peace and prosperity for thirty-five 3'ears. 
 
 Jonathan Jennings was chairman of the convention and 
 WilHam Hendricks secretary. The convention had a mem- 
 bership of forty-three. "They were mostly," says Dillon, 
 "clear-minded, unpretending men of common sense, whose 
 patriotism was unquestionable and whose morals were fair." 
 The constitution embraced a bill of rights of twenty-four sec- 
 tions, containing all the guarantees of religious and civil liberty 
 deemed essential to the full protection of the individual in life, 
 liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The legislature was con- 
 stituted of a senate and house of representatives. Senators 
 were to be chosen for three years ; representatives for one 
 year. The legislature was to meet annually on the first 
 Monday in December. The governor was to be elected for 
 three years. He was given the pardoning power, the appoint^ 
 ment of supreme judges and other officials (with the approval 
 of the senate) and the veto power, which, however, could be 
 overruled by a majority of each branch of the legislature. The 
 judges of the supreme court were to hold seven 3^ears. The 
 circuit courts were to consist of a president, appointed by the 
 general assembly, and two associate judges, elected by the 
 people. All white male citizens of the United States, who had 
 resided in the state one year, were made voters. The constitu- 
 tion provided a method for its amendment, with this condition: 
 ^'But as the liolding of any part of the human creation in 
 
118 HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 slavery, or involuntary servitude, can only originate in usurpa- 
 tion and tyranny, no alteration of this constitution shall ever take 
 place so as to introduce slavery or involuntary servitude in this 
 state, otherwise than for the punishment of crimes whereof the 
 party shall have been duly convicted.'" The constitution made 
 it the duty of the legislature to establish a system of popular 
 education and institutions for the shelter and care of the 
 unfortunate. The propositions and conditions embraced in the 
 enabling act of Congress, relating to boundaries, the donation 
 of government lands for school purposes and for a seat of 
 government, etc., were formally ratified and accepted by the 
 convention. 
 
 The constitution was not submitted to the people for 
 ratification, but went into effect at once. It was the proauct 
 of wisdom and patriotism. It embodied all the essential prin- 
 ciples of free government and was in every way well designed 
 to meet the necessities of the people by and for whom it was 
 framed. 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 
 PAST AND PRESENT COMPARED AND CONTRASTED. 
 
 Immigkation of New Englanders After 1814— Poetic Picture of a Great 
 Commonwealth — Transportation Before the Days of Railroads- 
 No Roads— Mrs. Morss Tells Her Experiences— Cabins of the 
 Pioneers— Few Amusements -Dances— Quilting Bees— Dress of the 
 Old Days — The Beau of the Period. 
 
 After final peace was made with the tribes of the north- 
 west in 18 14 another wave of immigration, greater than any 
 which had preceded it, swept over the new states and terri- 
 tories. The wide prairies and magnificent forests of the rich 
 valley attracted people from all the eastern states, but 
 especially from rocky, rugged New England. These New 
 Englanders transplanted well, and here in the broad west their 
 strong and robust traits of character, cribbed and confined in 
 their mountain homes, expanded and developed into a nobler 
 type of manhood, if our vanity may be pardoned for saying so. 
 The advantages of education and retined society were by no 
 means disregarded by these people, but in many instances they 
 had to be sacrificed that the foundation of the future srreat 
 commonwealths might be laid. The privations endured, the 
 obstacles overcome, and the wise and judicious laws enacted, 
 prove the founders of this new commonwealth to have been 
 men of force, enterprise and foresight. 
 
 119 
 
120 HISTORY OF I y DIANA. 
 
 "What constitutes a state? 
 
 Not high-raised battlement or labored mound, 
 Thick wall or moated gate; 
 
 Not cities proud with spires and turret crown'd — 
 No; men, high-minded men. 
 
 With powers as high above dull brutes endued 
 In forest, brake, or den. 
 
 As beasts excel cold rocks and brambles rude; 
 Men who their duties know, 
 
 But know their rights, and knowing, dare maintain." 
 
 Settling in a new, wild region in the early part of this 
 nineteenth century was very different from settling in a new 
 part of the country to-day. In the first place, there were no 
 railroads to carry the pioneer to his destination, and weeks 
 were occupied in making the trip. And how did the pioneer 
 travel, do you ask? Well, unless he wished to locate on the 
 banks of the Ohio river, where steamboats began running as 
 early as 1812 — the first one being called the " Orleans ^'-- he 
 had to travel in ways that would seem to us now a great trial 
 of patience. They nevertheless had some fascinations and 
 advantages that we must forego as we are hurried from point 
 to point in luxurious railway carriages. Hundreds came west 
 on horseback, bringing with them, besides the horses they rode, 
 others called pack-horses, which carried on their backs the 
 goods of the owner. Hundreds of others came in pirogues and 
 flatboats. The former were canoes split through the center,, 
 with a board inserted; the latter were large and flat and 
 propelled by poles. The travelers usually camped out at night 
 or stopped at the log-cabin of some settler who had already 
 established himself in the wilderness. 
 
 Mrs. Susan A. Morss, mother of the editor of the Indian- 
 
HISTOPY OF INDIANA. 
 
 121 
 
 apolis Senthiel^ who is 
 (1891), at the age of 
 seventv-six, blessed 
 with a vigorous mind 
 and a retentive mem- 
 ory, is fond of relating 
 her adventures en route 
 to Indiana in the year 
 1832. She left her 
 birthplace in western 
 New York, when quite 
 a young girl, with her 
 family. They traveled to Dayton, Ohio, a distance of several 
 hundred miles, in a sleigh. A few years later they journeyed 
 
 EMIGRATING WEST. 
 
122 HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 from Dayton to Logansport, Indiana, in a carriage. There 
 were literally no roads — merely openings through the forests. 
 The mud was often so deep that the wheels sank to the hubs, 
 and had to be pried out with rails. At Logansport the carriage 
 was abandoned, and the travelers continued their journey to 
 Fort Wa3ne on horseback. They spent three nights at the 
 cabins which were scattered' at wide intervals along the road. 
 Repeatedly they were obliged to sleep in the same room with 
 Indians, who lay stretched upon the floor — or ground — with 
 their heads to the fire. Several nights they passed in Indian wig- 
 wams, where they were most hospitably treated, the Indians 
 appearing honored and gratified to entertain them. Mrs. 
 INIorss' experience was that of all who came to Indiana in the 
 days of its infancy and early youth as a state. 
 
 If these pioneers wished to become farmers — as most of 
 them did — they were obliged to make a clearing in the forests 
 before they could plant their crops.,, In many of the log cabins 
 greased paper answered the purpose of glass for windows, 
 while at night the only light was obtained from a wick burned 
 in a saucer of grease called a "dip." Even in the houses of 
 the settlements the best artificial light was that of a tallow 
 candle. Ingenuity was often greatly taxed in making the rude, 
 rough furniture for their homes. Cradles were sometimes 
 made by sawing and splitting a hollow tree, and rude stools 
 took the place of chairs. They raised their own flax and wool 
 and did their own spinning and weaving. Their fare was of 
 the coarsest. Corn-bread and pork were the staples of their 
 diet, but vegetables of their own raising were soon added. One 
 
HISTORY OF INDIANA. 123 
 
 luxury they had, however, which excites our envy, and that 
 was unadulterated maple-sugar and syrup. Stoves were 
 unknown, the huge fireplace serving the purpose of both heat- 
 ing and cooking. A few indulged in the extra convenience of 
 what was called a Dutch oven, which has never been equaled 
 by an}^ invention for baking bread, pies and cakes. 
 
 The children of the backwoodsmen never wore stocking's 
 or shoes, except in the severest winter weather. They usually 
 slept in the garret, which they reached by means of a ladder, 
 and so well ventilated were these sleeping apartments that the 
 children often watched from their beds the stars in the heavens 
 through the chinks in the roof. 
 
 The new-comer found in the settlements more French and 
 Indians than Americans. A number of log cabins grouped 
 together formed a town. Even the governor's mansion was a 
 log cabin. It was not many years, however, before an occa- 
 sional brick house appeared, as brick kilns were among the first 
 manufacturing concerns established. 
 
 Ex-Secretary McCulloch says in his interesting autobio- 
 graphical work, " Men and Measures of Half a Century," 
 when referring to one of these cabins — the home of Major 
 Samuel Lewis of Fort Wayne: "It was a double log cabin, 
 the latch-string of which was always out, a cabin which was 
 rendered charming in summer by the beauty and odors of the 
 honeysuckle and climbing roses which covered its walls, and in 
 winter b}' the cheerful blaze in its ample fireplace." 
 
 Cozy comfort was indeed found in many of these rustic 
 homes. After the large Penns3'lvania wagons found their way 
 
124 
 
 HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 PENNSYLVANIA WACiuNS. 
 
HISTORY OF INDIANA. 125. 
 
 across the mountains and into the valley, and supplanted the 
 pack-horses for carrying goods, ''store furniture" was intro- 
 duced in the settlements. Solid mahogony stands and tables 
 were not unknown, and ingrain carpets covered the floors of 
 the more pretentious parlors. 
 
 The mail was carried on horseback. Judge Samuel Hanna 
 of Fort Wa3'ne, afterward one of the most prominent men in 
 the state, was among those who acted in the capacity of mail- 
 carrier. The postage on a letter was twenty cents and envel- 
 opes were unknown. Letters were folded and sealed together 
 with sealinof-wax. Some writer has said that social life had 
 then its golden period. " It was never more free from the 
 deceptions, hollow appearances, and evils of an older country."' 
 Many of the most prominent famihes in the political and social 
 life of the state to-day were among the leaders then. There 
 were, of course, no theatres or operas to attend, but dancing- 
 was a favorite amusement, and " balls " were given, to which 
 the prominent people from all over the state were invited. 
 Young ladies would send " east to Dayton or Cincinnati " for 
 the dresses to be worn on these occasions, and the couples who 
 carried off the honors of the evening were those who "led off," 
 or "opened the ball." A quilting was a popular social pastime. 
 At these affairs the invited lady guests worked faithfully all 
 day on the quilt, vying with each other in the dexterous use of 
 the needle. A toothsome dinner was always served on these 
 occasions by the hostess. The " men folk " joined the circle 
 in the evening, when refreshments were served and dancing and 
 other social amusements were engaged in. 
 
120 
 
 HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 
 ,'iA 
 
 The most striking feature of the ladies' dress was the 
 puffs worn at the top of the sleeves, which were so large that 
 a small-sized pillow — the kind used at that time — was frequently 
 
 stuffed into each to make it 
 stand out and up. The 
 hair was combed straight 
 back from the forehead, 
 the more fashionable wear- 
 ing a bunch of false curls 
 on either side. The dresses 
 l7 were very short-waisted, 
 and were always cut low in 
 the neck, a cape, or "inside 
 handkerchief," being indis- 
 pensible for completing the 
 toilet. The long, black- 
 
 A LADV OF PIONEER DAYS. , • 1 r 1 1 .1 r 
 
 lace veils tell over the race, 
 and reached almost to the knees. The muffs carried were so 
 large that one could almost make a lap-robe out of the fur con- 
 tained in them. 
 
 When the beau of the period made his appearance on 
 notable occasions his costume was not unlike that of the society 
 young man of to-day, only he was made even more irresistible 
 by the addition of the fine cambric ruffled shirt bosom and 
 handsomely brocaded vest, features of evening dress in which 
 most pride was taken. 
 
 It is difficult to reconcile the way the children were then 
 dressed with the tradition that our fathers and mothers 
 
HISTORY OF INDIANA. 127 
 
 possessed a remarkable share of good, sound sense. The warm, 
 high-neck, long-sleeve underclothing, now considered -so indis- 
 pensable throughout the cold season to a child's health and com- 
 fort, was then unknown. Besides this, the little girls' dresses 
 were made low in the neck, and with short sleeves. To be 
 sure, over the dress a long-sleeve gingham apron was commonly 
 worn, a little fancy woolen sacque taking its place for dress 
 occasions. The children of to-day should certainly develop 
 into a more robust and healthy generation if there is any merit 
 in current sanitary teachintrs. 
 
CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 COMMUNISM IN INDIANA. 
 
 The Famous Experiment at New Harmonie— What George Rapp and hts 
 Party of German Emigrants Accomplished in Twenty-One Years- 
 Advent OF THE Owens — Robert Owen Puts hts Philanthropic Theories 
 IN Practice — A Queer Little Community and its Brief but Instruc- 
 tive History. 
 
 Among the earl}' settlements of Indiana was one in the 
 southern part of the state, well deserving of a chapter by itself 
 because of its peculiar character. 
 
 As early as 1813 George Rapp, an ecclesiastic, or 
 preacher, with a party of German emigrants, purchased 30,000 
 acres near the lower Wabash river, about fifteen miles from 
 the town of Mt. Vernon on the Ohio. Here they built a vil- 
 lage of about 160 houses, and began in a characteristically 
 industrious way to cultivate the ground around them. They 
 established their little community in accordance with the teach- 
 ings and examples of the early Christians, as they understood 
 them. 
 
 There was no " mine " nor "thine, "but all things were 
 "held in common." There was no marryino- or aivino: in 
 marriage, as they believed In and practiced celibacy. It was; 
 in fact, a miniature monarchy, the leader, Rapp, having abso- 
 lute power, his word being law. Tlie little town was called 
 
 128 
 
HISTORY OF iyi)[Ai\A. 
 
 129 
 
 Harmonie, as the inhabitants were supposed to dwell in perfect 
 <igreement with each other. 
 
 For twenty-one years this singular little community con- 
 tinued to live under the rules and conditions established by its 
 founders. Financially the experiment was a success, for at the 
 time of the immigration to this country, their property only 
 averaged twenty-five dollars a person, while in 1825 each 
 inhabitant was worth two thousand dollars. At this time the 
 wealth of Indiana, outside of this community, was estimated to 
 average one hundred and fifty dollars to each inhabitant. But 
 in other respects the undertaking proved a failure. The con- 
 tentment and satisfaction anticipated were not realized. 
 
 In Glasgow, Scotland, there was living in these years a 
 manufacturer by the name of Robert Owen, who was deeply 
 
 interested in solving the problem, 
 then, as now, a pressing one, of 
 the relations between capital and 
 labor. He had a large reputa- 
 tion as a philanthropist, and had 
 adopted many beneficent meas- 
 ures for the comfort and welfare 
 of the employes in his extensive 
 mills. So renowned became 
 these mills at New Lanark, on 
 account of the reformatory meas- 
 ures thus introduced, that they were daily visited by travel- 
 ers from all parts of Great Britain, including even members of 
 the ro3'al family. To Robert Owen, in the winter of 1825, 
 
130 HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 came an ag'ent, offering this large tract of land in southern 
 Indiana, including the village already built. The price at 
 which it was offered was $200,000. 
 
 Robert Owen's brain was full of theories, which he 
 believed, if carried out, would settle the vexed labor problem, 
 and place society on a basis of " equality and fraternity." His 
 "■reatest ambition was for a " vast theatre on which to try his 
 plans of social reform." Feeling that the possession of this 
 property in a new land would afford him the long desired 
 opportunity, he made the purchase and at once came to 
 Indiana. His son, Robert Dale Owen, who needs no introduc 
 tion to the people of our state, as he afterward became famous 
 as an author, scientist and statesman, joined him in 1826. The 
 son, then a young man, was favorably impressed with the New 
 World, finding many things to admire in the natural scenery, 
 and much to enjoy in the way of romantic adventure. The 
 village, which was named by his father New Harmonic, he 
 describes as picturesque and "literally embowered in trees, rows 
 of black locusts marking the street lines." Most of the houses 
 were made of logs, although the thrifty Germans had built a few 
 of brick. They had also built a church, a steam mill and a 
 woolen factor}'. 
 
 Upon Robert Owen's arrival at the scene of his new phi- 
 lanthropic experiment, the people were organized into a co-op- 
 erative association. An executive committee was appointed 
 whose duty it was " to estimate the value of each person's serv- 
 ices and give all persons employed respectively credit for the 
 amount, to be drawn out b}- them in produce or store goods." 
 
HISTORY OF INDIANA. 131 
 
 But very soon after the arrival of Robert Dale Owen, the Har- 
 monites, on advice of the elder Owen, formed themselves into a 
 community of equality, in which all property was to be held in 
 common. The new constitution provided that " all members 
 according to their ages, not according to the natural value of 
 their services, were to be furnished, as near as could be, with 
 similar food, clothing and education, and as soon as practicable, 
 live in similar houses, and in all respects be accommodated 
 alike." The real estate was to be held in perpetual trust for 
 the use of the community. The power of making laws was 
 given to the assembly, which consisted of all the adult mem- 
 bers of the community. Three evenings each week the inhab- 
 itants were to meet together, devoting one evening to the dis- 
 cussion of " subjects connected with the welfare of the society, 
 another to a vocal and instrumental concert, and another to a 
 public ball." All who wished to become members were 
 admitted, without regard to character or intelligence, and 
 herein, as Robert Dale Owen afterward thought, lay one of 
 the causes of failure. The community naturally attracted curious 
 and eccentric people; but men of scientific and literary ability 
 were also found in the strange little village. j\I. Lesseur 
 lived at the place many years, and Thomas Say prepared his 
 handsome work on American Entomology in New Harmonic, 
 dying there in 1834. 
 
 One of the first pursuits in which Robert Dale Owen 
 
 engaged was that of teaching school, and one of the first things 
 
 he did was to abolish flogging, of which he afterward spoke as 
 
 a " degraded relic of barbarism, then countenanced in England, 
 
 10 
 
132 HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 alike in army, navy, and some of the most accredited semina- 
 ries " Among the 3'oung people there was a pleasant, whole- 
 some freedom. They called each other by their Christian 
 names and lived together as brothers and sisters. 
 
 But the existence of the community as a co-operative asso- 
 ciation, based on the principles of equality in all things, was 
 destined to be brief. In a little over a year its death knell was 
 sounded, the experiment being abandoned as a failure. 
 
 That this was the result is not strange, for, as Robert 
 Dale Owen said, when reviewing the enterprise many years 
 afterward, '^ no industrial experiment can succeed which pro- 
 poses equal remuneration to all men — the diligent and the dila- 
 tory, the skilled artisan and the common laborer, the genius and 
 the drudge." 
 
 This undertaking proved a disastrous one to Robert Owen, 
 his losses amounting to about two hundred thousand dollars. 
 After its collapse he paid every farthing of the debts incurred 
 by the community, including some in v/hich it was involved by 
 rascals, for which he was neither legally nor morally respon- 
 sible. To aid him in the work of liquidation his two sons 
 transferred to him their interest in the mills at Glasgow, in con- 
 sideration of which the father conveyed to them property in 
 Indiana valued at thirty thousand dollars. He returned to 
 Scotland, but never ceased to advocate his pet theories, nor to 
 make experiments, appearing in Liverpool at the Social Science 
 association as enthusiastic as ever in their behalf in 1858, 
 which was the 3'ear of his death. 
 
CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 FROM JENNINGS TO WRIGHT. 
 
 Political History of the State Under the First Constitution— A Suc- 
 cession OF Strong Governors —Periods of Rapid Growth and Sharp 
 Reaction — Beginnings of the Free School System— The Era of Inter- 
 nal Improvements — How Indiana Lost Her Credit and How She Re- 
 gained it. 
 
 The first election in the State of Indiana was held in 
 August, 1816. Jonathan Jennings was elected governor over 
 Thomas Posey. The total vote for governor was 9,145, of 
 which Jennings received 5,211. Christopher Harrison was 
 elected lieutenant-governor, and William Hendricks repre- 
 sentative in Congress. A legislature, composed of ten 
 senators and twenty-nine representatives, was also elected. 
 The first general assembl}' convened at Corydon, November 
 4, 1 816. John Paul was chosen president pro tem of the 
 senate, and Isaac Blackford was made speaker of the house 
 of representatives. Three days after the assembling of the 
 legislature the governor and lieutenant-governor were inducted 
 into office. Governor Jennings in his inaugural address out- 
 lined a wise and statesman-like policy for the new government. 
 On December 11, by a joint resolution of Congress, Indiana 
 was formally admitted into the Union as a state. James 
 Noble and Walter Taylor were elected United States sena- 
 
 133 
 
134 HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 tors; Robert A. New, secretary of state; William H. Lilly, 
 auditor of public accounts, and Daniel C. Lane, treasurer of 
 state. The general assembly, after a busy and profitable 
 session, adjourned January 3, 181 7. 
 
 For several years after the admission of Indiana as a 
 state she enjoyed a fair measure of prosperity. The estab- 
 lishment of the state government, the restoration of peace 
 with Great Britain, and the disappearance of Lidian troubles, 
 gave a powerful impetus to immigration, ahd the settlement 
 of the state proceeded rapidly. The free white population 
 increased from 63,897 in December, 181 5, to 147,178 when 
 the census was taken in 1820. "The inhabitants of the new 
 state," says Dillon, "began to open new farms, to found new 
 settlements, to plant new orchards, to erect school-houses and 
 churches, to build hamlets and towns, and to engage, with 
 some degree of ardor, in the various peaceful pursuits of 
 civilized life. A sense of security pervaded the minds of the 
 people. The hostile Indian tribes, having been overpowered, 
 humbled and impoverished, no longer excited the fears of the 
 pioneer settlers, who dwelt in safety in their plain log-cabin 
 homes, and cultivated their small fields without the protec- 
 tion of armed sentinels. The numerous temporary forts and 
 block houses, which were no longer required as places of 
 refuge for the pioneers, were either converted into dwelling- 
 houses or suffered to fall into ruins." 
 
 But the difficulties and embarrassments which attended 
 upon the new government were numerous. The people were 
 poor, and the collection of the revenue necessary for the estab- 
 
HISTORY OF INDIANA. 135 
 
 lishment and support of the government involved great hard- 
 ships w^iich were not always patiently borne. Schools were 
 to be provided, public buildings erected, the credit of the 
 state builded up, roads constructed and all the varied require- 
 ments of a new commonwealth "in the wilderness" fulfilled. 
 The responsibilities which rested upon Governor Jennings and 
 his associates in the government were indeed heavy. 
 
 Under an act of Congress, passed in 1785, and the 
 Ordinance of 1787, a thirty-sixth part of the lands in the North- 
 west Territory was set aside for the support of a system of 
 popular education. During the territorial period of Indiana 
 the first steps were taken toward the establishment of free 
 schools and a university, but little real progress was made in 
 that direction. The state constitution made it the duty of 
 the general assembly, " as soon as circumstances will permit, 
 to provide by law for a general system of education ascend- 
 ing in a regular gradation from township schools to a state 
 university, wherein tuition shall be gratis, and equally open 
 to all." Governor Jennings in his first message to the legis- 
 lature dwelt upon the importance of establishing, at the 
 earliest possible moment, a system of free schools. The early 
 legislatures gave considerable attention to the subject, but it 
 was not until 1822 that the first general school law was passed. 
 From that time until the present moment, the educational 
 interests of the state have been jealously guarded by the sue 
 cessive administrations and legislatures. A sketch of their 
 development is given in another chapter. 
 
 During Governor Jennings' administration projects of 
 
136 HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 internal improvement were agitated, but in the then stfaitened 
 condition of pubhc finances it was impossible to undertake 
 them. 
 
 Governor Jennings was re-elected in 1819. At the con- 
 clusion of his second term he was chosen to Congress, where 
 he served eight years. Defeated for a fifth term by General 
 John Carr, he was appointed by President Jackson, in 1832, 
 a member of an Indian commission. He died in 1834 on his 
 farm near Charlestown. His last years were clouded by 
 poverty and neglect, resulting partly from intemperate habits 
 into which he had fallen during his residence in Washington. 
 His remains were carried in a common farm wagon to their 
 last resting place, followed by a few friends. He was one. of 
 the greatest men who ever lived in Indiana. The people of 
 this state owe him a debt of gratitude and his memory last- 
 ing honor. "The making and putting into motion the 
 machinery of a new state requires ability of a high order. 
 Jonathan Jennings proved himself equal to the task. The 
 state machinery started off without impediment, and ran 
 without friction. It did its work well, for it was guided by 
 a master hand. Governor Jennings was a man of polished 
 manners. He was always gentle and kind to those about 
 him. He was not an orator, but could tell what he knew in a 
 pleasing way. He wrote well; he fought slavery to the death 
 when it sought to fasten itself upon Indiana territory; he 
 helped secure for her sons and daughters the best portion of 
 her rich and fertile lands, and yet he sleeps the long sleep 
 without a stone to mark his resting place." 
 
HISTORY OF INDIANA. 137 
 
 A succession of strong men — men of intellect, force of 
 character and nigged patriotism — followed Jonathan Jennings 
 in the governor's chair. The first of these was William 
 Hendricks, a man of great ability and high character. Born 
 in Westmoreland county, Pa., in 1783, he received a common 
 school education, and removed to Indiana in 1814, being one 
 of the first settlers of Madison. He was secretary of the 
 constitutional convention of 18 16, and was the sole representa- 
 tive of Indiana in Congress from 18 16 until 1822, when he 
 resigned to take the governor's office. He found the finances 
 of the state in a demoralized condition, and his administration 
 was beset with many difficulties. It was, nevertheless, emi- 
 nently successful. Before his term expiied he was elected a 
 senator in Congress, serving two terms with great distinction, 
 and retiring in 1837. ^^ ^^^^ ^^ Madison in 1850. He was 
 an uncle of Vice-President Hendricks. 
 
 The unexpired term of ]Mr. Hen- 
 dricks as governor was served out by 
 Ratcliffe Boone, the lieutenant-governor, 
 a man of mark at that time in Indiana. 
 
 James B. Ray served as governor 
 from 1825 to 1 83 1. He was a native of 
 Kentucky, and had served several terms 
 in the legislature. His two administra- 
 RATCLiFFE BOONE. ^.^^^^ covcrcd a pcriod of marvelous 
 growth in Indiana. When he assumed the office the popula- 
 tion of the state had reached 250,000. A year before he 
 retired, it had grown to 343,391. During his service as gov- 
 
138 
 
 HISTORY OF lyniAXA. 
 
 GOV. JAMES B. RAY. 
 
 ernor the tinances of the state were put upon a sounder 
 basis, the manufacturing interests were developed, and a long 
 forward step was taken in the march 
 of progress. Governor Ray died in Cin- 
 cinnati in 1848 at the age of tift3'-four. 
 
 Noah Noble's two administrations as 
 governor, extending from 183 1 to 1837, 
 marked an epoch in the history of Indiana. 
 It was during the lirst year of his service 
 that the state embarked in the construc- 
 tion of an extensive S3'stem of internal 
 improvements, an undertaking which was 
 followed with ver}' important results, and which eventually in- 
 volved the state in serious financial complications. While Mr. 
 Noble was governor the work of digging 
 the Wabash and Erie Canal was begun, and 
 carried a long way toward completion; 
 the Michigan road was constructed; the 
 k capitol was built at Indianapolis, and the 
 f//j first session of the legislature held therein 
 (December, 1835); a number of railway 
 corporations were chartered, and some of 
 them beofan the work of construction; a 
 controversy with Michigan over the boundary line between 
 the states was settled in favor of Indiana; the state bank 
 was re-organized and launched upon a successful career. There 
 were some untoward events, also, during these six 3'ears. A 
 general failure of crops in 1832 caused much distress. In the 
 
 GOV. NOAH NOBLE. 
 
HISTORY OF INDIANA. 139 
 
 same year cholera ravaged the settlements along the Ohio, 
 and during the Black Hawk war several invading parties 
 entered the state from Illinois, committing serious depre- 
 dations. 
 
 David Wallace became governor in 1837. He found the 
 state deeply embarrassed by the obligations that had been 
 incurred in the construction of internal improvements. In 
 1838, when the legislature assembled, Governor Wallace 
 declared that there had never been a 
 period in the history of the state "that 
 more urgently called for the exercise of 
 
 all the soundest and best attributes of I// 
 
 Ik 
 grave and patriotic legislators than the /| '/ 
 
 present." The internal improvement 
 bonds then amounted to $3,827,000, upon 
 which the annual interest charge was 
 $191,350. Governor Wallace maintained gov. david Wallace. 
 his faith in the internal improvement policy to the end, but 
 was compelled to leave to his successor, Samuel Bigger, a 
 legacy of public debt which was most unwelcome. Governor 
 Wallace was a man of strong qualities, and left his imprint 
 upon the history of his state and country. Born in Lan- 
 caster county. Pa., in 1799, he came to Indiana with his 
 family in 18 17, was graduated from the West Point Academy 
 in 1 82 1, was professor of mathematics in that institution two 
 years, practiced law at Brookville, and served several terms 
 in the legislature and one term as lieutenant-governor. He 
 went to Congress for a single term in 1840, and while a 
 
140 
 
 HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 member of that body gave the casting vote in favor of an 
 appropriation to develop S. F. B. Morse's magnetic telegraph, 
 which cost him his re-election. He died in Indianapolis in 
 1859, having served the last three years of his life as judge 
 of the Marion court of common pleas. 
 
 Samuel Bigger was governor from 1840 to 1843. These 
 were dark days for Indiana. The state treasury was liter- 
 ally bankrupted by the internal improvement schemes. The 
 "system" embraced ten different public 
 works, the most important being the 
 Wabash and Erie Canal. The total length 
 of the work projected was 1,160 miles, 
 of which about 140 miles had been fully 
 I completed in 1839, "^"^'hen operations were 
 partiall}' suspended. In his first message 
 to the lesfislature. Governor Bijjirer de- 
 GOV. SAMUEL BIGGER. clarcd that, while it would be impossible 
 to carry out the works as originally contemplated, it would 
 be ruinous to abandon them entirely. In 1841 the state 
 defaulted in the interest on the internal improvement bonds, 
 and her credit received a shock from which it did not 
 entirely recover for many 3-ears. The state debt amounted 
 to $18,469,146. Only 281 miles of roads and canals, out of 
 a projected total of 1.289 miles, had been completed. The 
 amount expended had been $8,164,528, out of an estimated 
 cost of $19,91^,424. 
 
 Governor Bigger's successor was James Whitcomb, one 
 of the ablest men that ever tilled the chief mairistrate's chair 
 
HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 141 
 
 COV. JAMEi, WHITCOMB. 
 
 of Indiana or any other state. He was a wise statesman 
 and a sound political economist, and proved fully equal to 
 the great emergency which confronted 
 him. He devised and carried out 
 measures which ledeemed, so far as it 
 was possible, the credit of the state. 
 Under these measures the creditors 
 eventually took the public works in 
 settlement of their claims. Governor 
 Whitcomb had, as a member of the state 
 senate, in 1830 and 1833, warned the 
 people of the consequences which would follow the internal 
 improvement craze — consequences from which, as governor, 
 he did so much to save them. He was re-elected in 1846, 
 but before his term expired was chosen United States senator. 
 He died in New York in 1852, at the age of fifty-seven^ 
 when he had served but little more than half his term as 
 senator. He was one of the most eminent men of his genera- 
 tion, and his services to his state were beyond computation. 
 
 Lieutenant-Governor Paris C. Dun- 
 
 nins: acted as s'overnor during- the rem- 
 
 nant of Governor Whitcomb's term. In 
 
 1849 Joseph A. Wright, one of the most 
 
 distinguished men in our history, became 
 
 '^jj^'!/ governor. He served two terms, during 
 
 which the state made unexampled mate- 
 
 'II rial progress. The work of railroad and 
 
 PARIS c. DUNNING. hlghway building was prosecuted with 
 
142 
 
 HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 great energy, and the state grew in population and wealth at a 
 rate never equalled before or since. Governor Wright's ad- 
 ministration was wise and progressive. His career was a 
 notable one. He was born of humble parentage in Wash- 
 ington, Pa., in iSio. When a child he 
 came to Indiana. He struggled hard to 
 obtain an education. He paid his tuition 
 in the state university by acting as jani- 
 tor, while he supplied himself with cloth- 
 ing and books by gathering and selling 
 nuts. In 1829 he began the practice of 
 law at Rockville. Before his election as 
 governor he had served in both branches *^'"^^- J*^^- ^- ^^''^i<^'"r 
 of the legislature, and had represented his district in Congress. 
 In 1857 President Buchanan appointed him minister to Prus- 
 sia. In 1862, shortly after his return to this country, he was 
 appointed United States senator to succeed Jesse D. Bright, 
 in which capacity he serv'ed nearly two years. In 1863 Presi- 
 dent Lincoln appointed him commissioner to the Hamburg 
 exposition, and in 1865 he was again made minister to Prussia. 
 He died at Berlin in 1867. 
 
CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 PROGRESS IN MATERIAL GREATNESS. 
 
 The Wabash and Erie Canal— An Important Factor in the Development 
 OF the State — Its Beginnings and Its Ending— The Advent of the 
 First Packet Celebrated with Great Rejoicings— The Indiana State 
 Bank— Sketch of a Notable Institution. 
 
 In the last chapter mention was made of the construction 
 of the Wabash and Erie Canal, and some account was given of 
 the financial difficulties into which that enterprise, and other 
 undertakings of internal improvement, plunged the state. This 
 canal, while it did not fully realize the hopes of its projectors, 
 certainly proved a very important factor in the early develop- 
 ment of the state. The need of better transportation than that 
 afforded by pack-horses and flat-boats on the rivers was 
 greatly felt. The fertile fields became very productive, and 
 the farmers of northern Indiana required better markets than 
 were afforded by the few struggling villages accessible to 
 them. J. P. Dunn, in his history of Indiana, gives the follow- 
 ing record, which he found in the Canadian archives: "Be- 
 tween the Miami (Maumee) and the Oubache (Wabash) 
 there are beaver dams which, when water is low, passengers 
 break down to raise it, and by that means pass easier than 
 they otherwise would. When they are gone the beavers 
 come and mend the breach; for this reason they have been 
 
 143 
 
144 HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 hitherto sacred, as neither Indian nor white people hunt 
 them," Here, then, says Dunn, "was the first Wabash 
 canal in full operation, with beavers for keepers of the locks, 
 serving the public without money and without price." 
 Whether nature's workmen suggested the benefits and im- 
 portance of such a work we know not; probably no such 
 suggestion was needed. Be that as it may, the project of 
 building a water-way to connect the lakes with the Gulf of 
 Mexico soon eng-ajred the attention of the ablest men in Ohio 
 and Indiana. They anticipated that with the completion of 
 this enterprise a new era of commercial activity and pros- 
 perit}^ would begin. And this anticipation was finally realized, 
 though not until after years of patient perseverance in the 
 prosecution of the work. 
 
 On Januar}' 21, 1822, a bill was passed in the Ohio 
 legislature "authorizing an examination into the practicability 
 of connecting Lake Erie with the Ohio river by a canal." 
 Throuo-h the ajjencv of cono-ressmen from Indiana a survev 
 of the canal was decided upon, and begun under the auspices 
 of the general government in* 1826. The surveyors were, 
 however, soon prostrated by illness, Colonel Shriver, the 
 leader of the engineer corps, dying in the old barracks at 
 Fort Wa3'ne. His successor, Colonel Asa Moore, also fell 
 a victim to disease, after continuing the work until 1828. 
 The survey was finally completed by Colonel Howard 
 Stansbury. 
 
 Congress passed an act, approved March 2, 1827, "to 
 grant a certain quantity of land to the State of Indiana for 
 
HISTORY OF INDIANA. 145 
 
 the purpose of aiding said state in opening a canal to con- 
 nect the waters of the Wabash river with those of Lake 
 Erie." This grant was accepted at a session of the Indiana 
 legislature held in 182S, and Samuel Ilanna, David Burr and 
 Robert John were appointed a board of commissioners to 
 have charge of the enterprise. 
 
 This generous grant of land to Indiana by the general 
 government of the United States "was the first of any magni- 
 tude made for the promotion of public works " in this countr}^, 
 and comprised 349,261 acres of land lying east of the Tippe- 
 canoe river. 
 
 In 1832 Jesse L. Williams, of Fort Wayne, was ap- 
 pointed chief engineer, which position he abl}' filled until after 
 the completion of the canal. The formal beginning of the 
 work, which took place February 22 of that year, was 
 attended with appropriate ceremonies. In the entire northern 
 portion of the state only one village was then to be found. 
 That was Fort Wayne, which contained not over 400 inhabit- 
 ants. At this place gathered representatives from the entire 
 country sidt*, who, together with the citizens, met at Masonic 
 Hall. Henrv Rudisill was made chairman of the meetinsf, 
 and David H. Colerick secretary. Forming into a proces- 
 sion, they marched to a point across the St. Mary's river, 
 where the assembly was addressed b}' Charles W. Ewing, 
 an eloquent orator, and J. Vigus, who, after referring to the 
 obstacles and diflEiculties which had been met and overcome, 
 closed by saying: "I am now about to commence the Wabash 
 and Erie Canal in the name and by the authority of the 
 
146 
 
 HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 State of Indiana."'^ He then "struck the long suspended 
 blow." Samuel Hanna and Captain Murray next aided in 
 breaking the ground, which was followed by a general dig- 
 
 VIEW UN THE CANAL. 
 
 ging of the earth by those present; and the construction of 
 the water-way, which was destined to play such an im- 
 portant part in the development of the state, had begun. 
 The division of the canal connectinor the Wabash and the 
 
HISTORY OF INDIANA. 147 
 
 ISIaiimee rivers was completed in 1835. ^'"^ J'-^b' 4 ^'^ ^^^^^ 
 year the tirst packet, which was named the "Indiana/' and 
 commanded by Captain Ohver Fairiield, passed through it, 
 and an enthusiastic celebration was held at Fort Wayne. In 
 the procession formed on this occasion were thirt3'-three 
 voung ladies, representing the different states and territories. 
 They wore white dresses and green sashes, and each one 
 carried a flag, bearing the name of the state or terntor}- she 
 represented. After marching to the public square a dinner 
 was served, and an able address delivered by Hugh Mc- 
 Culloch, afterwards secretary of the treasury. A ball in the 
 evening, at the ''public house," kept by Zenas Henderson, 
 completed the day's festivities. Two years later the young 
 lady, whose trip to the west has alread}^ been noted, took 
 her wedding trip on this "first packet," having been married 
 a day previous to the one at first appointed for the cere- 
 mony, in order to leave on this boat. 
 
 In the summer of 1843 the great water-way was finished 
 and in navigable order. Again Fort Wayne was made tlic 
 scene of a great celebration, which took place on the da\' 
 usually chosen for such occasions — the Fourth of July. Both 
 states, Ohio and Indiana, were represented in a large con- 
 course of people, which gathered in what was long known 
 as "Ewing's Grove," where, after music and banqueting^ 
 General Lewis Cass delivered an ''able and classic oration." 
 
 In this same year a line of packets was established, 
 which made regular trips between Toledo and Lafayette. 
 There was also one steam propeller called the "Niagara.'' 
 
 II 
 
U=i HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 These packets were models of comfort, and, although their 
 rate of speed averaged but from seventy-five to one hundred 
 miles in twenty-four hours, we cannot wonder that their advent 
 was the cause of great rejoicing when we remember their 
 predecessors, the pack-horse and the flat-boat. 
 
 The arrival of a packet at the dock was announced by 
 the playing of a violin and a clarionet by two of the 
 employes. 
 
 This great enterprise, born in the days of heroic effort 
 and sturdy perseverance of pioneer life, developed into a 
 channel of great utility and mighty importance. It served 
 its day and generation well, but it was in due time super- 
 seded by an agent of a higher order — the railroad. Its mis- 
 sion 'fulfilled, it has become a thing of the past. But a few 
 years ago it was ignominiously consigned to oblivion, and 
 now lives only in the recollection of the people. 
 
 This seems a fitting point to introduce a brief sketch 
 of the Indiana State Bank, which, like the canal, played an 
 important part in our early history as a state. It was, during 
 its entire career, in every wa}' an honor to those who con- 
 ducted its affairs, and a just cause of pride to the people of 
 Indiana. For most of the facts connected with its history we 
 nve indebted to the account given by Ex-Secretary Hugh 
 ]\IcCulloch in his work, "Men and Measures of Half a Cen- 
 tury," to which we have before referred. 
 
 The State Bank of Indiana received its charter from the 
 legislature during the winter of 1833 and 1834, and, says 
 ]McCulloch, "in nothing was the wisdom, the practical good 
 
HISTORY Of INDIANA. 149 
 
 sense, of the representatives of the people of Indiana in the 
 legislative assembly more strikingly exhibited than in the 
 charter of this bank." It could, indeed, hardly have met 
 the needs of the people better than it did, so well adapted 
 was it to the times. 
 
 It was a bank of branches, the number being limited to 
 thirteen, which were located in the principal towns through- 
 out the state. The capital of each branch was $160,000, 
 one-half of which the state provided, the aggregate capital 
 being over $2,000,000. The state was represented in the 
 management of the bank by live directors, who were elected 
 by the legislature, as was also the president, who, ex-officio, 
 was a member of the board. The other directors were 
 chosen by the branches, each branch being represented by 
 one director. This board possessed almost absolute authority 
 over the branches. If a branch was not properly managed 
 the board could suspend it, or, if through its mismanagement 
 the other branches were liable to be injured, it could close 
 it altogether. There was, however, but one branch suspended 
 during the entire existence of the bank, and that only for a 
 short time. Each branch was held responsible for the debts 
 of every other branch, but retained its own profits. This 
 responsibility insured a careful supervision of the affairs of 
 the several branches. A semi-annual investigation by the 
 president into the condition of each branch was required. 
 These examinations were always very thorough, and, as the 
 officers of the branches never knew when they were to take 
 place, no especial preparation could be made for them. 
 
150 HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 Money was at first loaned by the bank on real estate 
 securit}', and during a part of the time there was considerable 
 land speculation, but the affairs of the bank were so well con- 
 ducted that not a dollar was ever lost on these loans, tbough 
 they reached millions. But after the great financial crash of 
 1837 the loans were principally made on "bills of exchange, 
 based upon produce shipped to eastern or southern markets." 
 And as outlets for the plentiful produce of the fertile 3'Oung 
 state were what was most needed at that time, the bank, no 
 doubt, performed a great service in furnishing the money to 
 enable the producer to reach these markets. 
 
 It was the privilege of the branches to " issue circulating 
 notes to twice the amount of their capitals." These notes 
 were obtained from the officers of the bank. The directors of 
 the bank never declared dividends on the capital of the 
 branches unless they had been actually earned. Thus wisely 
 and cautiously managed, it is not strange that the bank took 
 high rank among the financial institutions of the country, and 
 was able to weather the financial storm of 1837, which ruined 
 so many banking houses all over the country. In that year it 
 suspended specie payment. Although this was not actuall}' 
 necessary, it was considered the better policy under the 
 circumstances. Ex-Secretary McCulloch says he had been a 
 banker for fourteen years before he saw a dollar in gold, silver 
 being used exclusively through the west for metallic currenc}'. 
 He also says "there was never a more wholesome business 
 done between banks and their customers than was done b}' the 
 State Bank of Indiana through a large part of its career." 
 
HISTORY OF INDIANA. 151 
 
 And when its charter expired in 1857, so great had been its 
 success that the. profit on the share which the state had fur- 
 nished amounted to "nearly three miUions of dollars," which 
 was used as the foundation for the existing school fund. The 
 stockholders in the different branches reaped equally large 
 profits on their investment. 
 
 Two years following the retirement of the bank from 
 active business were spent in settling up its affairs, and 
 even at the end of that time many of its notes were still in 
 circulation. But in order that no shadow of a cloud should 
 be left on the fair name the State Bank had gained, arrange- 
 ments were made with several responsible men to redeem 
 these notes when presented. So no note-holder ever suffered 
 loss. 
 
 The first president of the bank was Samuel Merrill, who 
 was followed by James Morrison, Among the directors were 
 Lanier, Fletcher, Blanchard, Dunning, Fitch, Ball, Rathbone, 
 Ross, Burkham, Orr, Rector and Chapin, while the cashier 
 was James M. Ra3\ 
 
 Quarterly meetings of the directors were held at Indian- 
 apolis, at which time they carried with them large sums of 
 money. In those days, it must be remembered, there were no 
 express companies. The directors usually traveled to and from 
 Indianapolis alone on horseback, and were often three days on 
 the way, both going and coming, stopping at night at taverns 
 or cabins. They were well-known through the state, and it 
 was also known that they carried with them in their saddle- 
 bags, at such times, thousands of dollars. That none of them 
 
152 
 
 HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 were ever robbed speaks volumes for the honesty of the young, 
 sp»arsely-settled state. 
 
 An incident, illustrating the temptation to which those who 
 carried the money in this way were themselves exposed, may be 
 of interest. Just previous to his death D. D. Pratt, of Logans- 
 
 THE TEMPTATION. 
 
 port, at one time United States senator from Indiana, was dic- 
 tating his " Personal Recollections " for publication. He related 
 how, in 1833, he carried from Lawrenceburg to Indianapolis 
 $20,000 in a pair of saddle-bags. When he had reached the 
 brow of the hill overlooking the Ohio river the temptation 
 came to him to appropriate the money then in his possession. 
 The Ohio river at that time was " the great arter}^ of com- 
 
HISTORY OF INDIANA. 153 
 
 merce before a railroad had been built west of Massachusetts," 
 and he had but to sell his horse and go aboard one of the 
 steamers on the river, when he would be " absolutely beyond 
 the reach of pursuit. '^ There was no telegraph in those days, 
 and there were no extradition treaties requirinsr foreiofn sfov- 
 ernments to return criminals. We give the rest of the story 
 in Mr. Pratt^s own beautiful language: "The world was 
 before me, and at the age of twenty-one, with feeble ties con- 
 necting me with those left behind, I was in possession of a 
 fortune for those early days. I recall the fact that this thought 
 was a tenant of my mind for a moment, and for a moment 
 only. Bless God, it found' no hospitable lodgment any longer. 
 And what think you, gentle reader, were the associate thoughts 
 that came to my rescue.^ Away over rivers and mountains, a 
 thousand miles distant, in an humble farm-house on a beach, an 
 aged mother reading to her boy from the oracles of God." 
 
 "At this point," says the narrative, "his voice choked and 
 his emotions overcame him. He said, ' we will finish this 
 another time, Julia; read over what you have written.' He 
 put his head back on his chair, and in a moment afterward 
 died without a struggle or a groan. The action of the heart, 
 excited no doubt by the emotion, ceased." 
 
 During the existence of the State Bank no other banking 
 charter could be obtained in Indiana. It had exclusive banking 
 privileges in the state, hence was a monopoly. After a brief 
 trial of what was called the free-bankmg system, which proved 
 a complete failure, a new charter was obtained in many respects 
 similar to the previous one. The new bank, founded upon this 
 
15 1 HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 charter, was called the "Bank of the State of Indiana," but the 
 state was not a stockholder. The branches numbered twenty 
 instead of thirteen. The authorized capital was $6,000,000, 
 and the president was selected by the directors. The bank 
 began active business on January i, 1857, under most 
 promising circumstances, and was favored with the able 
 management of Mr. Hugh McCulloch, who was chosen its 
 president. But in that same year it encountered a severe 
 financial panic, which it passed through successfully, and con- 
 tinued to do an honorable and prosperous business until 1863. 
 In that year it went into liquidation, owing to the tax of 10 
 per cent, imposed by Congress upon the notes of all banks 
 excepting National banks. 
 
CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 "A GRAND NATIONAL FROLIC." 
 
 The Ever-Memorable "Log Cabin and Hard Cider Campaign" of 1840 — 
 Indiana Ablaze with Enthusiasm— The Great Whig "Rallies" — Sing 
 ING Harrison into the White Hol'SE— The Mexican War and Indi- 
 ana's Part Therein. 
 
 For several years previous to the great financial crisis 
 of 1837, to which reference has been made in previous chap- 
 ters, there had been great apparent prosperity throughout 
 the entire countr}-; and, as is pretty sure to be the case when 
 crops are abundant and work and money plenty, people went 
 heavily into debt, and engaged extensively in speculations. 
 
 The currency had been inflated, and it is thought by 
 many able financiers that the principal factor in hastening 
 the inevitable disaster was the veto of the bill for the re- 
 charter of the Bank of the United States by President Jackson 
 in 1832. At the time the re-action came, after the years of 
 wild speculation and debt-making, Martin Van Buren was so 
 unfortunate as to be president of the United States. The 
 masses were disposed to cast the blame of their misfortunes 
 upon his administration. All classes suffered in this disaster. 
 In New York City alone the failures amounted to $100,000,- 
 000. But the laboring man and the farmer suffered the most. 
 Factories and stores closed, banks suspended, and eight of 
 
 155 
 
156 HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 the states became bankrupt. Prices fell. A dollar could bu\- 
 a great deal, but the dollars were scarce. In Indianapolis, 
 it is said, oats sold for six cents a bushel, chickens fifty cents 
 a dozen and eggs three cents a dozen. Work was of course 
 hard to get, and thousands were destitute. 
 
 Hoping to change the times b}' changing the party in 
 power, many old Democrats joined the Whig party. The 
 political campaign of 1840, the first after the great financial 
 crisis, was one of the most notable 'in the histor}^ of our 
 countr}'. None, probably, ever furnished so many amusing 
 incidents and features. 
 
 George W.Julian, in his '" Political Recollections,'' de- 
 scribes it as ''a grand national frolic, in which the imprisoned 
 mirth and fun of the people found such jubilant and uproarious 
 expression that anything Hke calmness of judgment or real 
 seriousness of purpose was out of the question in the Whig 
 camp."" 
 
 In 1839 the Democrats chose Martin Van Buren again 
 for the first place on their ticket, and Richard M. Johnson, 
 of Kentucky, for the second. At the national convention of 
 the Whigs, which was held in Harrisburg, Pa., William Henry 
 Harrison was nominated for president and John Tyler for 
 vice-president. 
 
 Although General Harrison was a native of Virginia, his 
 entire public career had been associated with the west. As 
 a young man he had been aide-de-camp to General Wayne. 
 When Indiana territory was formed he was made its first 
 governor, and afterwards represented it in Congress. He had 
 
HISTORY OF INDIANA. 157 
 
 served as superintendent of Indian affairs, and, during the 
 war of 1812 with England, had been commander-in-chief of 
 the western army. His renowned victories over the Indians 
 on the banks of the Tippecanoe, and the combined British 
 and Indian forces on the Thames in Canada, had made him 
 a popular military hero. In 18 16 he had been elected to 
 Congress from Ohio, and in 1824 had become a member of 
 the United States Senate. After this long public career he 
 had withdrawn to private life for a time, but in 1836 had been 
 nominated by the Whig party for president of the United 
 States. He was defeated by Martin Van Buren, the Demo- 
 cratic candidate. 
 
 General Harrison was greatly esteemed in those earlv 
 days in the west as a scholar and an honest man. He was 
 closely watched by enemies in his administration of Indian 
 affairs, and, though charges of fraudulent dealings were 
 brought against him, they were disproved. He was an 
 ardent and zealous worker in the cause of public education, 
 and gave his aid and influence to the support of a state uni- 
 versity, as well as to the establishment of schools of lower 
 grades. 
 
 During the earl}' part of the campaign of 1840 a corres- 
 pondent of an eastern newspaper referred to General Har- 
 rison as a man whose greatest capacity for happiness was 
 satisfied when he could live in a log cabin and have an 
 abundance of hard cider to drink. This proved the key-note 
 of the campaign, for the poorer classes inferred from that 
 remark that there were some who thought the president must 
 
158 HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 be chosen from the aristocratic class, and must be a man 
 who Hvecl in a grand house, and drank line wines. Log 
 cabins, built after the rude frontier style and ornamented 
 with coon-skins, were built and called "wigwams," and were 
 used for the meeting places of the Whig rallies and con\'en- 
 tions. A plentiful supply of cider was always found at these 
 places, and was frequently drunk out of gourds. Small 
 log cabins made of poles were alwa3-s most prominent features 
 in the processions. 
 
 The campaign was rightfully named the "log-cabin 
 and hard-cider campaign." Enthusiastic rallies were held 
 throughout the west, where banquets were served, speeches 
 were made and sono-s sung-. 
 
 Among the most prominent Democratic speakers in 
 Indiana were Edward A, Hannegan and James Kennedy. 
 The most popular Whig orators were Richard W. Thomp- 
 son, Caleb B. Smith and Henry S. Lane. At a rallv held 
 at South Bend, after the procession had marched, the bands 
 had played, and the log cabins and mottoes had been dis- 
 played, the delegations from the neighboring towns assembled 
 at a banquet. The rude way in which it was served was 
 made to contrast as strongly as possible with the elegant 
 repasts supposed to be served at the president's table. The 
 dinner was given by the farmers. The chickens, beef, pork 
 and bread were cut up before the guests were called, and 
 every man used his fingers and jack-knife; and instead of 
 high-priced wines, the log-cabin boys drank water or cider 
 out of tin cups. 
 
HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 159 
 
 Ail immense mass meeting was held on the Tippecanoe 
 battle-ground, where James Brooks talked to the assembled 
 thousands from the top of a large log cabin. To this rally 
 George W. Julian rode 150 miles on horseback through mud 
 and swamps. Cider was sent in large quantities up the 
 Wabash, and generously dealt out to the crowd. 
 
 At another mass meeting held in the southern part of 
 the state, where there were full}^ 15,000 people, a grotesque- 
 looking character came on to the 
 platform where General Harrison 
 was to speak. The general arose 
 and met him cordially, giving him 
 a seat by his side, where, on a 
 bench hewn out of a log, "the 
 most venerable and respectable 
 persons" of the vicinity were 
 seated. This sincyular-looking: man 
 had driven a long ox-team to the 
 rally, hauling a number of passen- 
 gers. He wore " knee breeches, 
 and imitation silver buckles upon 
 his shoes, with stockings exposed 
 and a hunting shirt," and had on his head, "a coon-skin cap, 
 which was dressed with a coon's tail hanging down, his long 
 hair being in a bag or queue." 
 
 Singing was a promiment feature of this campaign, 
 largel}' contributing to the general joyousness and hilarity. 
 The following verses are specimens of the doggerel which 
 
 THE OLD TIMER AT THE CAMPAIGN 
 RALLY. 
 
ItiO HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 was set to music and sung with boisterous enthusiasm at 
 many a Whig- rally: 
 
 "The times are bad and want curing; 
 They are getting past all enduring; 
 Let us turn out Martin Van Buren, 
 
 And put in old Tippecanoe. 
 
 The best thing we can do. 
 
 Is to put in old Tippecanoe. 
 
 "It's a business we all can take part in, 
 So let us give notice to Martin 
 That he must get ready for sartin, 
 
 For we'll put in old Tippecanoe. 
 
 The best thing we can do. 
 
 Is to put in old Tippecanoe. 
 
 "We've had of their humbugs a plenty; 
 For now all our pockets are empty; 
 We've a dollar now where we had plenty, 
 
 So we'll put in old Tippecanoe. 
 
 The best thing we can do, 
 
 Is to put in old Tippecanoe." 
 
 Another song, suggested by the election returns from 
 Maine, became at once very popular. One verse will be 
 sufficient to indicate its style: 
 
 "Oh, have you heard the news from Maine, 
 
 Maine, Maine, all honest and true? 
 Seventeen thousand is the tune 
 
 For Tippecanoe and Tyler too, 
 
 For Tippecanoe and Tyler too. 
 And with them we'll beat little Van. 
 
 Van, Van is a used up man, 
 And with them we'll beat little \"an." 
 
HISTORY OF INDIANA. 161 
 
 When the campaign resulted in the election of William 
 Henry Harrison to the presidency the west was again wild, 
 but in a different sense from what it had ever been before. 
 After Harrison^s death, occurring as it did but one month 
 after his inaugural, John Tyler became president. But he 
 failed to carry out the polic}' of his party, and grew very 
 unpopular. During his administration an event of great im- 
 portance took place — the annexation of Texas — which brought 
 with it into the Union its old quarrel with Mexico. Since 
 Texas had freed itself from Mexican rule, the boundary line 
 between the two countries had never been agreed upon. 
 American citizens living in Texas had not been honorably 
 and justly treated by the Mexicans, and, as the country 
 changed governments so frequently, in consequence of the 
 sudden and fierce revolutions which were constantly taking 
 place there, the United States could not obtain satisfaction 
 for the injury done her citizens. These disputes and troubles 
 led to the war with Mexico, which began in 1846. James 
 K. Polk was then president, having been elected in 1844 over 
 Henry Clay. 
 
 A proclamation was at once issued b}' Governor AVhit- 
 comb, calling for volunteers to fill Indiana^s quota. The 
 people promptly responded, and three regiments were at once 
 sent to the mouth of the Rio Grande, where they remained 
 about a year, suffering greatly from the effects of the un- 
 healthful climate. The second year of the war two other 
 regiments accompanied General Scott in his march upon the 
 City of Mexico. These five regmients were Indiana's con- 
 
162 HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 tribution to the Mexican war, which ended in 1848, and ren- 
 dered iinportant services. Colonels James P. Drake of Marion 
 county, Joseph Lane of Vanderburgh, James H. Lane of 
 Dearborn, Ebenezer Dumont of Dearborn and James H. Lane 
 were the respective commanders. The latter commanded the 
 Third regiment until it was mustered out, after a 3'ear^s ser- 
 vice, when he became colonel of the Fifth regiment. Colonel 
 Drake was promoted to brigadier and Henry S. Lane, after- 
 ward governor and United States senator, became coloneL 
 "Joe" Lane was made a brigadier-general and was succeeded 
 by Lieutenant-Colonel William A. Bowles of Orange count}'. 
 The charge of cowardice at Buena Vista was made against 
 him, but it was not sustained. Jefferson Davis, then a colonel, 
 afterward president of the Southern Confederacy, was active 
 in pressing the accusation. Colonel Bowles and his troops 
 were the victims of mistaken orders, but Indiana bore the 
 stigma until it was wiped out by the valor of her sons in the 
 great civil war. Gen. "Joe " Lane, after an honorable career 
 in Indiana, removed to Oregon, became United States senator, 
 and was the nominee for vice-president on the Breckenridge 
 Democratic ticket in i860. 
 
 Colonel "Jim " Lane, when his regiment was mustered 
 out, re-organized another regiment, and went with it to Mexico. 
 Soon after arriving there he was promoted to a brigadiership, 
 and his father-in-law, Daniel Baldridge, succeeded him as 
 colonel. Lane fought gallantly through the war, and after 
 his return home was elected lieutenant-governor on the ticket 
 with Governor Whitcomb. When the Kansas trouble broke 
 
HISTORY OF INDIANA. 163 
 
 out he went there, assisted in making it free territory, was 
 elected United States senator, and finally committed suicide. 
 Three Indiana colonels lost their lives at Buena Vista — 
 Walker of Evansville, Knider of Indianapolis and Taggart 
 of Logansport. 
 
 12 
 
CHAPTER XX. 
 
 A NURSERY OF GREAT MEN. 
 
 Abraham Lincoln's Youthful Experiences in Indiana— Hardships of his 
 Early Life — Beginnings of Hugh McCulloch's Great Career— How 
 Henry Ward Beecher Electrified the State with his Eloquence — 
 Ten Years of Noble Achievement— Bishop Simpson's Work in Indiana. 
 
 As we thread our way through the events occurring 
 previous to the year 1840 we tind scattered through the 
 state men whose names in after years were numbered among 
 the most illustrious of our land, forming a galaxy of brain 
 and power at that time dim, but destined in the future to 
 shine forth upon the nation in brilliance and grandeur. Some 
 reflected lustre upon the political pathway; some distinguished 
 themselves as financiers, and still others illuminated the theo- 
 logical, literary and scientific world. 
 
 And now let us turn back for a moment to the year 18 16, 
 the year that Indiana became a state. Making our way with 
 difficulty to the southern portion, to what is now Spencer 
 county, we reach a little clearing, where we find vv^hat was 
 known in those days, as a "half-faced camp;" that is, a cabin 
 inclosed on three sides and open on the fourth. In this camp, 
 or " about the place somewhar\" we tind a little boy about 
 eight years old, of muscular frame and sad countenance, bare- 
 foot, of course, and coarsely and shabbily dressed. He goes 
 
 164 
 
HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 165 
 
 
 
 b}- the name of Abe, and has come with his father and 
 mother and sister from Kentucky. 
 
 The child's father was a rough, shiftless man, and his 
 mother, from whom he is said to have inherited his mental 
 power, died two years after their removal to Indiana. 
 
 Actual suffering must have been endured by this family 
 in this half-faced camp, in which t^iey lived one year, when 
 
 they built a rough log cabin, 
 inclosed on all sides, but in 
 which there was neither 
 floor, door, nor window. In 
 this, no doubt, the family 
 was more comfortable, but 
 it was not until after the 
 death of the mother and 
 the father had married again 
 that there was an3'thing like 
 home comfort for the poor 
 children. 
 
 The stepmother was not 
 onl}^ the owner of a few 
 household goods of her own, 
 such as " one fine bureau, one table, one set of chairs, one 
 large clothes chest, cooking utensils, knives, forks, bedding 
 and other articles," which she brought with her to this cabin 
 in the wilderness, but she was also possessed of what is even 
 of greater value — a kind and generous heart and good judg- 
 ment — and was a thrifty housewife. Her mother heart warmed 
 
 ARRAHAM LINCOLN AS A STUDENT. 
 
166 HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 toward her poor, little, destitute ehildren; and, dressing them 
 eleanly and comfortabl}', and taking great interest in their 
 training, she soon won their deepest respect and warmest love. 
 This was the first turning point in little Abe's life, and the 
 first feelings of self-respect were no doubt stirred in his heart 
 when he found himself surrounded by these improved condi- 
 tions. 
 
 During the years that this boy was a resident of our 
 state his time was mostly employed in doing such work on 
 a farm as a boy can do, but all the "schooling" he ever 
 received was in the rough backwoods of the " Hoosier State," 
 where the highest qualifications required of a teacher were 
 " readin', writin' and cipherin' to the rule of three." 
 
 It was not long before young Abe learned all that could 
 be taught him at the schools. But he was fond of readin"- 
 and borrowed all the books in the settlement, which com- 
 prised " ^sop's Fables," "Robinson Crusoe," "The Pilgrim's 
 Progress," a " History of the United States," and a " Life of 
 Washington." From these he made a great many extracts, 
 copying passages that especially pleased him into a copy- 
 book. There was one book he could not borrow, however, 
 and that was a copy of the Statutes of Indiana, so every spare 
 hour he could o'et he ran over to the house of the neicrhbor 
 who was the fortunate owner of the valuable book, and 
 studied it. 
 
 The boy's entire sojourn in our state, which continued 
 until he was twenty-one years of age — when, in 1830, he went 
 with his father to Macon, Illinois — was indeed full of hard- 
 
ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 
 
HISTORY OF INDIANA. 167 
 
 ships, toil and privation. But the stepmother's kind treat- 
 ment and unselfish interest in his welfare did much to mitigate 
 them. And it was to her the famous President Lincoln — 
 whom you have no doubt long ere this recognized in the 
 little Abe — referred when he alluded to his " saintly mother " 
 and his "angel of a mother." 
 
 His own mother's grave is in a small meadow near the 
 little village of Lincoln in this state, A plain marble slab 
 has been there erected by Mr. Clem Studebaker of South 
 Bend, on which is the following inscription: 
 
 NANCY HANKS LINCOLN, 
 
 Mother of President Lincoln, 
 
 Died October 5, A. D. 1818, aged thirty-five years. 
 
 Erected by a friend of her Martyred Son. 
 
 The mother's remains were borne to this grave in a two- 
 wheeled cart, drawn by a yoke of oxen. 
 
 In 1833 we find a young man wending his way from his 
 New England home in search of a promising location in the 
 west in which to establish himself in the legal profession. He 
 first stops in Madison, Indiana, for a few weeks, and then 
 proceeds to Indianapolis, which he describes as being at that 
 time more " utterly forlorn " than any of the other new 
 western towns he visits. 
 
 The young law3'er decided to seek further before locating, 
 and exchanging his trunk for a pair of saddle-bags, made the 
 journey from Indianapolis to Fort Wayne in the usual way — 
 on horseback. He found this village quite as uninviting as 
 others through which he had passed, except that its site was 
 higher. But he chose the place for his future home, and 
 
1C8 
 
 HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 opening a little office, began the practice of the law, which 
 he soon abandoned, and engaged in the banking business, 
 becoming one of the directors of the State Bank in 1836, and 
 president of the State Bank of Indiana in 1856. 
 
 In 1863, during the administration of President Lincoln, 
 Hugh McCulloch — for our 3'oung lawyer was none other than 
 he — was made the first comptroller of the currenc}'. And 
 a few days after Lincoln"'s second inauguration, in 1865, he 
 was appointed secretary of the treasur}-. This office he most 
 ably filled through Johnson's administration, when he went to 
 London, and there engaged in the banking business for several 
 years. In 1884 Mr. McCulloch was again called upon to 
 till the treasury department, which he did for several months, 
 under President Arthur. He ranks as one of the greatest 
 hnanciers and political economists the country has produced. 
 
 In 1837 there came to Lawrenceburg direct from a 
 theological seminary a young divine, whose moral teachings, 
 broad philanthropy and brilliant oratory were revelations to 
 
 its people, and sources of 
 
 pride and congratulation 
 years afterward, when the 
 name of Flenry Ward 
 B e e c h e r was in the 
 zenith of its glory and 
 popularit}'. Plere he re- 
 mained two years, when 
 he went to Indianapolis to 
 take charo-e of the first 
 
 CIRCLE HALL, BLECHLK h IIRSI CHL RCH. 
 
HISTORY OF INDIANA. 169 
 
 " New School " Presbyterian church organized in that city. 
 From a membership of a dozen it grew, through the mag- 
 netic power and intense earnestness of the young clerg3^man, 
 to be one of the largest churches in the city. His labors 
 during the ten years he spent in this field were enormous^ 
 and would have no doubt broken down a man of less physical 
 endurance. He preached regularly three times a week, deliv- 
 ered courses of lectures to young men, engaged in benevolent 
 and missionary work throughout the state, and edited a weekly 
 horticultural paper, besides milking his cow, grooming and 
 feeding his horse, sawing his wood, and " with his own hands 
 making the best and largest garden in the city." 
 
 The beautiful lawns, so much admired now in Indian- 
 apolis, are largely the results of the teachings and example 
 of Henry Ward Beecher during the early years of the city's 
 growth. His librar}' at that time was extremel}^ limited. He 
 was then, as always, a student of men, rather than of books. 
 The church where this distinguished pulpit orator attracted 
 his large audiences, for he was then considered one of the 
 ablest preachers in the west, is still standing on the Circle. 
 
 In 1847 Mr. Beecher accepted a call to the Plymouth Con- 
 gregational Church in Brookl}!!, where his methods, so different 
 from any then known in the east, led to his being called a 
 western orator. May not the free, expanding life then found 
 in Indiana have contributed to the formation of his broad 
 views .^ Indeed, he himself acknowledged this to have been 
 the casp fifty years later, when relating some of his personal 
 history before the board of London Congregational mmisters. 
 
170 
 
 HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 The year, 1839, was indeed an eventful one in the 
 rehgious development of the state, for not only did Henry 
 Ward Beecher begin his labors in Indiana at that time, but 
 a \oung professor, whose name is known over two continents, 
 was called to fill the position of president of what was then 
 known as Asbur}' University, but has been since re-christened 
 De Pauw. Though of unprepossessing appearance, he had only 
 to preach his first sermon to establish himself in the high 
 appreciation of the people. The university he found in a most 
 deplorable condition financially, and the village of Greencastle 
 possessing all the unattractive characteristics of a rough 
 pioneer settlement. The church building of the Methodist 
 Society was unfinished. "It had a single aisle, with movable 
 benches. The men and women sat apart. It was not uncom- 
 mon for the women to come 
 to church in their sun-bonnets, 
 which they took off during ser- 
 vice. While the people were 
 both respectable and pious, soci- 
 ety was in almost every sense 
 '■ K'-mn/ 7 ^mgm^s^ ^ ^ in a very primitive condition.'" 
 
 f^ ^M P^^O^^^M^^^ This was the picture Bishop 
 
 Simpson himself drew of the 
 field of his youthful labors. The 
 situation demanded heroic meas- 
 ures. Matthew Simpson proved 
 the man for the emergency. He 
 soon acquired an extraordinary power over the Methodists 
 
 BISHOP SIMPSON. 
 
HISTORY OF INDIANA, 171 
 
 throughout the state and enHsted them heartily in the building 
 up of this seat of learning. 
 
 Bishop Simpson was but twenty-seven years of age when 
 he assumed the responsibilities of president of a college, which 
 had no endowment, whose professors were paid in scrip issued 
 by the college, and whose first sessions were held at the 
 "deestrict schoolhouse, and then in the county seminary." 
 " All over Indiana he went like a hero," stirring up the hearts 
 of the fathers to send their boys to this college and to give 
 of even their limited means for its support. He was an inspira- 
 tion and power in the pulpit, genial, brilliant and magnetic in 
 social intercourse, and eminently qualified as a teacher, reach- 
 ing the hearts and minds of the boys in his charge as few 
 are ever able to, do. He befriended and assisted the needy, 
 who were struggling for an education, and aided the ambitious. 
 He did more perhaps than any other one man ever did in 
 Indiana, which was but just emerging from its log-cabin stage, 
 to inspire ambition for the acquisition of learning and the pur- 
 suit of the higher branches of knowledge. 
 
 In this state, it is claimed, Bishop Simpson " matured as 
 a preacher." But his health becoming impaired, he resigned 
 the position of president in 1848, and accepted the editorial 
 chair of the Wcsfeni Christian Advocate, which position he 
 soon exchanged for the office of bishop. His subsequent career 
 was full of distinction, and he was known as one of the two 
 or three most eminent divines and pulpit orators of his time. 
 He died in 1884 full of years and honors. 
 
CHAPTER XXL 
 
 AN IMPORTANT EPOCH. 
 
 The Constitution of 1851— A Notable Convention— Colfax, Hendricks 
 AND English Among Its Members— A Galaxy of Famous Indianians— 
 Ashbel p. Willard— Joseph G. Marshall, " The Sleeping Lion" — 
 Edward A. Hannegan, Caleb B. Smith and Henry S. Lane— Jesse D. 
 Bright, one of the Greatest of Party Leaders— The Career of 
 Oliver P. Morton. 
 
 In 1 85 1 a new constitution was adopted. For several 
 years there had been a very general feeling that the state 
 had, in some directions, outgrown the old constitution. How- 
 ever well adapted the latter was to the condition and the 
 wants of the people at the time it was made, it was, in some 
 respects, not suited to their circumstances after the great 
 changes which had been wrought by the introduction of the 
 telegraph, the railway and other modern inventions. A con- 
 vention was therefore called to frame a new constitution, 
 which assembled at Indianapolis, and which included among 
 its members many men who were then, or afterwards became, 
 distmguished. George Whitfield Carr presided over this con- 
 vention, and its principal secretary was William H. English, 
 a native of Indiana, who afterward served with great distinc- 
 tion in Congress (i<S53 to 1861,) and who was the Democratic 
 candidate for vice-president on the ticket with General Han- 
 
 172 
 
HISTORY OF INDIANA. 173 
 
 cock in 1880. Two men who subsequently became vice-presi- 
 dents of the United States — Schuyler Colfax and Thomas A. 
 Hendricks — also sat in this convention. The greater part 
 of the old constitution was re-enacted, although new word- 
 ings were introduced into nearly every section. The bill of 
 rights was increased from twenty-four to thirty-five sections. 
 The prohibition of slavery was renewed in somewhat different 
 language. In the existing constitution it is as follows: 
 
 "There shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude 
 within the state otherwise than for the punishment of crimes 
 whereof the party shall have been duly convicted. No 
 indenture of any negro or mulatto, made or executed out of 
 the bounds of the state, shall be valid within the state." 
 
 The new constitution greatly increased the number of 
 elective officers. The supreme judges were made elective, 
 their terms reduced from seven years to six years, and their 
 number limited to five. The old circuit courts, which con- 
 sisted of a presiding judge, appointed by the governor, and 
 two associate judges, elected by the people, were abolished. 
 It was provided that every circuit should be presided over 
 by one judge, elected by the people for a term of six years. 
 Annual sessions of the legislature were discontinued. The 
 general assembly was made to consist of a senate of not to 
 exceed fifty members, and a house of representatives of not 
 to exceed one hundred members; senators to be elected for 
 four 3-ears and represenjtatives for two years; the legislature 
 to meet in January of every alternate year, and to remain 
 in session no longer than sixty-one days. Special sessions, 
 
174 
 
 HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 to be called by the governor, were limitea to forty days. 
 The passage of local or special laws on a great number of 
 specified subjects was absolutely forbidden; and it was pro- 
 vided that " in all other cases, where a general law can be 
 made applicable, all laws shall be general, and of uniform 
 operation throughout the state/' This important provision 
 was adopted to cure an evil which had become very serious 
 under the old constitution — that of special or local legislation. 
 The terms of the governor and lieutenant-governor were ex- 
 tended to four years, and the former was made ineligible for 
 "more than four years in any period of eight years." The 
 veto power was left as before — in the hands of the governor, 
 subject to be overruled by a majority of each house of the 
 legislature. Liberal provision was made for a permanent 
 school fund. This constitution was ratified at a popular 
 election by a large majorit}^ It was subsequently (1873) 
 amended so as to forever prohibit the assumption by the 
 state of the Wabash and Erie Canal debt, for which the 
 canal had been accepted by the creditors 
 in full payment. 
 
 In 1856 Ashbel P. Willard was elected 
 governor. He was a man of robust in- 
 tellect and great force of character, whose 
 administration was vigorous and success- 
 ful. He is remembered as the most 
 effective "stump "* orator ever heard in 
 Indiana. He died at St. Paul, Minn., a 
 few months before the expiration of his 
 
 GOV. ASHBEL P. WILLARD. 
 
HISTORY OF IX DIANA. 
 
 175 
 
 ABRAM A. HAMMOND. 
 
 term, and Lieutenant-Governor Abram A. 
 Hammond acted as governor until Jan- 
 uary 1 86 1, when Henry S. Lane suc- 
 ceeded him. Mr. Lane was elected to 
 the United States Senate a day or two 
 after he became governor, and Oliver P. 
 Morton took the chair of state. 
 
 This seems a fitting point to say a 
 few words of a number of men who were 
 conspicuous in the affairs of Indiana before the war period, 
 but whom the scope of our narrative has not brought into 
 these pages. 
 
 Isaac Blackford, Charles Dewe}', Isaac Howk and Jeremiah 
 Sullivan were amon^r those who g^ave renown to the bench and 
 
 bar of Indiana in its earlier years as a 
 state. Blackford's reports rank as legal 
 classics, and are still "an acknowledged 
 authority in all the courts of the Union." 
 One of the most picturesque characters 
 and most brilliant intellects in our history 
 was Joseph G. Marshall, a native of Ken- 
 tucky, but a resident of Madison, Indiana, 
 for many years. He was a great lawyer 
 and a great orator, and it has been truly 
 said that ''Indiana never had the equal of Joseph G. Marshall 
 in breadth and strength of intellect. He was called ' the 
 sleeping lion,' and when fully aroused he was a lion indeed. On 
 such occasions his oratory was like the hurricane that sweeps 
 13 
 
 GOV. HENRY S. LANE. 
 
176 
 
 HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 JOS. G. MARSHALL. 
 
 everything before it." Mr. Marshall was 
 the Whig candidate for governor in 1846, 
 but was defeated. He was elected to the 
 state senate in 1850, and in 1852 was an 
 unsuccessful candidate for Congress. He 
 died at Louisville in .1855, at the age of 
 fifty-five. 
 
 Edward A. Hannegan was a 
 scholar, an orator and a wit. In the 
 memorable campaign of 1840 he electrified the people of 
 Indiana with his eloquence, and in the United States Senate he 
 won an enduring fame as a debater. His career was cut 
 short by premature death. George G. Dunn took high rank at 
 home and in Congress as a man of ability, as did William 
 McKeeDunn v/ho subsequently became judge-advocate-general 
 
 of the United States army. Joh-' 
 Pettit, who served in the United 
 States Senate from 1853 to 1857, 
 and was afterward a member of 
 the supreme bench of the state, and 
 /^^^^^'.^^"T'^^^SiSL '" Graham N. Fitch, who was a 
 
 senator of the United States from 
 1857 ^^ 1861, were men of fine 
 abilities. Mr. Fitch is still living 
 (1891) at Logansport in honorable 
 and dignified retirement. Caleb 
 GRAHAM N. FITCH. ^ ^^-^^ ^^^^ cmincnt as a Whig, 
 
 and afterward as a Republican, leader. He was a famous 
 
HISTORY OF INDIANA. 177 
 
 stump orator, served two terms in Congress, and was President 
 Lincoln's first secretary of the interior. Henry S. Lane was 
 one of the most eloquent and persuasive public speakers who 
 ever lived in Indiana. His power over popular audiences is a 
 lively tradition throughout the west. He was a member of 
 Congress three terms, was elected governor in i860, and served 
 in the United States Senate from 1861 to 1867. 
 
 It remains to speak of one man, who, for twenty years 
 before the war, occupied a commanding position in the public 
 life of Indiana, and who has had few superiors anywhere in the 
 art of party leadership. Jesse D. Bright was born in Norwich, 
 N. Y., in 181 2, but when a child came with his family to 
 Madison, where his youth was passed. He was of robust 
 constitution, fond of out-door sports, excelled as a wrestler, and 
 had great powers of physical endurance. He was self-confident, 
 ambitious, liberally endowed with brains, but of limited 
 education. He was a lawyer by profession, and was success- 
 ively probate judge, state senator and lieutenant-governor. 
 While serving in that capacity he was elected to the United 
 States Senate, and was the youngest man who, at the time, had 
 ever taken a seat in that body. He was re-elected to the Senate 
 in 1850 and again in 1856. On the death of Vice-President 
 King in 1853 he was made president pro tem of the Senate, 
 which position he filled four years. He declined a place in 
 President Buchanan's cabinet. After sixteen years' service in 
 the Senate he was expelled from that body because he had 
 written a letter to Jefferson Davis which was considered 
 treasonable in its character. Mr. Bright maintained that the 
 
178 HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 letter was not written with any bad motive. After his expulsion 
 from the Senate, he sought a re-election to that body, failing in 
 which he removed to Kentucky, where he served two terms in 
 the legislature. lie died in Baltimore in 1S74. 
 
 With the change of party control in Indiana, wrought by 
 the election of i860, and the bursting of the war-cloud upon the 
 country, new men came to the front. The days of Bright and 
 Wright as great political factors were passed. The era of 
 Hendricks and of Morton had arrived. The former was the 
 acknowledged leader of his party in i860, and continued so 
 until his death, a quarter of a century later. The latter, from 
 1 861 until his death in 1877, held undisputed swa}' in the 
 Republican party. 
 
 Oliver P. Morton was a native of Wayne county, in this 
 state, where he was bo'-n in 1823. His father was of English 
 descent. His mother died while he was a little child, and 
 he grew up under the care of relations in Indiana and Ohio. 
 His opportunities for gaining an education were limited, and 
 as a youth he displayed few of those qualities which made 
 him famous in after years. Four years of his bo3hood were 
 devoted to learning the hatter's trade, but in 1843 he 
 became a student at Miami Universit}', Oxford, Ohio, 
 where he remained two 3ears. He then began the study 
 of law. In 1847 he was admitted to the bar. For a brief 
 period he served as a circuit judge. Until 1S54 he was 
 identified with the Democratic party, having cast his first 
 vote for James K. Polk. But in that 3ear he helped to 
 organize the Republican part}', being one of three delegates sent 
 
HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 179 
 
180 HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 to the convention at Pittsburg in 1856. Tlie same year he 
 received the Republican nomination for governor, but was 
 defeated by Ashbel P. Willard. Four years later he was 
 elected lieutenant-governor by the Republicans on the ticket 
 headed by Henry S. Lane. lie acted as governor during the 
 term for which Mr. Lane had been elected, and in 1864 was 
 elected to that office over Joseph E. McDonald, the Democratic 
 candidate. Mr. Morton's administration, of which the principal 
 events will be recorded in the chapter devoted to the civil war, 
 was a memorable one. It covered an historic period in our 
 history as a state and as a nation. Governor Morton very soon 
 won a national reputation as a man of rare executive abilit}', 
 indomitable will, and great fertility of resources. He became 
 the acknowledged autocrat of his party in Indiana, and his 
 supremacy therein was not challenged while he lived. In 1867 
 Governor Morton was elected to the United States Senate. He 
 took a leading position in that body from the first, and retained 
 it to the end. In 1873 he was re-elected, and in 1876 was a 
 prominent candidate for the republican nomination for president. 
 He died at Richmond, Indiana, in 1877, and was buried in 
 Crown Hill cemetery, Indianapolis. Governor Morton was a 
 man of intellectual power, and of strong individuality. He 
 rendered his state and his part}' important services, and as a 
 political leader has had few equals in our history. 
 
CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 THE GREAT CIVIL WAR. 
 
 Indiana Plays a Conspicuous and Noble Part-A Grand Uprising of 
 THE People Without Regard to Party— The Stain of Buena \'ista 
 Forever Effaced— Indiana Troops at the Front Everywhere— 
 Their Splendid Valor Shown on Many Battle Fields— John Mor- 
 gan's Memorable Raid. 
 
 Probably the worst calamity that ever befalls a nation is 
 civil war. 
 
 Upon the subject of slavery the sentiment of the countrv 
 had always been divided; and many exciting discussions and 
 angry debates had taken place in the halls of Congress in 
 regard to this institution. For many years the dark clouds of 
 fraternal strife had been gathering from different sections, 
 which finally, in the spring of 1861, burst upon the country. 
 
 Then it was that the North and the South arrayed them- 
 selves against each other in a fierce conflict, which, it was at 
 first thought, would only be of a few months' duration, but 
 
 which lasted for four years. These years seemed very long 
 
 the longest, perhaps, the nation had ever known — brinmntr with 
 them, as they did, so much of suffering, and sorrow, and woe 
 throughout the length and breadth of the land. Party preju- 
 dice became very strong all over the North, and many harsh 
 
 181 
 
182 HISTORY OF IXDIAXA. 
 
 things were said and done that would not have been in peace- 
 ful times. 
 
 In March, 1861, Abraham Lincoln was inaugurated 
 president and Hannibal Flamlin vice-president of the United 
 States. Previous to that time, and soon after their election, 
 seven southern states had withdrawn from the Union and 
 established a government which was called the Southern Con- 
 federacy. The national government, considering this an act 
 of rebellion, called for troops with which to quell it. President 
 Lincoln issued a proclamation on April 15 for 75,000 men for 
 a service of three months. But before the order had reached 
 Indianapolis Governor Morton had telegraphed to Washington, 
 offering 10,000 men to the government for its use in the war 
 which he saw was imminent. 
 
 So Indiana was the first state to tender troops for the con- 
 flict; and Indianapolis, which was made the rendezvous for the 
 soldier}', soon assumed much the appearance of a camping- 
 ground, and the old state-house that of headquarters of a 
 military department. 
 
 The first quota which Indiana filled was six regiments for 
 three months. No fewer than 30,000 men tendered their 
 services in response to a call for 6,000 volunteers. Lewis 
 Wallace of Crawfordsville, who had served in the Mexican 
 war, was appointed adjutant-general of the state. Thomas A. 
 ^lorris, of Indianapolis, a graduate of the United States Mili- 
 tary Academy, was appointed quartermaster general, and 
 Isaiah Mansur, of the same city, a prominent merchant, was 
 made commissary-general. 
 
HISTORY OF INDIANA. 183 
 
 The state had sent five regiments to the Mexican war, so 
 the new regiments were numbered beginning with the sixth, 
 and were commanded as follows: Sixth regiment, by Colonel 
 Thomas T. Crittenden; Seventh regiment, by Colonel Ebe- 
 nezer Dumont; Eighth regiment, by Colonel William P. Ben- 
 ton; Ninth regiment, by Colonel Robert H. Milro}-; Tenth 
 regiment, by Colonel Joseph J. Reynolds; Eleventh regiment, 
 by Colonel Lewis Wallace. 
 
 These regiments constituted the First brigade, Indiana 
 volunteers, under the following brigade officers: Thomas A. 
 jNIorris, brigadier-general; John Love, major and brigadier 
 inspector; Milo S. Hascall, captain and aide-de-camp. This 
 brigade was at once ordered to western Virginia, where it 
 assisted in winning the first victories of the war. 
 
 The second call for men was made by the president. May 
 i6, 1861, and was for 42,000 men for three years' service. 
 Indiana's share was four regiments, which she promptly 
 furnished. 
 
 In 1862 both political parties held conventions at Indian- 
 apolis, Thomas A. Hendricks presiding at the Democratic con- 
 vention and Governor Morton at the Republican. The senti- 
 ment expressed in both these meetings showed a willingness 
 and determination to make every sacrifice "to the end that the 
 rebellion should be suppressed, the supremacy of the constitu- 
 tion maintained, and the Union under it preserved." It was 
 but natural that the parties differed as regards the methods 
 and measures to be adopted. 
 
 Calls for men followed at varying intervals; to all of 
 
184 HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 which Indiana responded, until she had sent 208,367 of her 
 sons to the battle-fields of the great civil war — some there to 
 die, others to perish in prison, and still others to return to their 
 homes and loved ones when the war should be over. 
 
 In one of Governor Morton's messages he said: "Without 
 distinction of party, condition, or occupation, men have rallied 
 around the national standard, and in every part of the state 
 may be heard the sound of martial music, and witnessed the 
 mustering of companies into the tield." 
 
 Camp grounds were scattered throughout the state, where 
 regiments of soldiers were drilled and held in readiness to 
 answer orders to the front. In almost every corps of the army 
 Indiana troops were to be found. They were more widely 
 scattered, it is said, than those of any other state. In 1862 
 they took part in the battles of Fort Donelson and Pittsburg 
 Landing, in Tennessee; they were with General McClellan 
 and his successors in western Virginia, engaging in most of the 
 battles on the Potomac; they fought at Bull Run, and shared 
 in the victories won by General Lyon in the southwest; they 
 were to be found with Sigel in his "masterly retreat;" under 
 Mulligan they assisted in the defense of Lexington, and were 
 in considerable numbers in Fremont's army when he went in 
 pursuit of Price, taking part in most of the engagements in 
 Missouri. 
 
 The affair at Buena Vista had always rested as a stain 
 upon the courage of Indiana. So, when the civil war broke 
 out, it was the especial ambition of many of the soldiers to 
 retrieve the state's reputation, which they determined to do by 
 
HISTORY OF INDIANA. 185 
 
 deeds of valor and bravery. One regiment, the Eleventh, when 
 mustered into service "took a solemn oath to remember Buena 
 Vista." It is needless to add that the stain was truly and 
 forever effaced. 
 
 The horrors of the most terrible war of modern times 
 were upon us, but Indiana not only sent her soldiers promptly 
 and in large numbers to the front, but did what she could to 
 alleviate their sufferings and hardships on battle-tield and 
 camping-ground. The women of the state organized relief 
 societies, and made and collected many articles for the comfort 
 and relief of the soldiers which the United States government 
 did not provide — such as extra woolen blankets, woolen shirts, 
 socks, and mittens, dainties for the sick, and linen bandages 
 and lint for the wounded. 
 
 A soldiers' home was established at Indianapolis, and a 
 "ladies' home" where the wives and families of soldiers in need 
 of temporary aid were cared for. At Knightstown an orphans' 
 home was maintained for the support and education of soldiers' 
 orphaned children. 
 
 Kentucky being somewhat infested with bands of guerillas, 
 which were liable at any time to cross the Ohio river and 
 ravage the southern portion of the state, the Indiana Legion 
 was formed for the purpose of protecting it from such invasion. 
 In 1863 ^^° such incursions occurred. The first was of slight 
 importance. A small force of the Second Kentucky cavalry, 
 crossing the Ohio river at Leavenworth, plundered the stores 
 and citizens of the place, and of Corydon and Paoli, before they 
 were driven back. 
 
186 HIS rORV OF IJS! DIANA. 
 
 During the same summer General John Morgan succeeded 
 in crossing the river at Brandenburg. He ferried his force, 
 which has been variously estimated at from 2,200 to 4,000 
 cavalrymen, with ten guns, across the river on steamboats 
 which he captured, and which he burned immediately after 
 using. 
 
 The news that the famous "rebel raider" was in our state 
 naturally produced a terrible excitement. In less than forty- 
 eight hours after Governor Morton's official notice and call for 
 troops had been made nearly 65,000 men were gathering from 
 all parts of the state to offer their services. All was bustle, 
 confusion and excitement. Brigadier-General Carrington was 
 ordered to organize and muster in th-e forces. Major-General 
 Lewis Wallace was detailed by the War Department to assist 
 in the defense of the state. Brigadier-General Milo S. Hascall, 
 then on his way to the front, was ordered by General Burnside 
 to return, and was given the command of the defenses of 
 Indiana. Major-General John L. Mansfield was ordered with 
 the militia to New Albany. Neighboring states were prompt 
 in offering assistance, which was accepted. Within three 
 days there were organized, armed and ready for action 30,000 
 men. 
 
 Since the famous battle of Tippecanoe no military conflict 
 had occurred within the limits of our state, and the fear of such 
 a calamity filled the citizens with alarm. Morgan, after cross- 
 ing the Ohio river, dashed through the southern portion of the 
 state, hotly pursued by our troops. He did not stop to fight, 
 but passing through Corydon, Greenville and Palmyra, reached 
 
HISTORY OF INDIAAA. 187 
 
 Salem, where he captured 350 home guards, tore up the rail- 
 road and burned the town; then on to Lexington, and north 
 and east toward Madison and Vernon, engaging in a few light 
 skirmishes, and destroying the railroads in every direction. 
 Reaching Versailles, Morgan gathered together his detached 
 forces as well as possible, and, closely pursued by the Indiana 
 Legion, made his escape into Ohio. He moved north and east 
 of Cincinnati, but did not attack the city. For about 160 miles 
 General Morgan continued his flight, eluding his pursuers in 
 many critical moments, but was finally captured near New 
 Lisbon, Ohio. 
 
 During this famous raid General Morgan destroyed con- 
 siderable property, but much of the plundering was done in a 
 reckless fashion, which was ludicrous. Families fled terror- 
 stricken into the woods at the approach of his band. One of 
 Morgan's men afterwards said that they found "larders un- 
 locked, fires on the hearths, bread half made up, and the 
 chickens parading about the doors w^ith a confidence that was 
 touching, but misplaced." 
 
 The spring of 1865 witnessed the closing events of the 
 war. On April 5 Lee surrendered to Grant, and, soon after, 
 Johnston to Sherman. The soldiers returned to their homes, 
 and peace again settled over the land which had been so terri- 
 bly stricken by the ravages and devastation of a civil war. 
 
 "The drum beat and the call to arms 
 Were heard no more; 
 Nor groans of wounded, dying men, 
 Nor cannons roar. 
 
188 HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 "Brave hearts had even weary growri 
 Of so much woe — 
 Of shedding blood, where brothers were 
 Each other's foe. 
 
 "The camp-tire and the battle-field 
 Were of the past; 
 The prayed-for, hoped-for dawn of peace 
 • Had come at last." 
 
 (A. L. d 1.; 
 
CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 INDIANA IN THE UNION ARMY. 
 
 Gkn. a. E. Burnside— Manceuvers of General Wallace— Career of 
 Jefferson C, Davis— Robert Huston Milroy — Adventures of A. D. 
 Streight — Gresham as a General — Other Historical Individuals, 
 
 No state had greater cause to feel proud of her soldiers 
 than Indiana, for none fought more bravely, but their services 
 were but meagerly acknowledged in the way of promotions, as 
 the laurel wreath of fame was placed on few brows. 
 
 Perhaps the most distinguished of Indiana^s soldier-sons 
 was General Burnside, whom she claims by right of birth. His 
 
 native place was Liberty, where, 
 on May 23, 1824, he was born 
 in a rude log cabin. He attend- 
 ed the village schools until about 
 seventeen years of age. After 
 learning the tailor's trade, he 
 became a partner in the tirm of 
 " M3'ers & Burnside, Merchant 
 Tailors." General Burnside early 
 manifested an interest in militar\- 
 affairs, and read all the books 
 pertaining to the subject he could obtain. The story is told 
 
 189 ' 
 
 
 /^^t/lyiyL^<:t^c(^ 
 
190 HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 that one day Caleb B. Smith, then congressman from the 
 district, called at the tailor shop to have his coat repaired. He 
 found the young tailor, Ambrose Burnside, " with a copy of 
 ' Cooper's Tactics ' propped up against the goose and kept 
 open with a pair of shears, so that he could study and work at 
 the same time. Some conversation followed, and the congress- 
 man was so impressed by the intelligence and tine appearance 
 of the young man that he sought his appointment as a cadet at 
 the military academy." This effort failed, but young Burnside 
 succeeded in entering the class of 1847, at which time McClel- 
 lan, Hancock, and "Stonewall" Jackson were cadets at the 
 academy. After graduating from West Point, Burnside was 
 sent to Mexico as second lieutenant of the Third artillery. 
 
 But the war with that country was nearly over, and he 
 was soon ordered to the Indian frontier. Having invented a 
 breech-loading rifle, he resigned his commission, that he might 
 superintend its manufacture. At the breaking out of the civil 
 war, Burnside responded to the tirst call for men, and was given 
 command of the First regiment of detached militia from Rhode 
 Island. He commanded a division in the battle of Bull Run, 
 and after his first term of service expired, was commis- 
 sioned a brigadier-general of volunteers. In the fall of 1861, he 
 organized the famous Burnside expedition, of which the war 
 records say: "Defeat never befell it. Its experience was a 
 succession of honorable victories." He was afterward 
 assigned to the army of the Potomac, took part in the battle ot 
 Antietam, and was soon after placed in chief command of that 
 great army. But, the Federal troops suffering a terrible loss in 
 
HISTORY OF INDIANA. 191 
 
 the engagement before Richmond, he was reHeved of the 
 command, and transferred to the department of the Ohio. In 
 1864 Burnside was again attached to the army of the Potomac, 
 under General Grant, and led his corps through the battles of 
 the Wilderness and Cold Harbor, and in the encounters before 
 Petersburg. General Meade preferred charges against General 
 Burnside for disobedience during these last engagements, and 
 ordered a court martial for his trial, but the order was 
 disapproved by General Grant. In 1865 he resigned from the 
 army, and in 1866 was elected governor of Rhode Island, 
 serving three successive terms. In 1875 he was elected to the 
 United States Senate from that state, in which body he served 
 until his death in 1881. 
 
 At the beginning of the war Lew Wallace was appointed 
 adjutant-general of Indiana, but soon withdrew from this 
 position and became colonel of the Eleventh Indiana volunteers. 
 He was a strict disciplinarian; so much so, indeed, that his 
 soldiers and officers at lirst bitterly complained. They after- 
 ward became reconciled to the rigid discipline, however, and 
 the regiment highly distinguished itself. 
 
 Upon Wallace's arrival in Virginia, he immediately planned 
 
 an expedition for his regiment, and assisted in the surprise and 
 
 capture of Romney. Here fell the lirst Indiana soldier, 
 
 William T. Girard. This surprise w^as so skillfully managed 
 
 that General Wallace was commended in special orders by 
 
 General Scott. 
 
 , His three months' term of service having expired, Gen.. 
 
 Wallace immediately offered himself for further service, and 
 114 
 
192 HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 was sent to Paducah, Kentucky. In September of 1861 he 
 became a brigadier-general. In the capture of Fort Donelson, 
 where General AVallace was in command of a division of 
 Grant's army, he displayed such heroic courage as he led his 
 brave men up a cannon-crowned hill, reaching the summit 
 midst the loud cheering of comrades in the rear, that he soon 
 received an acknowledgement in the form of a commission as 
 major-general. After the surrender of the fort General Wallace 
 was the first Federal officer of high rank to enter; and he break- 
 fasted with General Buckner, who had been in command of the 
 Confederate forces, and was an old acquaintance of Wallace's. 
 In the battle of Shiloh, a misunderstanding of orders occurring, 
 Wallace did not arrive in time to take part during the first day, 
 but with his troops rendered valiant aid on the second day of 
 the fight. 
 
 After the surrender of Memphis, General V/allace was 
 placed in command of the city for a short time. When Cin- 
 cinnati was threatened by General Edmond Kirby Smith, its 
 defense was intrusted to Wallace, and successfully conducted. 
 Cincinnati was not captured. In July, 1864, he was defeated at 
 the battle of Monocacy, and subsequently relieved of his com- 
 mand by order of General Halleck, but afterward reinstated by 
 General Grant, who commended him for the service rendered 
 in detaining the enemy. In 18^)5 (at the close of the war) 
 General Wallace was mustered out of volunteer service, and 
 returned to his home at Crawfordsville, to enter upon a brilliant 
 . public and literary career. 
 
 Another Indiana soldier who became prominent was 
 
IJISTORY OF INDIANA. 193 
 
 Jefferson C. Davis, who was born in Clark county, March 2, 1828. 
 He left school at the age of eighteen, to enlist in Colonel Lane's 
 regiment for service in the war with Mexico, For bravery at 
 the battle of Buena Vista, he was commissioned second lieutenant 
 of the First artillery. He served several years on the frontier, 
 and in 1858 was placed in command of the garrison in Fort 
 Sumter, S. C, where he was stationed at the time of the 
 bombardment in 1861, and "was on the ramparts when the 
 tirst shell of the rebellion exploded over the fort." He was 
 promoted to a captaincy in the regular army, and became colonel 
 of the Twenty-second Indiana volunteers. He served with General 
 Fremont in Missouri, and commanded a brigade under Pope 
 when Price's army was pursued through that state. At Milford 
 he assisted in capturing a superior force of the enem}-, for 
 which act he was made a brigadier-general. In the battle of 
 Pea Ridge, he held a point most exposed, and rendered other 
 valiant services in that hard-fought and and hard-won battle. 
 Davis took part in the siege of Corinth, was assigned to the 
 army of the Tennessee, and while stationed at Louisville met 
 and killed General William Nelson in the hall of a Louisville 
 hotel, in retaliation, as was claimed, for personal insult and 
 harsh treatment. General Davis was arrested, but never 
 brought to trial. At Stone river he fought with his usual 
 valor, at the head of his division, and was afterward made 
 major-general. In Sherman's march through Georgia, his 
 division became the advance, and displayed the heroism which 
 had before characterized it. At the close of the war he was 
 appointed colonel of the Twenty-third United States infantry, 
 
194 HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 and made a brevet major-general. He died at Chicago in 
 1879. 
 
 Robert Huston Milroy was made colonel of the Ninth Indiana 
 volunteers at the beginning of the civil war, having served as 
 captain in the First Indiana volunteers in the Mexican war. 
 Milroy was born in Washington county, June 11, 1816, and 
 was a lawyer by profession. He was a member of the 
 convention which framed the state constitution in 185 1. After 
 serving under Generals McClellan and Rosecrans in western 
 Virginia, he was made brigadier-general in 1862, and in 1863 
 received his commission as major-general. For three days 
 General Milroy resisted Lee's entire army near Winchester, 
 W, Va. But his ammunition becoming exhausted, he cut his 
 way out, suffering the loss of large forces. This action was 
 made the subject of investigation. 
 
 The name of A. D. Streight, colonel of the Fift3'-tirst regi- 
 ment, became quite famous, not only on account of the bravery 
 displayed in the expedition he led into western Georgia, but 
 for the way in which he made his escape from Libby Prison. 
 With his force he had been taken prisoner by General Forrest 
 and sent to Libby Prison in Richmond. Captain Anderson of 
 the same regiment was also imprisoned here for eight months, 
 but escaped. Colonel Streight failed in a first attempt, and, 
 being recaptured, was confined in the cellar. He and other 
 prisoners began cutting a tunnel from this cellar, which they 
 finished after three weeks' of hard night work. One hundred 
 and nine prisoners succeeded in squeezing through this tunnel, 
 which was sixty feet long. Colonel Streight, who was among 
 
IIJSrORY OF IX DIANA. 
 
 195 
 
 them, organized the movement. After being concealed eight 
 days in Richmond he made his way to Washington, reaching 
 there March i, 1864. 
 
 Thomas A. Morris, a West Point graduate, was the first 
 brigadier-general appointed from Indiana. General Morris 
 commanded the Federal troops at Phillippi, June 2, 1861, 
 where he surprised and put to flight the enemy. The success 
 of the campaign in western Virginia, during the first months of 
 the war, was very largely due to his skill and prudence. Gen- 
 eral Morris, at the expiration of his term of service, retired to 
 civil life, making no effort to obtain the recognition from the 
 government his services deserved. His friends were indignant 
 that the honors of the victories were not even divided with him, 
 and after considerable effort, succeeded in procuring for him a 
 •commission as major-general, but General Morris declined it. 
 
 In response to the first call for men, Mahlon D. 
 Manson enlisted as a private, although he had served as a 
 •captain in the Fifth Indiana vol- 
 unteers during the war with 
 Mexico. He was very soon 
 made colonel of the Tenth Indi- 
 ana volunteers, and took part 
 in the early campaign in Vir- 
 ginia. In the engagement at 
 Mill Springs, Ky., which occurred 
 in January, 1862, Manson showed 
 such skill and bravery that in the 
 followinfj: March he received a 
 
 M. D. MANSON. 
 
196 
 
 HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 commission as brisradier-crcneral. Tlie followin«j August he 
 was in command of the Federal troops at Richmond, Ky.^ 
 where he was wounded, and taken prisoner, but he was ex- 
 changed tlie next December. lie took a prominent part in 
 the defense of the state during the Morgan raid. He assisted 
 in the siege of Knoxville, Tenn., was appointed to the head of 
 the Twent3'-third army corps, and participated in a number of 
 engagements in that state, being so severely wounded in the 
 battle of Resaca that he was obliged to resign. Since the 
 war, General Manson has served in Congress, and held im- 
 portant state and federal offices. 
 
 Walter Q. Gresham is a native of Indiana, having been 
 born in Harrison county. At the beginning of the war he was. 
 in the legislature, but resigned in August, 1861, to become 
 
 lieutenant-colonel of the Thirtv- 
 eighth Indiana volunteers, being pro- 
 moted to the colonelcy of the Fifty- 
 third regiment the following Dec- 
 ember. General Gresham was with 
 General Sherman at the siege of 
 Vicksburg, and at the battle of Kene- 
 saw Mountain was in command of a 
 division. After the fall, of Vicks- 
 burg he was appointed brigadier- 
 general, and subsequently brevet- 
 ) ^ '^y t/i^/^/x^gi/i^i-x^ 4^^^ major-general. During the 
 
 Atlanta campaign he was severely 
 wounded, and was unable to participate in further active 
 
HISTORY OF INDIANA. 197 
 
 service. But General Gresham's fame does not rest alone on 
 his military career. He is better known as an able lawyer and 
 statesman. He has rendered distinguished service on the 
 bench, and has tilled two cabinet positions — those of postmaster- 
 general ar]d secretary of the treasury, in President Arthur's 
 cabinet. 
 
 There are many other names well deserving a place on 
 Indiana's roll of honor, but the limits of this volume will not 
 permit more than a passing notice. 
 
 Alvin P. Hovey and James Clifford Veatch, both natives of 
 Indiana, were, during the first summer of the war, made colonels 
 of the Twenty-fourth and Twenty-fifth regiments respectively. 
 After the battle of Shiloh, in which they took active part, they were 
 appointed brigadier-generals. For a short tinle General Hovey 
 was in command of Memphis, after its surrender, when he required 
 all male residents of the city, between the ages of eighteen and 
 forty-five, to take the oath of allegiance. Five thousand who 
 refused to do so, he exiled from the city. This measure subjected 
 General Hovey to severe censure. He was subsequently 
 in command of the eastern district of Arkansas, and took part 
 in the battle of Vicksburg. After he resigned in 1865 he was 
 appointed minister to Peru, in 1886 was elected to Congress, 
 and in 1888 was made governor of the state. General Veatch 
 participated in the capture of Fort Donelson, in the sieges of 
 Corinth, Vicksburg and Mobile, and in the Atlanta campaign. 
 Both officers received the brevet of major-general. General 
 Veatch was afterward an adjutant-general of the state and 
 collector of internal revenue. 
 
198 HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 James Richard Slack, a lawyer by profession in Hunting- 
 ton, of which place he was a resident many years, was appointed 
 colonel of the Forty-seventh regiment in September, 1861. His 
 first service was in Kentucky, under General Buell. Most of the 
 engagements in which General Slack participatecj, were in 
 Missouri, where he fought under General Pope. In December 
 of 1864 he was commissioned brigadier-general. In March, 
 1865, he was breveted major-general, and mustered out of the 
 service in Januar}-, 1866, resuming the practice of the law at 
 his old home. He became judge of the twenty-eighth (judicial) 
 circuit. He died suddenly in Chicago in 1886. 
 
CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 RECENT POLITICAL HISTORY. 
 
 The March of Events Since the Close of the Civil War- The Memor- 
 able Campaigns of '76, '80, '84 and 88— Indiana's Part in National 
 Politics— Schuyler Colfax, William H. English and Thomas A. 
 Hendricks— Benjamin Harrison's Nomination and Election as Pres- 
 ident—Administrations OF Baker, Hendricks, Williams, Porter, 
 Gray and Hovey— Latter-Day Giants. 
 
 When Governor Morton was elected to the Senate in 1867 
 Conrad Baker, being Heutenant-governor, became acting 
 governor. He was a man of sterling qualities, and his adminis- 
 tration, which covered a period 
 of fierce political strife, was suc- 
 cessful and popular. In 1868 
 Mr. Baker was nominated by 
 the Republicans for governor, 
 and was elected after an exciting 
 campaign. In the same year an 
 ll Indianian, who had made his 
 mark in national politics — Schuy- 
 ler Colfax — was elected to the 
 vice-presidency. He was the first 
 resident of this state to be honored 
 with a place on the national ticket 
 
 199 
 
 SCHUYLER COLFA.X. 
 
200 HIST J RY OF INDIA NA. 
 
 of either of the great parties. Mr. Colfax had Hved in Indiana 
 since 1836, when, as a lad of thirteen, he came to the state 
 with his parents from New York City, where he was born. 
 He lived at New Carlisle for a time, then for several years 
 on a farm, and at the age of eighteen removed to South 
 Bend, where he kept his residence until his death. Before 
 he reached his majority he displayed a marked fondness for 
 politics, held several clerical positions in the legislature, 
 and was in demand as a stump speaker. At the age of 
 twenty-two he became editor and one of the proprietors of 
 the St. Joseph Valley Register^ a newspaper which he con- 
 ducted with much ability for many years. He was a dele- 
 gate to the Whig national convention, which, in 1848, nom- 
 inated Zachary Taylor for president, and was a member 
 of the constitutional convention of 185 1, in which body 
 he was conspicuous for his advocacy of three negative proposi- 
 tions which prevailed — "No slavery, no imprisonment for debt, 
 no divorce by the legislature." In 1855 he entered Congress 
 as a Whig, and served continuous!}' in that body, the last three 
 terms as speaker, until his election to the vice-presidency in 
 1868. He failed of a renomination in 1872, and retired 
 permanently to private life. During the remaining years of 
 his life he devoted himself to writing and lecturing. jNIr. 
 Colfax possessed many elements of popularity. He was engag- 
 ing in his manners, and had a rare faculty of making and keep- 
 ing friends. He was a polished and graceful public speaker, 
 and an accomplished parliamentarian. Mr. Hendricks said of 
 him: "He was as handsome a young man as I have ever 
 
HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 201 
 
 known, open in his deportment and obliging. He was a rapid 
 and accurate writer, and he spoke with great beauty and 
 fluency. But his industry and public spirit, no less than his 
 exquisite social qualities, endeared him to the people among 
 whom he lived." Mr. Colfax died in 1885. 
 
 During Governor Baker's administration the fourteenth 
 and fifteenth amendments to the constitution of the United 
 
 States were ratified b}' the legislature. 
 There was a heated partisan struggle 
 over the latter. The Democrats and 
 many conservative Republicans regarded 
 it as premature — a view which Governor 
 Morton had himseif entertained when it 
 was first proposed, a few months before. 
 The Democrats opposed it earnestly in 
 the legislature of 1869, because ihe peo- 
 ple of the state had not had an oppor- 
 tunity to express themselves on the question, as it had not been 
 an issue in the campaign of 1868. The Republicans in the 
 legislature, however, were unanimous in its support, and the 
 Democratic senators and members finally resigned in a body 
 in order to prevent its ratification. Writs were issued for a 
 special election to fill the vacancies created by this action. A 
 special session of the legislature was convened. When the 
 amendment was brought up, the Democratic senators and 
 members again resigned, but the presiding officers of the senate 
 and the house ignored their action. The resolution to ratif}' 
 the amendment was voted for in both houses by all the Repub- 
 
 GOV. CONRAD BAKER. 
 
202 
 
 HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 lican members, and declared adopted. In 1870 the Democrats 
 carried the legislature, and an effort was made to reconsider 
 the ratif3'ing resolution. This was done in the senate, but 
 before the house had an opportunity to concur the thirty-six 
 Republican members of that body resigned. The ratifying 
 resolution was held to be valid, notwithstanding the irregularity 
 of the proceedings attending its adoption. 
 
 Mr. Hendricks became governor in 1873. He had then 
 been the leader of his party in Indiana for a number of years, 
 and had long enjoyed a national reputation. 
 
 Thomas A. Hendricks' ancestry was of Scotch and Dutch 
 origin. As early as 1749 the name of Hendricks was con- 
 spicuous in the Province of 
 Pennsylvania. After it be- 
 came a state Abraham Hen- 
 dricks, the grandfather of 
 the late vice-president, was 
 for many years a prominent 
 member of the legislature. 
 John Hendricks married Jane 
 HENDRICKS' BiKTHPLACE. Thompson, aud soon after- 
 
 ward removed to a farm near Zanesville, Ohio, where, in a 
 little log cabin, two sons were born, the younger, Thomas A., 
 on September 7, 18 19. When he was six months old the 
 family moved to Madison, Ind., the home of AVilliam Hendricks, 
 of whom the reader has been told. John Hendricks, the father 
 of Thomas, was known as the founder of Shelbyville, to which 
 place he removed after a two years' residence in Madison. 
 
^^^^A.xyvv/y^ ev><? Jt^-^^M^^^kk eil>^-A t^y^^ 
 
HISTORY OF INDIANA. 203 . 
 
 After living in a log cabin here for a short time Major Hen- 
 dricks — for by this title he was generally known — built 
 a large, substantial brick residence, which, during the many 
 years it served as a family homestead, became famous through 
 southern Indiana for the generous and refined hospitality 
 extended to the frequent and numerous guests. The atmos- 
 phere of this home, where Thomas A. Hendricks spent his 
 childhood and youth, was pervaded by strong religious influ- 
 ences and social refinement. The strength of his mind was 
 early shown. When a boy but nine years old he took opposite 
 views from those of his father in politics, calling himself a 
 Jackson man and a Democrat, while his father was a supporter 
 of Adams. His first school days were spent in a little log 
 cabin. After he had exhausted the educational privileges of 
 Shelby county, he became a student at Hanover, from which 
 college he received his diploma in 1841. 
 
 Upon completing his college course, Mr. Hendricks chose 
 the law for his profession, and after a thorough course of read- 
 ing and study, was admitted to the bar. The first political 
 campaign in which he was a candidate occurred in 1848, when 
 he was elected as representative in the legislature, receiving 
 more than his party vote. In 1850 Mr. Hendricks was chosen a 
 member of the constitutional convention, serving on two commit- 
 tees. His colleague from Shelby county was over seventy years 
 of age, while Mr. Hendricks was but thirty-one. Of this conven- 
 tion he was a strong and capable member, early becoming a 
 leader, to whose judgment and opinion many deferred. In 185 1, 
 Mr. Hendricks was elected to Congress, at which time his career 
 
204 HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 in national politics began. After serving two terms he returned 
 to his home in Shelb3'ville and resumed the practice of law, but 
 was soon appointed by President Pierce commissioner of the 
 general land office, a position entirely unsought and even 
 unthought of. This office he filled four years with great credit. 
 In i860 his party nominated him for governor, but the opposing 
 candidate, Henry S. Lane, was elected. That same year, he 
 removed from Shelbyville to Indianapolis, where he continued 
 the practice of the law. 
 
 From 1863 to 1869 Mr. Hendricks was a member of the 
 United States Senate. He was the acknowledged leader of his 
 party in that body from the moment he entered it until he left 
 it. In 1868 he was a prominent candidate for the Democratic 
 nomination for president. The same year he was again 
 nominated for governor, but was defeated by Conrad Baker, 
 who was afterward his law partner. In 1872 Mr. Hendricks 
 was elected governor. At the Democratic national conventions 
 of 1868 and 1876 he had a strong support for the presidential 
 nomination. In the latter year he was nominated for vice- 
 president on the ticket with Samuel J. Tilden of New York. 
 At the election Tilden and Hendricks received a large majority 
 of the popular vote, but the result in the electoral colleges was 
 disputed, and after a heated controversy, the decision, by a 
 commission created for that purpose, went against the Demo- 
 cratic candidates. In 1884 Mr. Hendricks was again nominated 
 by his party for the vice-presidency. The ticket — Cleveland 
 and Hendricks — was elected, and on March 4 1885, Mr. 
 Hendricks was inducted into office. His death occurred 
 
HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 205 
 
 suddenh', at Indiannpolis, on November 25, 1S85, and was 
 deeply mourned by the country. Mr. Hendricks' remains lie in 
 Crown Hill cemetery, but a few feet from the tomb of his old 
 political adversary, Governor Morton. An imposing monument 
 
 has been erected to his 
 memory on the state-house 
 grounds. Among tlie 
 many tributes paid to his 
 memory is the following, 
 by Hugh McCulloch: 
 
 "Pure in character, faith- 
 ful to duty, courteous in 
 manners, he was higrhlv 
 respected even by the sena- 
 tors from whom in politics 
 he radically differed. Upon 
 the stump he did not excite 
 the enthusiasm of the 
 crowd, nor did he attempt 
 it. His aim was to con- 
 vince and to win. Intelli- 
 gible, earnest, sincere, he rarel}^ failed to impress his own 
 convictions on those who listened to him. Without being 
 an orator, he was one of the most effective speakers of 
 the day. As a law3^er he stood high, both as counsellcr 
 and advocate. His two nominations for vice-president 
 were evidences of the hold which he had upon the 
 
 confidence and respect of his party. Fortunate was it for t:;e 
 15 
 
 HENDRICKS' MONUMENT. 
 
2()i; HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 Democracy that his name was upon the ticket with President 
 Cleveland, and it was his great popularity that insured its 
 success in Indiana and strengthened it in other states. His 
 death was a severe loss, not only to his political friends, but to 
 the whole country." 
 
 In his inaugural address as governor in 1873, Mr. Hen- 
 dricks made an earnest appeal for the reform of the abuses 
 which had crept into popular elections. Some of his recom- 
 mendations were embodied into laws by the legislature of that 
 year, but it was not until several years after his death that 
 such a radical measure of ballot reform as he would have 
 desired became a law. In his final message Governor 
 Hendricks strongly urged the erection of a new state house, 
 which was decided upon two years later. 
 
 In 1875, for the second time, an Indianian was called to 
 the responsible position of speaker of the National house of 
 representatives. The honor was con- 
 ferred upon Michael C. Kerr, an Indiana 
 Democrat, who had served ten years in 
 Congress, and was known to the entire 
 country as an able statesman and a pure f^ 
 man. Mr. Kerr died a few months after 
 he became speaker, at the age of forty- 
 nine. 
 
 In 1876 the political campaign in 
 Indiana was intensely interesting. Tilden 
 and Hendricks carried the state, and James D. Williams, a 
 sturdy representative of the farming element, who from the 
 
 MICHAEL C. KERR 
 
HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 207 
 
 attire he had always worn, was known far and wide as "Blue 
 
 Jeans AVilliams,".was elected governor over Benjamin Harrison. 
 
 Governor Williams had served the people faithfully in both 
 
 houses and in the halls of Congress, and had been actively 
 
 identified for a long period with the 
 agricultural interests of the state. He 
 enjoyed a unique popularity. During 
 his administration the great labor strikes 
 of 1877 occurred, and produced for a 
 few days a ver}' critical situation in 
 Indiana. But happily the emergency 
 passed without any loss of life, or 
 destruction of property in Indiana, 
 although in other states there was much 
 violence and bloodshed and millions of 
 
 dollars worth of property was destroyed. While Mr. Williams 
 
 was governor the act providing 
 
 for the erection of the new 
 
 ■state house was passed. Gov- 
 ernor Williams died shortly 
 
 before the expiration of his term 
 
 at the age of seventy-two, and 
 
 Isaac P. Gray became acting 
 
 governor. 
 
 In 1880, when Indiana was 
 
 again represented on a national 
 
 ticket in the person of William 
 
 H. English, the Democratic can- 
 
 GOV. JAS. D. WILLIAMS. 
 
208 
 
 HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 GOV. ALBERT G. PORTER. 
 
 didate for vice-president, Albert G. Porter was elected gover- 
 nor on the Republican ticket. Governor Porter was a .man of 
 marked ability, and had been conspicuous in the public 
 affairs of the state for many years. He held a high position 
 at the bar, and had served with distinction with Congress. 
 
 His administration as governor was com- 
 paratively uneventful. He was subse- 
 quently appointed minister to Italy by 
 President Harrison. 
 
 Isaac P. Gray, who was elected gov- 
 ernor in 1884, had at that time become 
 widely known as a skillful and aggressive 
 party leader. As governor he showed 
 executive ability of a high order and made 
 so strong an impression upon his party that he proved a 
 formidable candidate for its vice-presidential nomination in 
 1888. The campaign of that year was perhaps the most 
 intense and exciting in the his- 
 tory of Indiana, although polit- 
 ical contests in this state had 
 been for many years — and espe- 
 cially since Indiana had become 
 a "pivot" in national politics — 
 noted for their heat and bitter- 
 ness. The nomination of General 
 Harrison for the presidency by 
 the Republicans, however, added 
 an element of personal interest gov. isaac p. gray. 
 
HISTORY OF lis DIANA. 209 
 
 and "state pride" to this campaign, which had not been 
 present in previous campaigns. The state was canvassed as 
 never before; every vote was struggled for on both sides, as 
 if the result of the contest depended upon it alone; and for 
 months every city, town and village — cverv hamlet and 
 farmhouse in the state— was a center of the most intense 
 political activity. General Harrison carried the state by the 
 very narrow plurality of 2,348 in a total vote of 536,875, 
 and the victory was celebrated by his supporters for da3's 
 and nights after the result became known with the wildest 
 demonstrations of joy. He was the tirst Indianian ever elected 
 to the presidency — indeed, the first ever nominated for that 
 office by a national convention. 
 
 General Harrison came of a family which had been 
 conspicuous in our national history from early days. His 
 great-grandfather, Benjamin Harrison, was one of the signers 
 of the declaration of independence; his grandfather, William 
 Henr}- Harrison, the tirst governor of Indiana and the hero 
 of Tippecanoe, was th6 ninth president of the United States; 
 his father, John Scott Harrison, served two terms in Congress 
 from Ohio. Benjamin Harrison was born at North Bend, 
 Ohio, in 1833; was educated at Oxford, Ohio, and read law 
 at Cincinnati. In 1854 he took up his residence in Indianap- 
 olis, and his tirst earnings were made as crier of the federal 
 court. In i860 he was elected on the Republican ticket as 
 reporter of the supreme court. When the war broke out, 
 however, he organized a regiment, the Seventh Indiana, 
 of which he was appointed colonel, and went to the front. 
 
210 
 
 HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 BENJAMIN HARRISON. 
 
HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 211 
 
 He led his regiment in the battle of Resaea, took part in the 
 Atlanta campaign, was in command for a time of a brigade 
 at Nashville, and served under General Sherman in North 
 Carolina. In recognition of his services he was made a brevet 
 brigadier-general in 1865. After the war he resumed the 
 practice of the law, and speedily reached a place in the front 
 rank of his profession. In 1876 he was the Republican 
 candidate for governor, and in 1881 was elected to the United 
 States Senate, where he served one term. He was a member 
 of the Mississippi river commission for several years. 
 
 On the same day that General Harr 
 rison was elected president General Alvin 
 P. Hovey was elected governor of 
 Indiana. Doubtless the most important 
 event that has occurred in Indiana dur- 
 ing his incumbency was the enactment, 
 by the legislature of 1889, of a law estab- 
 lishing the Australian election system, 
 with some modifications. Indiana was the 
 second state in the Union to adopt this 
 system, which has proved an unqualified success. 
 
 This work has assumed, in some proportions, a bio- 
 graphical character. The writer felt that some knowledge of 
 the antecedents and the characters of the men who did so 
 much to mold the destinies of this great commonwealth, in 
 addition to that which would be imparted by a narrative of 
 the events which are recorded in these pages, would be of in- 
 terest and value to the reader. Some reserve has been exer- 
 
 GOV. ALVIN P. HOVEY. 
 
?12 
 
 HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 cised in speaking of living men, 
 however, for reasons w^hich 
 will be obvious. Little more 
 has been said of them than 
 seemed necessary to fix their 
 
 DAVID TURPIE. 
 
 DANIEL W. VOOKHEES. 
 
 relations to current events. A 
 history of Indiana to the present 
 time would, however, be mani- 
 
 festly deficient which did not 
 contain some mention of such 
 men as Daniel W. Voorhees, 
 Joseph E. McDonald, David Tur- 
 pie, William S. Holman, George 
 W. Julian, Richard W. Thomp- 
 son and William E. Niblack. 
 Mr. Voorhees, who has served 
 longer in the Senate than any of 
 his predecessors . from Indiana, 
 having been appointed in 1877 to 
 
 JOSEPH E. M' DONALD 
 
HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 213 
 
 succeed Senator Morton, and elected for full terms in 1879, 
 1885 and 1 89 1, has from early manhood possessed a national 
 reputation as an orator and an advocate. In the Senate he has 
 
 been a conspicuous figure, and 
 few men of his time have en- 
 joyed a larger personal popu- 
 larity. Joseph E. McDonald 
 served with distinction in both 
 houses .of Congress, was the 
 Democratic nominee for o-qv- 
 ernor of Indiana in 1864, and 
 in 1884 was a prominent can- 
 didate for the Democratic 
 presidential nomination. He 
 had been for many years, one 
 of the most eminent lawyers 
 in the United States, and took 
 
 high rank as a statesman and a 
 
 party leader. He died while 
 
 these pages were going through 
 
 the press (1891) at the age of 
 
 72. David Turpie was a member 
 
 of the United States Senate in 
 
 1863, ^"d in 1887 ^^^ elected to 
 
 that body for a full term after a 
 
 memorable party contest. He is 
 
 a man of rare scholarly attain- 
 ments, and is famous as a lawyer george w. jllian 
 
 WILLIAM S. HOLMAN. 
 
214 
 
 HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 and an orator. Judge William S. llolman has served in- 
 Congress more years than an}' other representative ever elected 
 from Indiana, and has long enjoyed the honorable title of the 
 "watch-dog of the treasury," conferred upon him by common 
 
 consent, in recognition of his earn- 
 est and persistent efforts to protect 
 the people against schemes of job- 
 bery and plunder. George W. 
 Julian served six terms in Congress. 
 He was one of the leading spirits in 
 the great anti-slavery movement,, 
 and was the "free soil" candidate 
 for vice-president in 1852 on the 
 ticket with C h a r 1 c s Francis 
 Adams, of Massachusetts. For 
 /^""Ty ^=3 intellectual power and eloquence 
 
 of speech he has had few superiors 
 among his contemporaries. Rich- 
 ard W. Thompson, the "old man 
 eloquent," has exercised a potent 
 sway with his silver}- tongue over 
 three generations of Indiana j, 
 voters. lie served in Congress 
 two terms, was one of the founders 
 of the Republicjm party, was sec- 
 retary of the navy in the cabinet huoh m'culloch. 
 
HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 215 
 
 of President Hayes, and was sub- 
 sequently president of the Panama 
 Canal Company. William E. 
 Niblack served several terms in 
 Congress, and with great distinc- 
 tion, and for a long period on the 
 supreme bench of Indiana. His 
 rank as a statesman and as a 
 jurist is very high. 
 
 "No state," sa3-s Hugh Mc- 
 Culloch, very truly, "has been 
 
 more prolific of superior men than Indiana; few have been as 
 
 well represented in Congress." 
 
 WILLIAM E. NIBLACK. 
 
CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 RECORD OF MATERIAL PROGRESS. 
 
 The Great Railroad System of Indiana— Its Origin and Development 
 —The First Railroad in the State— How the Advent of the Iron 
 Horse was Celebrated— Introduction of the Telegraph— Indiana's 
 Wonderful Resources— Natural Gas— Great Manufacturing Indus- 
 tries. 
 
 After the close of the civil war, commercial life became 
 very active in Indiana, and an era of growth and prosperity 
 set in. New industries and manufactures were started, and 
 towns, which had been little more than villages, fast developed 
 into cities, and introduced many improvements in the way of 
 paving and lighting streets, building street-car lines, erecting 
 public builings, etc. 
 
 The population, which in 1816, when Indiana was admitted 
 as a state, was not over 70,000, in 1870 was 1,680,637. In 
 1890 the census returns gave it as 2,192,404. 
 
 The rapid material growth and development of the state 
 was due more to the building of railroads than to any other 
 one cause. The first railroad built in Indiana was that between 
 Madison and Indianapolis, which was completed in the year 
 1847. I^ ^^3° ^'-^ railroads — the Lawrenceburg and Indian- 
 apolis, Madison and Indianapolis, New Alban}^ Salem and 
 Indianapolis, Harrison and Indianapolis, Lafayette and Indian- 
 
 216 
 
HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 217 
 
 apolis, and the Ohio and IndianapoHs — were projected. The 
 charters for five of these were signed on February 2, 1832, 
 by Governor Noble. They were private enterprises, and 
 were not carried out for a number of 3'ears, but on some the 
 surveys were made, a Httle grading done and a few embank- 
 ments thrown up, and in later 3'ears railroads were built on 
 all these lines. 
 
 The Lawrenceburg and Indianapolis railroad was to have 
 a capital stock of $500,000, and the incorporators were 
 Nicholas McCarty and William Bl^'the, of Indianapolis; John 
 
 THE FIRST RAILROAD IN INDIANA. 
 
 Walker and Major John Hendricks (father of Thomas A. 
 Hendricks), of Shelby ville; G. H. Dunn and Henr}' A. Reid, of 
 Ripley county, and Nathan D. Gallion and James Freeman, 
 of Decatur. 
 
 In those early days there were men who earnestly and 
 seriously objected to the building of railroads, sincerely and 
 anxiousl}' fearing that the roads would ruin the cities by taking 
 away their trade. A few sages shook their heads and said: 
 "These steam-car men will ruin the whole country. There 
 will be no more use for horses and wagons." But, fortunately, 
 
218 HISTORY^ OF INDIANA. 
 
 there were others of a more enterprising and progressive spirit, 
 who were confident that the roads would prove a great benefit 
 to the state. One of the leaders of this class was John Walker, 
 who declared that he would have a part of the Lawrenceburg 
 and Indianapolis railroad in running order b}' July 4, 1836. 
 The day arrived and he had kept his word, though people 
 listened in vain for the screech of the locomotive. 
 
 " There was a road one and one-quarter miles long, but 
 the rails were of wood. The express car, mail car, baggage 
 car, smoking car, ladies' car, dining car, Pullman's palace car 
 and all the rest were in one, and John Walker had it made 
 in Shelbyville. The locomotives (there were two of them) had 
 each four legs, and were very fond of corn and oats. There 
 was to be a picnic at the other end of the line, with plenty of 
 good things to eat and drink — with good music, good speeches, 
 pretty- girls, strong and handsome boys, and all the old settlers 
 of the country and surrounc^ing regions. The fare was only 
 
 a shilling The morning of the Fourth was 
 
 bright and beautiful A Union Pacific train 
 
 could not have carried all who assembled at the railroad. 
 The locomotives switched — -their tails — awhile. The conductor 
 collected the fare from ' the fair.' The belles rang out their 
 peals of merry laughter, and the train ' pulled out ' on its 
 journey. All day it ran, and away into the night. Nobody 
 who was at that picnic will ever forget it, and men will talk 
 of it so long as they talk of anything. 
 
 " Men shall hear of Walker's railroad 
 For a hundred year." 
 
HISTORY OF INDIANA. 219 
 
 In this same year, 1836, the state took hold of the 
 Madison and IndianapoHs railroad, and in 1839 it was 
 completed to Vernon, a distance of twenty miles, and operated 
 until 1842, when it was sold to the Madison and Indianapolis 
 railroad company. This company completed the road 
 gradually, first to Scipio, then to Clift}^ Creek, then to 
 Columbus, then to Edinburg, then to Greenwood, and finally, 
 in October, 1847, to Indianapolis. 
 
 During its existence, or until it was sold to the Jefferson- 
 ville road, the presidents were Nathan B. Palmer, Samuel 
 Merriir, John Brough, E. W. K. Ellis and F. O. J. Smith. 
 
 The road was a pa3'ing investment, having for several 
 years a monopoly of the railroad business of the state. " No 
 road in any state ever paid so well," we are told. Its 
 approach to the capital was watched with eager delight, and 
 a meeting of the citizens was called to make arrangements 
 for giving the iron horse, which was destined to so completely 
 revolutionize social and industrial conditions, an appropriate 
 and enthusiastic welcome into the city. 
 
 The eventful day arrived and on the forenoon of Octo- 
 ber I the last spike was driven, and two large excursion 
 trains arrived from the south. The first screeches and puffs 
 of the locomotive, and the thunderings of the noisy trains, as 
 they dashed into the city, were greeted with cheers long 
 and loud by the large and enthusiastic crowd which had 
 assembled. From the top of a car Governor V/hitcomb 
 delivered an appropriate address. An immense procession 
 was formed, which was joined by the entire troupe of Spalding's 
 
220 HISTORY OF J N DIANA. 
 
 circus, which was in the city at the time, and in which was 
 a famous bugler, Ned Kendall, and a cavalry company from 
 the country. At night there were fireworks, illuminations 
 and general rejoicings. And as the iron horse found his way 
 into various towns and cities throughout the state, he was 
 welcomed with similar demonstrations of delight. 
 
 The 3^ear following the completion of the first railroad, 
 the telegraph was introduced into the state. The first 
 dispatches were sent from Indianapolis to Richmond on May 
 12, and on the twenty-fourth of that inonth the Indianapolis 
 Sentinel published newspaper dispatches for the first time. 
 It was the first paper in the state to use the telegraph for 
 news purposes. 
 
 But to return to the era following the civil war. The 
 railroad system, whose beginning we have turned aside to 
 trace, now spreads like a network over the state, creating 
 numerous markets for agricultural and manufactured products. 
 In 1 89 1 there were over six thousand miles of railroad in 
 Indiana. 
 
 Between 1865 and 1873 "money" was plenty, speculation 
 was rife, real estate obtained fictitious values, and in due time 
 the inevitable reaction followed. In 1873 a great financial 
 panic swept over the country. Factories closed, railroad build- 
 ing stopped, banks failed, money became scarce, and millions 
 of people were without employment. For six years the entire 
 country suffered from the effects of this financial disaster. But 
 gradually all branches of business revived, and again our state 
 went forward in the work of developing her natural resources, 
 
HISTORY OF INDIANA. 221 
 
 and establishing and increasing her manufacturing and com- 
 mercial interests. 
 
 The natural resources of Indiana are by no means small. 
 In her forests alone there has been, and still is, a mine of wealth. 
 One-half of all the walnut timber used in the entire United 
 States has been supplied by the grand old forests of Indiana. 
 This useful and beautiful wood has been so lavishl}' used that 
 the supply is rapidly becoming exhausted, but there still 
 remains an abundance of other hard woods, such as oak, 
 hickory and hard maple. 
 
 The soil of the valleys, which are chiefly drained by the 
 Wabash river and its tributaries, is wonderfully rich and fertile, 
 producing a great variety of crops. Agriculture is . conse- 
 quently the leading industry of the state. Maize, flax, tobacco 
 and fruits of various kinds are cultivated, and the beautiful 
 hills on the Ohio river are covered with vineyards. But corn 
 and wheat are the great staples of the state. Indiana was in 
 1880 the second wheat-producing state in the Union, and is 
 now only surpassed b}' Illinois and the Dakotas. 
 
 The state also has mineral resources of great value. It is 
 the fourth coal-producing state in the Union. There are 7,770 
 square miles of coal lands, portions of which, in the southern 
 districts, furnish an excellent quality of cannel coal. There are 
 also many quarries of fine building stone, covering an area of 
 more than 200 square miles, and some iron mines. 
 
 To Edward T. Cox, who was appointed state geologist in 
 1869, Indiana is largely indebted for the knowledge and utiliza- 
 tion of her mineral deposits. 
 16 
 
222 . HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 But in 1886 a hitherto unsuspected resource was dis- 
 covered,- which gave a new impetus to manufacturing enter- 
 prises, and has proved a most desirable feature in the domestic 
 economy and comfort of the inhabitants. The first natural 
 gas company was incorporated March 5, 1886, and by the end 
 of the year 1887 about 200 companies had been organized. At 
 this time (1891) there are over 790 gas wells in operation, and 
 twenty-one cities and towns are supplying natural gas to 136 
 manufacturing enterprises. This does not include a large 
 number of towns which use it only for heating and light- 
 ing purposes. Many new factories have been established 
 as a result of this discovery. The cheapness, as well as 
 convenience, of natural gas make it an object to manu- 
 facturers to locate their establishments within the gas 
 territory, which embraces some twenty-three counties, cover- 
 ing an area of 8,654 square miles. The following counties 
 are either in whole or in part within the limits of the 
 natural gas district: Hamilton, Wabash, Tipton, Madison, 
 Grant, Delaware, Randolph, Blackford, Jay, Wayne, Franklin, 
 Dearborn, Henry, Hancock, Decatur, Marion, Rush, De Kalb, 
 Shelby, Jennings, Harrison, Howard, Miami. 
 
 The extensive mineral resources of the state, supplemented 
 by abundant facilities for transportation, have made Indiana 
 the seat of important manufacturing interests. There are 
 wagon works, car wheel shops, woolen mills, electrical works, 
 iron foundries, oil mills, furniture factories, glass works, paper 
 mills, implement factories, etc. The output of the manu- 
 factories exceeds $100,000,000 in value annually. The Stude- 
 
HISTORY OF INDIANA. 223 
 
 baker wagon works at South Bend, the De Pauw plate glass 
 works at New Albany, and the railroad car wheel shops at 
 Fort Wayne, owned by John Bass, are the largest concerns 
 of their kind in the world. 
 
CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 EDUCATION IN INDIANA. 
 
 Origin and Development of the Public School System— The Log 
 schoolhouses of ploneer days — growth of the school fund, now 
 THE Largest in the Country — The Academies, Seminaries and Col- 
 leges OF THE State— The Wonders \Yrought in Half a Century. 
 
 Now that we have sketched the leading events in the his- 
 tory of our state from the time w^hen we found it but a part of 
 a dense, vast forest^ — unbroken, except by Indian footprints — and 
 have also taken a glimpse of her natural resources, and 
 reviewed her material progress, let us survey brie% her intel- 
 lectual and religious development. 
 
 There was a day, perhaps — so we have been told — when 
 there was no honor attached to being a native-born Hoosier. 
 But that time has passed, and Indiana stands to-day in the 
 front rank of states, as regards her schools, her philanthropies, 
 and her literary activities. 
 
 And first let us glance at her schools. Provision for 
 popular education was made in the constitution adopted when 
 Indiana became a state. But few results were realized for 
 many years. With the exception of a few district schools, 
 which were widely scattered, and the founding in 1820 of 
 the Indiana Seminary (which in 1828 became Indiana College) 
 
 224 
 
HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 225 
 
 THF. gCHOOLHOUSE- OLD AND NEW. 
 
226 HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 nothing: was done toward the estabHshment of an educational 
 system until after the adoption of the constitution of 185^1. 
 
 The district school-houses of the early days corresponded 
 with the homes of the settlers. They were built, of course, 
 of rough logs, " the floors laid with puncheon, the doors made 
 of clap-boards hung on wooden hinges, the chimneys built of 
 cat-an-clay, with back wall and jambs. The seats and writ- 
 ing tables were also made of puncheon, and the windows 
 were covered with greased paper instead of glass. The furni- 
 ture consisted of a splint-bottom chair for the teacher, a water 
 bucket, gourd, and some pegs m the wall on which to hang- 
 hats, cloaks and dinner baskets.^'' The qualifications required 
 of a teacher were exceedingly meager. 
 
 On June 4, 1852, "an act to provide for a general and 
 uniform system of public schools " was passed by the legisla- 
 ture, but owing to the fact that it did not make provision for 
 the necessary officers to manage the system, it was not put 
 into operation until April, 1853, at which time the necessar}' 
 change was made. 
 
 This system is the one used in most of the states, and 
 includes ungraded schools for the counties, which are divided 
 into school districts, and graded and high schools for the towns 
 and cities. 
 
 After completing the course in the high school, a scholar 
 is admitted to the State University without examination, the 
 certificate from the high school being sufficient. 
 
 The first state superintendent of public schools was 
 William C. Larrabee, who served two full terms in that 
 
HISTORY OF IS DIANA. 227 
 
 capacity, and had much to do with introducing the present 
 system. 
 
 The permanent school fund of Indiana is larger than that 
 of an}' other state in the Union, being now about $10,000,000, 
 
 The State University had its beginning in the State Semi- 
 nary in 1820, but was not open for the reception of students 
 until May i, 1824, when ten scholars were received. The 
 first professor was Baynard A. Hall, and it is said he was 
 the first man in the state who could read Greek. In 1828 the 
 school w^as chartered as a college, and Andrew W3'lie, D. D., 
 w'as made its first president. 
 
 Dr. David H. Maxwell, for many years president of the 
 board of tmstees, has been called the father of this institution, 
 as he was a most untiring and energetic worker in its estab- 
 lishment. In 1838 it received its charter as a universit}'. It 
 is situated at Bloomington, and the value of its buildings and 
 grounds is estimated at $200,000. Being under control of the 
 state it is of course non-sectarian. 
 
 An educational institution of high repute is the State 
 Normal School at Terre Haute, which began its career in 1870. 
 In this school there is taught not only the elementary course, 
 but an advanced course, which includes all the subjects taught 
 in the high schools. Teachers completing this course are pre- 
 pared for positions in these schools. French and German are 
 given special attention. The new school building is one of the 
 finest in the state, and cost $150,000. At Valparaiso is located 
 the Northern Indiana Normal School, which was organized in 
 1873, but this is a private enterprise. 
 
228 
 
 HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 Another institution supported by the state is the Agri- 
 cultural College at Lafayette. This is connected with Purdue 
 University, but is a part of the state public school system. 
 
 In addition to the excellent advantages afforded the chil- 
 dren by the public school S3'stem there are nineteen universities 
 and colleges in operation. In several of these the tuition is 
 free. Some are non-sectarian, but most of them are denomina- 
 tional, the different denominations providing such schools for 
 the purpose of educating the 3'oung in their respective doc- 
 trines. The Methodist, Presbyterian, Episcopalian, Lutheran, 
 Baptist, Christian, United Brethren and Roman Catholic 
 denominations are represented in these seats of learning. 
 
 The oldest denominational college in the state is Hanover, 
 which was founded by the Presbyterians in 1S27, and chartered 
 
 in 1833. The school was 
 opened with six scholars, 
 in a little log cabin. It is 
 picturesquely situated on 
 the bank of the Ohio at 
 Hanover, a pretty village 
 not far from Madison. 
 The grounds cover about 
 200 acres, and their value, 
 with that of the buildings 
 and apparatus, is esti- 
 mated at about $145,000. 
 HANOVER collec;e, 1S37. rj.^^ faculty uumbcrs thir- 
 
 teen, and the libraries contain from 10,000 to 12,000 volumes. 
 
HISTORY OF INDIANA. 229 
 
 Wabash College, at Crawfordsville, received a charter 
 in 1834, the year following Hanover. Its first school 
 was convened in December, 1S33. Its faculty numbers sixteen, 
 and the value of its real estate, buildings, apparatus and books 
 is about $320,000. These are exclusive of endowments and 
 special funds. Wabash has the largest college library in the 
 state, consisting of about 33,000 volumes. 
 
 De Pauw University, formerly known as Asbury, was 
 organized in 1837, though in 1832 it had opened its doors to 
 the young people as a seminary. Its location is near Green- 
 castle. With the early life of this college we have become 
 somewhat acquainted through its first president, Bishop Simp- 
 son. When he became its president, in 1839, the number of 
 professors, including himself, was four; the students numbered 
 eleven; the sessions were held in a small rented building of 
 two rooms, and there was no endowment. The experience of 
 the Rev. T. A. Goodwin, of Indianapolis, the first graduate 
 from this school, when he journeyed from his home to Green- 
 castle, will serve as an illustration of the obstacles and hard- 
 ships endured by students of those days, when, on the "royal 
 road to learning," or, in other words, when going from their 
 homes to the few scattered schools through the state. In the 
 "Life of Bishop Simpson" we find the following reminiscence: 
 
 " I left Brookville Wednesday at noon, expecting to reach 
 Greencastle by Friday night. The first seventeen miles were 
 traveled in a two-horse coach. It had been raining for two 
 weeks. There were no turnpikes then in Indiana. We were 
 six hours in reaching Bulltown. From that place to Indian- 
 
230 HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 apolis the coach that had been running three times a week 
 had been taken off on account of bad roads, and a two-horse 
 wagon, without cover or springs, had been substituted. In 
 this, before daylight, we started, hoping to make Indianapohs, 
 fifty-three miles distant, before the stage west should leave 
 at ten that night. But we failed. It rained all day, and 
 Rush county roads were at their worst. The corduroy was 
 afloat in many places, and the creeks, and rivers, unbridged, 
 were bank-full. Night overtook us about ten miles from 
 Indianapolis, and it was dark as pitch. About eight o'clock 
 our wagon broke down, six miles from Indianapolis, in the 
 middle of a mud-hole. We were half a mile from any house 
 and without a particle of light. We soon discovered that 
 the wagon could go no further. There were three of us — the 
 driver, an agent of the stage line, and myself. The only 
 baggage was my trunk and the mail pouch. After considering 
 the situation, it was determined that the driver should ride 
 one horse, without a saddle of course, and carry my trunk 
 before him; the stage agent should ride the other, and carry 
 the mail pouch before him and me behind him. B}' this 
 conveyance I made my first entrance into Indianapolis, about 
 eleven o'clock, the first Thursday night of November, 1S37. 
 The town was fast asleep, and hence our procession down 
 Washington street, single file, the driver in the lead, with 
 my trunk before him, created no marked sensation, and no 
 mention of it was made in the city papers next morning. 
 As the stage for St. Louis had been gone an hour or more, 
 nothing could be done but to wait a da}'." This Mr. Goodwin 
 
HISTORY OF INDIANA. 231 
 
 did, and finished the journey under equally disagreeable and 
 uncomfortable conditions, reaching Greencastle four days after 
 leaving home. The struggling little school to which he made 
 this memorable journey now has a faculty of over fifty mem- 
 bers, an attendance of over a thousand students, a library of 
 ii,ooo volumes, and a large endowment, $240,000 of 
 which was given at one time by Washington C. De Pauw, 
 of New Albany, whose name the university now bears. The 
 value of the grounds, buildings and equipments is estimated 
 at about $210,000. 
 
 One of the largest educational institutions in the state is 
 Notre Dame, a Roman Catholic university. It was founded 
 b}' the Very Reverend Edward Sorin, superior general of the 
 congregation of the Holy Cross, in 1S42, and received jts 
 charter in 1844. In 1879 many of its builings were destroyed 
 by fire, since which time about $750,000 have been expended 
 for buildings and improvements. The value of the buildings 
 and equipments is now estimated at $1,000,000, while the 
 grounds are worth $100,000. The university is located at 
 South Bend, and has a faculty of forty-nine members, between 
 600 and 700 students, and a library of over 25,000 volumes. 
 
 About one mile from Notre Dame University is situated 
 the St. Mary's Academy for girls. Its site was selected by 
 the founder of Notre Dame, and is on the beautiful banks of 
 the St. Joseph's river. The school was established in 1855, 
 has commodious buildings, and is well equipped for instruction 
 in the various branches of an English and classical education. 
 
 Butler University is situated about four miles from 
 
232 HISTORV OF JXOlAyA. 
 
 Indianapolis, at Irvington, and is open to all without distinc- 
 tion of race, color or sex. It was chartered in 1850, but was 
 not prepared to receive students until 1855. For many years 
 it was known as the Northwestern Christian University, but 
 in 1877 it took its present name, in honor of Ovid Butler, 
 who ga\'e more largely of his time and thought and money 
 to its upbuilding than did an}' other person. Its chair of 
 English literature was tilled for many 3ears by Miss Catherine 
 Merrill, a noble woman whose name is a household word 
 throughout Indiana. The value of the grounds and buildings 
 is about $125,000. The library contains about 6,000 volumes, 
 and the faculty comprises thirteen members, besides four 
 tutors. The attendance averages nearl}- 250. 
 
 One of the most prominent educational institutions in the 
 state is Purdue University at Lafayette. It had its origin 
 in an act of Congress, passed in July, 1862, but not until 
 1875 was its career of usefulness begun, when sixty students 
 were admitted to its privileges. This number has increased 
 to 500, and there is an endowment fund of $340,- 
 000. John Purdue, of Lafayette, for whom the university is 
 named, contributed $150,000 of this amount. Purdue is an 
 industrial school, and includes the departments of agriculture, 
 mechanics, mining and engineering, industrial art, and 
 military science. 
 
 At Terre Haute is located a school unique in its character, 
 as it is the only school in the west which provides facilities 
 for the advanced courses in mechanical engineering. This 
 school is called the Rose Polytechnic Institute, and was organ- 
 
• HISIORY OF INDIANA. 233 
 
 ized in 1875. It has a productive fund of at least $500,000, 
 the gift of Chauncey Rose, who previously erected the buildings, 
 and equipped the college entirely at his own expense. He was 
 one of the greatest benefactors Indiana has ever had, his gifts 
 to the Providence Hospital, the Free Dispensary, the Rose 
 Orphan Asylum, and other worthy objects in Terre Haute and 
 its vicinity, amounting to over $1,000,000. 
 
 About four miles from Terre Haute is located St. Mary's 
 Academic Institute, a Roman Catholic seminary for g'rls. It 
 was founded in 1840 by the Sisters of Providence from Ruille, 
 France, and is said to have one of the finest academic buildings 
 in the United States. 
 
 One of the largest and best equipped colleges under the 
 supervision of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the United 
 States, is Concordia College, located at Fort Wayne. It 
 was organized in 1839 and chartered in 1848; has extensive 
 grounds and buildings, a fine library and large faculty, and is 
 doing a great work. 
 
 In addition to the colleges and schools named in the fore- 
 going, are many other worth}' institutions of learning, which 
 are doing their part to keep Indiana in the future in the front 
 rank of civilization. 
 
 In 1889 there were 9,928 school buildings in Indiana, of 
 which fifteen were of log, eighty-five of stone, 3,691 of brick, 
 and 6,137 o^ frame. The total enrollment in the free schools 
 was 514,463. 
 
 With all these facilities for acquiring, not only a public 
 school education, but for follovv'ing. advanced courses of instruc- 
 
234 HISTORY OF INDIANA. * 
 
 tion; with halls of learning so free and accessible, it is not 
 strange that Indiana is so rapidly becoming famous as a center 
 of great literary activity. 
 
 A half century has worked wonders in the intellectual 
 as well as in the material development of Indiana. In 1841 
 one-seventh of the adults of Indiana could neither read nor 
 write. Now the percentage of illiteracy is among the lowest 
 in the United States, while Indiana's capital is recognized as 
 the literary center of the west. 
 
CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 INDIANA'S LITERARY HISTORY. 
 
 A Record of Notable Achievements in Fiction, Poetry, History and 
 Belle Letters— Lew Wallace and his Masterpiece, "Ben Hur "— 
 James Whitcomb Riley, the "Hoosier Poet"— Maurice Thompson, a 
 Many-Sided Genius— The Egglestons, Joaquin Miller and Other 
 Celebrated Indiana Writers. 
 
 "People that are busy in cutting down forests and build- 
 ing new towns have no time to write books or paint pictures." 
 These achievements must come in the later years of a state's 
 history, after much of the drudgery of la3'ing the foundation of 
 a new commonwealth has been done. For such work brave, 
 enterprising and progressive citizens are needed, and able, far- 
 seeing statesmen. These the state was fortunate in possessing 
 when they were most needed. But of late years a new luster 
 has been shed upon the name of Indiana from the departments 
 of literature and science. 
 
 Lew Wallace, Maurice Thompson, James Whitcomb 
 Rile}^ Sarah T. Bolton, David Kirkwood and the Owens are 
 names that any state might be proud to own. We can also 
 justly claim the Egglestons and Joaquin Miller, for they are 
 native-born Floosiers. 
 
 The little village of Vevay is the birthplace of the Eggles- 
 ton brothers, and here Edward lived until manhood, when he 
 
 235 
 
236 
 
 HISTORY OF IXD'AXA. 
 
 became a Methodist clergyman. On account of ill health he 
 went to Minnesota. At thirty he entered upon his literary 
 career, and was associated with various newspapers and maga- 
 zines in different parts of the country. For several years he 
 was literary editor of the New York Independent, becoming its 
 
 managing editor 
 when Theodore 
 Tilton withdrew. 
 Subsequently Mr. 
 Eggleston was edi- 
 tor of Hearth and 
 Home, and for sev- 
 eral years pastor 
 of the Church of 
 Christian Endeav- 
 or in Brooklyn. 
 But failing health 
 obliged him to give 
 up pastor ial work, 
 which he did in 
 1879, going to his home— OwFs Nest on Lake George— and 
 devoting himself to literature. Not only are we interested in 
 the author because he is one of Indiana's sons, but because we 
 find in several of his works vivid pictures of early life in the 
 Hoosier state. "The Circuit Rider'' and "The Iloosier 
 School Master" are among his best-known works, both of 
 which portray life in the pioneer days of Indiana. Edward 
 Eggleston has contributed largely to the enjoyment and prodt 
 
 EDWARD EGGLESTON. 
 
HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 237 
 
 of young people in " School-master's Stories for Boys and 
 Girls," "The Hoosier Schoolboy," and a juvenile "History of 
 the United States." 
 
 George Gary Eggleston spent his early life in Indiana, and 
 
 was a student at De Pnuw university. Subsequently going to 
 
 Virginia, he entered the Confederate army, servino: as a private 
 
 17 ./' & r 
 
238 
 
 HISTORY OF li\ DIANA. 
 
 during the civil war. At its close he became a journalist, and 
 succeeded his brother as editor of Ileayth and Home. He has 
 been a prolific magazine writer. On the list of his published 
 books appear a number for young people, among them "Cap- 
 tain Sam," "The Big Brother," "The Signal Boys," and "The 
 Wreck of the Red-Bird." 
 
 The name of Joaquin Miller is universally associated with 
 the Rocky Mountain region, where most of his life has been ' 
 spent. ^Nlany of his poems are vivid pictures of the rough, 
 wild and romantic life of the miners' camps of those rugged 
 mountains, and the cattle ranches of the western plains. But 
 he was born in the Wabash district of this state, where he 
 lived until about thirteen years of age. 
 
 Some one has said that "Indiana has had the honor of 
 producing the author of the greatest novel of the latter half 
 of the nineteenth century." The novel referred to is " Ben 
 
 Ilur." The versatility of Lew 
 Wallace's genius is quite phe- 
 nomenal. Distinguished as a sol- 
 dier and a diplomat, excelling as 
 an artist, his greatest fame has 
 been won in literature. His na- 
 tive place is Brookville, Franklin 
 county, where he was born April 
 lo, 1827. His mother was the 
 daughter of the eminent Judge 
 Test. She died when Wallace 
 <pCj2,-v>nj yYcK-llX^Kjti^ . was ten years of age. As a child 
 
HISTORY OF INDIANA. 239 
 
 Lew Wallace was somewhat intractable. The restraints and 
 routine of the school-room were very distasteful to him. His 
 father, Governor David Wallace, used to say that he had "paid 
 Lewis' tuition for fourteen years, and he had never gone to 
 school one." He was for a brief period an attendant at 
 Wabash College, Crawfordsville. His talent for sketching 
 was very pronounced, and while a child he indulged freely 
 in "clever caricatures of his school-master and school- 
 mates on scraps of paper, bits of wood, and the fly-leaves of 
 his otherwise unused school-books. He wore in those days a 
 white oil-cloth cap, and when taken to church against his will, 
 embellished the crown of it with faithful sketches of the 
 preacher and of members of the congregation whose peculiari- 
 ties happened to attract his attention." Beautiful oil paintings 
 in the possession of friends, and a realistic picture called "The 
 Dead Line," hanging in the armory of the Terre Haute Light 
 Guards, attest his talent as an artist. But it was not in this 
 field that his laurels were to be won. 
 
 In boyhood his health was delicate, and he was sent into 
 the country, where he closely studied nature and read a great 
 many books. He passed most of his time in fishing, reading 
 and dreaming, finding in his books and his fertile imagination 
 a companionship which he usually preferred to that of boy 
 friends. When war was declared with Mexico Lew Wallace 
 was but nineteen years of age, and was reading law in Indian- 
 apolis He enlisted in our army, and was soon appointed a 
 flrst lieutenant. His military career has been traced in another 
 chapter. While serving in Mexico, he saw many remains of 
 
240 HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 the ancient civilization of that country, which kindled his 
 imagination and suggested to his mind the romance which 
 was afterward embodied in "The Fair God," his first notable 
 literary production. But twenty years passed before the book 
 was completed, during which time there were seven years that 
 the manuscript was untouched. 
 
 It was also while in Mexico that Lew Wallace learned, 
 through a comrade, of Sarah Elston of Crawfordsville, who 
 became his wife. She has also gained some repute as a 
 writer, and, being a lover of books and literary pursuits, 
 she has proved a congenial and helpful companion to her 
 husband. 
 
 During the administration of President Hayes, General 
 Wallace was appointed governor of New Mexico. During 
 his residence in Santa Fe, in the old palace of the Pueblos, he 
 finished writing "Ben Hur." When General Garfield became 
 president, he appointed General Wallace minister to Turkey, 
 where he became a great favorite with the Sultan. After a 
 change of administration General Wallace returned to this 
 country, since which time he has devoted himself to literary 
 pursuits. 
 
 As we enter the realm of poetr}^, such a chorus of song- 
 sters greet us that it is with difficulty we are able to choose 
 those most worthy of notice in this little volume. We have 
 many sweet singers, who have only local reputations, whose 
 heart melodies are chaste and beautiful. They have con- 
 tributed to newspaper and magazine literature, but have never 
 preserved their work in permanent form. 
 
HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 241 
 
 Before the forests were felled, they were musical with the 
 melody of birds, whose voices now are hushed forever. But in 
 those early days were other singers, the echoes of whose 
 thoughts and inspiration still reach us. Among them was 
 Sarah T. Bolton, whose name is perhaps more widely known 
 than that of any other Indiana verse writer. She has been 
 
 aptly called the "poetess of Indi- 
 ana." She was born in Kentucky 
 in 1 8 14, but came to this state 
 when a little girl, and it has been 
 her home ever since. She spent 
 several years abroad, accompany- 
 ing her husband, the late Nathan- 
 iel Bolton, an accomplished and 
 scholarly man, who was consul to 
 Geneva, Switzerland, for several 
 years. Previous to that time they 
 suffered many reverses, and for several years had a hard 
 struggle with poverty. She is now in the decline of life, but 
 her muse is young and vigorous, and still pours forth the music 
 of her soul. Her poems have been collected and published in 
 a finely-illustrated volume. Her poem "Indiana" is a noble 
 tribute to a noble commonwealth. 
 
 Louisa M. Chitwood, who was born and educated at Mt. 
 Carmel, did not live to fulfill the brilliant promise of her early 
 life, as she died at the age of twenty-three. But such was the 
 merit of her poems that George D. Prentice, her friend and 
 admirer, collected them after her death, and published them 
 
 SARAH T. BOLTON. 
 
242 HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 in a little volume. The " Graves of the Flowers " is one of 
 her sweetest, tendercst songs. 
 
 Judge Biddle, of Logansport, has been prominent as a 
 lawyer, has written treatises on scientific subjects, and has 
 also contributed to the poetical literature of the state. He 
 is a native of Ohio, but removed to Logansport in youth, 
 engaging in the practice of the law. 
 
 Although John B. Dillon wrote a number of excellent 
 poems — that entitled "The Burial of the Beautiful" being the 
 first to attract attention — he is much better known as an his- 
 torian. The first history of our state was his production, 
 Dillon was a Virginian by birth, a printer by trade, and a 
 self-educated man. For many years he was state librarian, 
 and afterward secretary of the State Historical Society. 
 
 Lee O. Harris has written much over the 9WJ/i de -phime 
 of Larry O'Hannegan. Many of his poems have appeared in 
 the Indianapolis Sentinel. He has been a writer since boyhood. 
 In 1880 he founded the Home and ScJiool Visitor. Harris is 
 also the author of an admirable prose work, entitled "The 
 Man Who Tramps." 
 
 With the literar}' development of the state, the name of 
 Richard Lew Dawson has been prominently connected. The 
 call for the organization of the Western Association of Writers 
 in 1886 was issued by him. This was the first organization 
 of the kind in the United States. Although engaged in com- 
 mercial pursuits, he finds time to write poems, sketches and 
 plays. He made the acquaintance of the reading public 
 through the columns of the Indianapolis Sentinel. His style 
 
HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 243 
 
 is lyrical and humorous. Man}' of his best poems are written 
 in Iloosier dialect. 
 
 A volume of poems of rare merit, entitled "Rosemary 
 Leaves," is the product of Mrs. D. M. Jordan's pen. She is 
 a humorous as well as a pathetic writer. Her home is Rich- 
 mond, where, for more than ten years, she was one of the 
 editors of the Richmond Independent. 
 
 Benjamin S. Parker is the author of a volume of poems, 
 entitled "A Cabin in the Clearing," which contains many 
 creditable verses, some of them picturing with fidelity and 
 sympathy certain picturesque and dramatic phases of pioneer 
 life in Indiana. 
 
 But the most truly popular poet of Indiana is James Whit- 
 comb Riley, whose fame is not bounded by the limits even of 
 our own land, but has extended beyond the seas. He has 
 
 been called " the leader of con- 
 temporary writers of American 
 verse," and is familiarly known as 
 the "Hoosier poet." He was born 
 in Greenfield about 1852, and his 
 father was an attorney. Riley left 
 school at an early age, preferring 
 a wandering life of adventure and 
 change to the routine of a school- 
 room. He supported himself by 
 painting signs, and his name can 
 still be seen on some of the Green- 
 
 JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY. 
 
 field sisfns 
 
 \\\\^ 
 
 While following this business he would sometimes 
 
244 
 
 HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 feign blindness that he might obtain more patronage. Tiring 
 of this vagabond hfe, Rile}' became a member of a theatrical 
 troupe, recast several plays, and improvised songs. 
 
 About 1875 ^^^ began contributing dialect verses to the 
 Indianapolis yonrmil^ wliich were reproduced in eastern papers, 
 and soon won for him a wide reputation. Among his pub- 
 lished volumes are "The Boss Girl and Other Sketches," 
 "Character Sketches and Poems," "Afterwhiles," "Pipes o' 
 Pan and Tewksbury," and "Rhymes for Childhood." This 
 last title indicates a line of work in which the poet has won 
 special renown — the delineation of juvenile character. He is a 
 man of rare genius, and his fame is a source of pride to every 
 Indianian. 
 
 Among the literar}' men of the state, Maurice Thompson 
 tills a conspicuous place, but he is such a many-sided genius 
 that we hardly know where to class him. 
 
 He has been called the "poet naturalist of the west," and 
 
 it has been said of him, "that he 
 sees as a naturalist, imagines as a 
 poet, and paints as an artist." 
 
 The stud}' of nature has 
 been a life-long pleasure for him, 
 as, even when a boy, it was his 
 chief delight. With the nature 
 and habits of bird life Maurice 
 Thompson has gained an intimate 
 acquaintance, and in this depart- 
 ment of science none rank higher 
 
 MAURICE THOMPSON. 
 
HISTORY OF INDIANA. 245 
 
 in the state. He is a native Indianian, but early removed 
 with his parents to the south, Hving several years in 
 Georgia. He was carefully educated by private tutors, and 
 served through the civil war in the Confederate army. 
 At the close of the war he returned to Indiana, became 
 a civil engineer, then a lawyer, served in the legislature, and 
 subsequently became state geologist and chief of the depart- 
 ment of natural history, in which capacity he rendered im- 
 portant services. A long list of published volumes attests his 
 industr}/ and his versatilit}'. Among them are "Sylvan 
 Secrets," "Hoosier Mosaics," "The Witchery of Archery," 
 "The Boys' Book of Sports," "By- Ways and Bird Notes," "A 
 Fortnight of Folly," and "The Story of Louisiana," in the 
 " Commonwealth Series." He is also literary editor of the 
 New York Independent. His home is at Crawfordsville. 
 
 John Clark Ridpath was born in Putnam county, April 26, 
 1840. He was not satisfied with an education obtained from 
 the county schools alone, and, teaching for a while to enable 
 him to pursue a college course, he entered De Pauw Uni- 
 versity, where he graduated with the highest honors of his 
 class. He was subsequently made professor of English litera- 
 ture at De Pauw, and afterward became its vice-president. 
 From the University of Syracuse, N. Y., Professor Ridpath 
 received the degree of LL.D. He is the author of several 
 standard school histories, a "Monograph on Alexander Hamil- 
 ton," a "History of Texas," a "Cyclopaedia of Universal 
 History," and a number of other works, being a prolific as 
 well as a popular writer. 
 
246 HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 J. P. Dunn, secretary of the Indiana Historical Society, is 
 the author of the " History of Indiana," in the commonwealth 
 series, and "Massacres of the Mountains." Both works are 
 recognized as authorities upon their respective subjects, and 
 embody the fruits of original research, while their literary 
 merits are exceptional. 
 
 There are still other writers who are well known, but to 
 whom Indiana is not generally supposed to have any claim. 
 Among them are Mrs. Rose Hartwick Thorpe, the author of 
 "Curfew Must not Ring To-night," who was born at Misha- 
 waka, in this state; Mrs. Rebecca Ruter Springer, whose 
 native place is Indianapolis; Mrs. Alice Williams Brotherton, 
 born at Cambridge; and Mrs. Constance Faunt Le Roy 
 Runcie, a musical composer as well as a verse writer, who is a 
 native of Indianapolis, and a grand-daughter of Robert Dale 
 Owen, and Colonel John Hay, whose name is so familiar to 
 the reading public as one of the writers of " The Life of Lin- 
 coln," published in the Century Magazine., and also as the 
 writer of "Little Breeches" and other verse. Colonel Hay 
 was born in Salem. 
 
CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 INDIANA'S WORK IN SCIENCE. 
 
 A Record of Notable Achievement— The Fruitful Labors of Three 
 Distinguished Brothers, Robert Dale Owen, David Dale Owen and 
 Richard Owen-Kirkwood, the Eminent Astronomer ; Jordan, an 
 Authority on Natural History, and Coulter, the Botanist-An 
 Array of Great Names. 
 
 On the long list of Indiana ^s distinguished literary and 
 scientific men appear the names of three brothers— Robert 
 Dale Owen, celebrated as a progressive and able politician, 
 as well as a prolific writer, and David Dale and Richard 
 Owen, eminent in the world of science. 
 
 The three brothers were natives of Scotland. Having 
 prepared for college they were sent to Hafwyl, near Berne, 
 Switzerland. During the years 1827 and 1828 they became 
 citizens of the United States, following their father to New 
 Harmonic. 
 
 In 1835 Robert Dale Owen was elected to the state 
 legislature, where he served three terms. It was largely due 
 to his efforts, while a member of that body, that one-half of 
 that part of the surplus revenue of the United States that 
 had been appropriated to Indiana was set apart for the sup- 
 port of public schools. He also introduced the bill giving 
 married women the right to hold property. In 1843 Robert 
 
 247 
 
248 HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 Dale Owen was elected to Congress by the Democrats. He 
 represented his district in that body two terms. He intro- 
 duced the bill which provided for the organization of the 
 Smithsonian Institution, and was made chairman of the select 
 committee on that subject, having as a colleague John Quincy 
 Adams. He was afterward appointed one ©f the regents of 
 the Smithsonian, as well as chairman of its building committee. 
 He was a leading member of the convention which remodeled 
 the state constitution in 185 1. In the same year he again 
 became a member of the legislature, and in 1855 was 
 appointed minister to the Neapolitan government, having 
 acted as charge d'affaires at Naples for two years. 
 
 A letter written by Robert Dale Owen to President 
 Lincoln during the civil war, advocating as it did the eman- 
 cipation of the slaves " as a measure sanctioned alike by the 
 laws of war and by the dictates of humanity," had, so 
 Salmon P. Chase said, " more effect in deciding the president to 
 make the proclamation than all the other communications 
 combined." A number of Mr. Owen's addresses on political 
 subjects were published in pamphlet form, and widely circu- 
 lated by leagues of eastern cities. A discussion with Horace 
 Greeley on the subject of divorce, published in the New York 
 Tribune^ and afterward put in pamphet form, had a circula- 
 tion of 60,000 copies. But it was not alone on political 
 questions that Robert Dale Owen's pen was employed. 
 His published works cover a wide range. Among them are 
 *' Moral Physiology," "Discussion with Origen Bachelor on 
 the Personality of God and the Authorit}^ of the Bible," 
 
HISTORY OF INDIANA. 249 
 
 "Pocahontas — A Drama," "Hints on Public Architecture," 
 " Footprints on the Boundary of Another World," " Beyond 
 the Breakers," " Debatable Land Between this World and 
 the Next," and " Threading My Way," an autobiography. 
 Mr. Owen was a spiritualist and the last three works named 
 pertain to that subject. He died at his summer home on 
 Lake George, N. Y., June, 1877. He bore the title of LL. 
 D., conferred upon him by the State University in 1872. 
 
 David Dale Owen was an eminent geologist. After 
 devoting several years, both in this country and Europe, to 
 the study of geology and natural history, he was employed 
 in 1837 by the legislature of Indiana to conduct a geological 
 survey of the state. In 1839 he was appointed geologist by 
 the United States government, with instructions to examine 
 the mineral lands of Iowa. This was one of the first geo- 
 logical investigations conducted by the national government. 
 In 1849 h^ "^^^ similarly employed in Minnesota, $40,000 
 being appropriated for the work by the government. The 
 results of these examinations were published after each explor- 
 ation. 
 
 The geological examinations of David Dale Owen were 
 rendered more thorough and satisfactory by the fact of his 
 being able as a chemist to analyze minerals and wtaers. He was 
 also a naturalist and artist, and accompanied his reports with 
 descriptions of fossils new to science, and sketches of scenery, 
 rock strata, etc., and maps. After serving the states of Ken- 
 tucky and Arkansas as state geologist, he was, in 1859, 
 appointed to the same position in Indiana; but dying at his 
 
250 HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 home in New Harmonie in i860, his brother Richard was 
 chosen to fill his place. The laboratory and museum of David 
 Dale Owen was considered one of the best in the country. His 
 collection of specimens was purchased by the State University 
 at a cost of $20,000. 
 
 Richard Owen, also an eminent geologist, was the author 
 of a "Key to the Geology of the Globe," and of many instruc- 
 tive scientific articles published in magazines. His numerous 
 reports, especially those relating to the geological surveys of 
 Indiana, Minnesota, New Mexico, Arizona and North Carolina 
 are of great value and interest to the world of science. In the 
 Mexican war he served as captain of the Sixteenth United 
 States infantry, and was a lieutenant-colonel of volunteers in 
 the civil war. While professor of natural sciences in the West- 
 ern Military Institute of Kentucky he received the degree of 
 M.D. from a Nashville medical college. Richard Owen served 
 for a short time as state geologist of Indiana, but most of his 
 service to the state was rendered while acting as professor in 
 Indiana University — first of natural philosophy and chemistry, 
 and later of natural science and chemistry. After being thus 
 connected with the university for fifteen years he resigned, and 
 devoted his time to scientific research and investigation. In 
 187 1 he was made LL.D. by Wabash College. He was 
 considered the greatest authority on the subject of earth- 
 quakes. Accidentally taking a dose of poison, while 
 engaged in chemical experiments in his laboratory, he died 
 from its effects March 25, 1890, at his home in New Harmonie. 
 
 During the lifetime of these remarkable brothers, this 
 
HISTORY OF INDIANA. 251 
 
 village was considered the "Mecca for all scientific travelers in 
 America." Few ever came to this country from abroad who 
 did not wend their way to the home of this celebrated group. 
 
 Of the living scientists, Drs. Kirkwood and Jordan and 
 Professor Coulter are the most distinguished. Their fame is 
 not bounded by the limits of the state, but extends through the. 
 scientific circles of the world. David Kirkwood's birth-place 
 was Bladenburg, Md. In early life his educational advan- 
 tages were limited, but he was a natural student, and in 1856, 
 such were his scholarly attainments, that he was called to fill 
 the chair of mathematics in Indiana University. This position 
 he occupied until 1886, with the exception of two years, during 
 which time he served Washington and Jefferson College, Pa., 
 in the same capacity. While there the degree of A.M. was 
 conferred upon him by that college, and that of LL.D. by the 
 University of Pennsylvania. The stars and the planets have 
 been his favorite study, and he has solved many of the myste- 
 ries of the heavens. Professor Kirkwood has contributed a 
 large number of able papers on astronomical subjects to the 
 scientific journals of this country and Europe. In 18S6 he 
 resigned his position in Indiana University, and three years later 
 removed to Riverside, Cal., making that the home of his declin- 
 ing years. 
 
 Professor David Starr Jordan, while a boy, was very fond 
 of studying nature, early in life becoming a botanist. It was 
 to develop and gratify this taste that he entered upon a college 
 course at Cornell University, where, in 1S72, he graduated 
 with the degree of M.S. In after years he received from the 
 
252 HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 Indiana Medical College the degree of M.D.; from Butler Uni- 
 versity that of Ph.D., and from Cornell University that of 
 LL.D. From the time that he completed his college course he 
 was associated with various schools and universities as instructor 
 in natural sciences. For four years he was professor of biolog}' 
 in Butler University, and for six years occupied the same chair 
 in the Indiana University, becoming president of the latter 
 January i, 1885. Professor Jordan has visited Europe four 
 times for study in the London and Paris museums, and has 
 been engaged in many of the investigations made by the United 
 States government in the interest of science. The fish of North 
 America have been the subjects of his special study, and over 
 250 papers regarding them have been published from his pen. 
 A large manual bearing the title, "Fishes of North America,'^ 
 is also his work. Professor Jordan is now president of the 
 great Leland Stanford, Jr., University of California, which has 
 an endowment of ^20,000,000. 
 
 Professor John M. Coulter has devoted a great deal of 
 time to the floral kingdom, and is our leading botanist. Pie 
 has been called "the most celebrated Chinaman in North 
 America," as he was born in China, though of American 
 parents. Professor Coulter was educated at Hanover and 
 Harvard, is editor of the Botanical Gazette^ and has published 
 "Manual of Botany of the Rocky Mountains," and other works 
 on the subject of flowers. In 1891 he succeeded Professor 
 Jordan as president of Indiana University. 
 
 A large group of scientists are engaged in the study 
 of our minerals, our birds, our flora, and even our rep- 
 
HISTORY OF INDIANA. 253 
 
 tiles. A passing notice of those best known may not be unin- 
 teresting. 
 
 B. W. Euermann, professor of natural science in the State 
 Normal School, has made a careful study of bird life and bird 
 nature, and has written much on the subject. Professor Amos 
 W. Butler is the author of many scientific articles on the same 
 little creatures, and has also written on fishes. Professor O. P. 
 Hay, of Butler University, has made reptiles a special study, 
 and has written much on that subject, as well as on others of a 
 scientific nature. Dr. A. J. Phinney, of Muncie, has given 
 special study to Indiana^s natural gas fields, and is a leading 
 authority regarding them, as is Professor S. S. Gorby, the state 
 geologist. Professor John Collett is considered an authority on 
 geology, and Dr. Thomas C. Van Nuys, of Bloomington, has 
 made important contributions to medical literature. George 
 K. Greene, of New Albany, a prominent naturalist, has devoted 
 his efforts to the development of the fossil coral beds at the 
 falls of the Ohio. He rendered valuable service in identifying 
 and labeling the fossils for the State Museum. His own collec- 
 tion of fossil corals is said to be the finest in the west. 
 
 i8 
 
CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 THE PULPIT AND PRESS. 
 
 The Beginnings of Religious Effort in Indiana— Splendid Labors and 
 Heroic Sacrifices of the Jesuit Priests— Worship in the Forests— 
 The First Church Building in Indiana— Life of the Pioneer 
 Preachers — Peter Cartwright — Earliest Protestant Sermon 
 Preached in the State—Origin and Development of the News- 
 paper Press of Indiana. 
 
 The Jesuit fathers were the first to give utterance to the 
 truths of the Christian rehgion in the vast wilds of the Missis- 
 sippi valley, and the native barbaric tribes were the first 
 listeners. Over the mighty rivers and broad lakes, into the 
 lonely forests and boundless prairies, these consecrated teachers 
 came with their precious message. They were inspired alone 
 by the lofty ambition of winning and saving souls. Bancroft 
 has said: "Religious enthusiasm colonized New England, and 
 religious enthusiasm founded Montreal, made a conquest of the 
 wilderness on the upper lakes, and explored the Mississippi." 
 
 In the early part of the seventeenth century Roman 
 Catholic missions were established in the French territory of 
 America, Quebec being made the center of operations. Fathers 
 Broebeuf, Daniel and Lallemand were probably the first to 
 traverse the unexplored region of the northern lakes, where, 
 pleading with and preaching to many, they established one or 
 
 254 
 
HISTORY OF INDIANA. 255 
 
 two missions among the Indians along the shores. The horri- 
 ble ways in which these missionaries were tortured to death, as 
 before said, were too revolting to describe. 
 
 In 1665 Claude Allouez, who has been called the "Apostle 
 of the West," began his labors in the lake district, and con- 
 tinued them for thirty years. In 1668 the famous James Mar- 
 quette came to this region, and soon founded the mission of 
 Sault Ste. Marie. In the following year he made the discovery 
 ■of the great "Father of Waters," and in 167 1, so successful had 
 been his labors among the Hurons, that he built for them a 
 chapel at St. Ignatms. 
 
 During his voyage in 1669 Marquette had promised the 
 Kaskaskia Indians, a friendly tribe he had found on the banks 
 of the Illinois river, that he would return and preach to them. 
 Though sick and exhausted from hardship and exposure, he 
 traveled many weary months to redeem the promise, reaching 
 the Kaskaskia village in April, 1675. He began his work im- 
 mediatel}' by erecting an altar and celebrating the feast of 
 Easter. The good priest very soon after this entered into his 
 reward. 
 
 In the year 171 2 we find in the Illinois country three mis- 
 sions — those of Kaskaskia, St. Joseph's and Peoria. In that 
 same year it is supposed that Father Mermet was sent from 
 Kaskaskia to Vincennes as a visiting missionary. With the 
 first French troops sent among the Weas or Piankeshaws, near 
 Lafayette, was also most probably a missionary. 
 
 Judge Law, in his address on Vincennes, says that he had 
 seen "a manuscript in Indian and French of the ritual and 
 
256 HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 prayers of the Roman Catholic church, made by Jesuits at 
 Ouiatenon, and a conversational dictionary in the Miami lan- 
 i^uage made at a very early period, while the Jesuit fathers 
 were stationed among the Indians on the upper Wabash." 
 
 Two permanent missions were in existence in 1750 within 
 the limits of what is now our state — one at Vincennes under 
 Father Sebastian Louis Meurin, the resident priest, the other 
 at Ouiatenon under Father Pierre du Jaunay. 
 
 After France had surrendered her North American posses- 
 sions to England, the organization of Jesuit missions in that 
 territory was abandoned. Man}' of the fathers remained, how- 
 ever, as secular priests in their former mission stations. The 
 results of the labors of "these patient, toiling, dying sons of 
 Loyola, scattered through rigorous, barbarous and far-reaching 
 wilds," like the results of all religious effort, cannot be justly 
 estimated in this world. Of the Indian converts some were 
 most exemplary, and remained faithful to the end, a few adopt- 
 ing even the European dress and habits of life, while others 
 returned to their pagan beliefs and practices. 
 
 The first church building erected within the territory now 
 comprising Indiana, of which we find any record, was at Vin- 
 cennes, before the year 1749, but just when erected is not known. 
 No church records previous to April of that year are preserved. 
 
 "The first entry is a certificate of marriage between Julien 
 Trattier, of Montreal, Canada, and Josette Marie, the daughter 
 of a Frenchman and an Indian woman." During that year 
 other entries were made of Indian baptisms. 
 
 The style of architecture of this little chapel was of course 
 
HISTORY OF INDIANA. 257 
 
 very primitive. It was about sixty feet long and twenty feet 
 wide, and was "built of upright posts, chunked and daubed 
 with a rough coat of cement on the outside." It was sur- 
 mounted by a small belfry, in which hung "an equally small 
 bell," now used in the large and handsome cathedral which has 
 taken its place. This little log chapel was dedicated to St. 
 Francis Xavier, its patron saint. 
 
 Of the priests who at different times officiated at its altar, 
 three have been made bishops in the Roman Catholic church of 
 America — Benedict Joseph Flaget, bishop of Bardstown and 
 LouisYille; Archbishop Blanc, of New Orleans; Bishop Cha- 
 brat, coadjutor-bishop of Bardstown and Louisville, and Jean 
 Jean was appointed bishop of New Orleans, but declined to 
 accept. Since the cathedral was built, two other priests have 
 been made bishops from this church — Celestine de la Hailan- 
 diere, consecrated bishop of Vincennes in 1839, and Augustus 
 M. Martin, made bishop of Nachitoches, Louisiana, in 1853. 
 From the diocese of Vincennes, which for many years com- 
 prised the entire state, but in 1857 was divided, the diocese of 
 Fort Wayne extending over the northern portion, two other 
 bishops have been consecrated — Maurice de St. Palais, made 
 bishop of Vincennes in 1848, and Martin Martz, consecrated 
 bishop of Sioux Falls in 1880. From the diocese of Fort 
 Wayne Father Joseph Rademacher has gone forth as the 
 bishop of Nashville. 
 
 The little log chapel has been called the "Alma Mater of 
 the Roman Catholic church in Indiana," which now comprises 
 numerous thriving and prosperous congregations, has many 
 
258 HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 handsome cathedrals and churches, and maintains a large num- 
 ber of educational and benevolent institutions. 
 
 The first missionary work done by the Protestants among 
 the Indians in the northwest was begun by Christian Frederick 
 Past, a Moravian, who crossed the Alleghany river in 1761, 
 and with Heckewelder settled among the Delawares in what is 
 now Ohio. A terrible butcher}' of Indians by a band of white 
 desperadoes occurring in their vicinity — the worst on record — 
 the influence and labors of these missionaries were interrupted 
 for a few years. They were resumed, however, and, having 
 been joined by Zeisberger, these noble men laid the foundations 
 of the town of Guadenhutten, a settlement of Moravians and 
 Indians. With the early white settlers in the territory of the 
 northwest came the pioneer preachers. They, of course, shared 
 in the hardships, trials, and privations of the early settlers, but 
 their lot was even harder, from the fact that they were obliged 
 to travel continually through a sparsely-settled country, carry- 
 ing the gospel message to the widely-scattered settlements, and 
 finding their way through the pathless forests by means of 
 Indian trails and marked trees. One writer thus describes 
 their mode of traveling: "Sleeping in the woods or on the open 
 prairies on their saddle blankets, cooking their coarse meals by 
 the way, fording streams on horseback with saddle-bags and 
 blankets lifted to their shoulders, exposed without shelter to 
 storms, and drying their garments and blankets by camp-fires, 
 when no friendly cabin could be found. . . . In a few years 
 they became sallow, weather-beaten and toil-worn." And 
 "often prostrated by fevers and wasted by malaria the years of 
 
HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 259 
 
 pioneer service with many were few and severe." One good 
 old veteran in writing to a friend said: "My horse's joints are 
 now skinned to his hock-joints, and I have rheumatism in all 
 
 THE PIONEER PREACHER. 
 
 my joints. . . . What I have suffered in body and mind 
 my pen is not able to communicate to you; but this I can say, 
 while my body is wet with the water and chilled with cold, my 
 
260 HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 soul is filled with heavenly fire, and I can say with St. Paul: 
 'But none of these things move me.' " 
 
 In comparing the features pf the new and the old, of the 
 now and the then, no contrasts are more strongly marked than 
 those we find in the manner of religious worship. 
 
 Now — the Gothic temples, many of them poems of archi- 
 tecture, with their spires pointing heavenward, typifying the 
 uplifting truth taught within their walls; the softly-carpeted 
 aisles, the luxuriously-cushioned pews, the richly-frescoed walls, 
 the roll and peal of the grand organ as it wafts the soul upward 
 on its majestic strains; and over all these artistic and luxurious 
 surroundings, the soft poetic light streaming through the stained 
 windows, which at night are made brilliant by floods of gas or 
 electric light. 
 
 Then — the small, low, rude log structure; the rough, un- 
 finished walls; the bare floors, the hard benches for seats, 
 frequently with no backs; the windows, often of greased paper; 
 many destitute of stoves, even in coldest weather, the aged and 
 infirm carrying with them little foot-stoves to be used during 
 service; the hymns "lined" by the preacher, but joined in with 
 a hearty will by the devout congregation, and at night a few 
 tallow candles dispelling a little of the darkness. 
 
 But there was a time when even these facilities for relig- 
 ious worship were not enjoyed, for the "log cabin, the fort and 
 the forest were the first meeting-houses." 
 
 The "groves were God's first temples," and in these tem- 
 ples of nature stumps of trees often served for pulpits, and the 
 spreading branches of the primeval forests afforded the only 
 
HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 261 
 
 shelter. The people would assemble from far and near, coming 
 in large wagons, in which the women slept at night, for some- 
 times these meetings would continue several days and even 
 weeks. They brought their food, which was mostly prepared 
 beforehand. At night fires blazing here and there dispelled the 
 darkness. These meetings were called camp-meetings, and after 
 a time large sheds were provided to protect the crowds which 
 assembled, and platforms took the place of stumps for pulpits. 
 
 In these religious meetings, ministers of different denomina- 
 tions united in conducting the service. All were men of great 
 zeal, and many had intellectual power. They labored among 
 the "rough, reckless, degraded " characters, always found in a 
 newly-settled country, with an energy and perseverance that 
 
 laid the foundations broad and 
 deep for the Protestant edifice 
 in Indiana. 
 
 The first Protestant sermon 
 preached in Indiana is tradition- 
 ally ascribed to Peter Cart- 
 wright, who, it is said, delivered 
 it on the banks of the Ohio in 
 1804. But as itinerant preachers 
 were working in the state in 1802, 
 the tradition is not ver}'' reliable. 
 Cartwright, at any rate, has the 
 distinction of forming the first 
 Methodist society in Indiana, which began its operations in 
 Gassaway. Clark county, in 18 10. 
 
 PETER CARTWRIGHT. 
 
262 HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 Peter Cartwright was a zealous, but eccentric, man. His. 
 circuit extended from the Kentucky district across the Ohio, 
 into what was known as Clark^s Grant, now in the eastern part 
 of Indiana. In his autobiography he says: "In those days, 
 when a Methodist felt himself called upon to preach, instead of 
 hunting up a biblical institute, he hunted up a hardy pony or a 
 horse and some traveling apparatus, and with his library always 
 at hand [in .his saddle-bags], namely, Bible, hymn-book and 
 discipline, he started." 
 
 Amoncr the itinerants whose names are still remembered 
 for their fiery eloquence and untiring labors were William 
 Winans, who was known as the "forest Demosthenes;" James 
 Havens, sometimes called "Old Sorrel;" Armstrong, Russell 
 Bigelow, Edwin Ray, and John Strange, powerful in song as 
 well as sermon. 
 
 For many years Edward R. Ames was also an itinerant 
 preacher in Indiana, first coming to the state in 1828. He 
 labored in Vincennes, New Albany and Jeffersonville, and for 
 several years was pastor of Wesley chapel in Indianapolis. 
 After Bishop Simpson resigned the presidency of Asbury Uni- 
 versity, it v/as offered to Ames, but he declined it. Mr. Ames 
 was made bishop at the general conference held at Boston in 
 1852, at which time the honor was also bestowed on Simpson. 
 Previous to that, in 1840, Ames had been made secretary 
 of the Methodist Episcopal Missionary Society, and sub- 
 sequently rode about 25,000 miles through the south and 
 M^est. 
 
 In the same year (1802) that the Methodists began working 
 
HISTORY OF INDIANA. 263 
 
 in Indiana, the Baptists entered the state, soon organizing 
 several small societies in the vicinity of Whitewater river. 
 These increased in seven years to nine churches, with 380 mem- 
 bers, which were organized into an association. 
 
 The first missionaries sent into Indiana by the Presby- 
 terians were Rev. Thomas Williamson, in 1805, and Rev. 
 Samuel Holt, in 1806. In the latter year the first church organi- 
 zation was effected in Vincennes, ^ev. Samuel B. Robinson 
 acting as pastor. The first resident Presbyterian minister in 
 the state was, however, Rev. Samuel Thornton Scott of 
 Kentucky. 
 
 In 1 82 1 the Friends organized a society, and the Congre- 
 gationalists in 1835. In the latter year the Episcopal church 
 began its work in the state, organizing two churches, one at 
 New Albany, the other at Madison, the first rectors being 
 Ashabel Steele and F. B. Nash. Bishop Jackson Kemper was 
 consecrated in 1835 as bishop of Missouri and Indiana, but 
 Bishop George Upfold was made the first bishop of the organ- 
 ized diocese of Indiana, December 16, 1849. -^^ ^^^ succeeded 
 in 1873 by Bishop Joseph C. Talbot, who died in 1883, when 
 the sacred office was conferred upon Bishop David B. Knick- 
 erbacker. 
 
 These are but glimpses of the beginnings. To-day statis- 
 tics show that Indiana has a larger number of church buildings 
 in proportion to the population than any other state in the 
 Union, excepting Massachusetts. 
 
 The three most potent agencies in the education of a peo- 
 ple are the school, the pulpit and the press. These go hand in 
 
26-1 HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 hand in the intellectual and moral training of the human 
 race. 
 
 In the same year that tradition gives to Peter Cartwright 
 the distinction of preaching the first Protestant sermon in 
 Indiana, the first newspaper was started in Vincennes, then the 
 capital of the territory. Elihu Stout, a Kentuckian, has the 
 honor of being the pioneer in Indiana journalism. He came on 
 horseback to Vincennes in April, 1804, having purchased at 
 Frankfort press, and type, which were sent in boats, rowed by 
 hand, to the settlement. These materials did not arrive until 
 some time in June, and on July 4, following, the first issue of 
 the Indiana Gazette greeted the little village. This paper was 
 regularly published for eighteen months, when the establish- 
 ment was destroyed by fire. Undaunted by this misfortune, 
 Mr. Stout again obtained the needed printing materials, and 
 resumed the publication of the paper, which he named in this 
 venture the Western Sun. He persevered in this commendable 
 enterprise in the face of many obstacles. Most of the inhabi- 
 tants of Vincennes were French, and could not read the Eng- 
 lish language, hence gave the paper no support. But this was 
 the only paper in the entire territory, or what is now four large 
 states, and no doubt was a very welcome visitor to many a 
 lonely cabin in the great western wilds. The materials neces- 
 sary for carrying on this pioneer printing establishment had to 
 be carried from Georgetown, Ky., the nearest point where they 
 could be obtained. Mr. Stout himself usually brought them-, 
 using three horses for the purpose, one of which he rode, the 
 other two he used as pack-horses, carrying on their backs the 
 
HISTORY OF INDIANA. 26> 
 
 needed articles. He continued the publication of this paper 
 until 1845, when, being appointed postmaster, he sold the busi- 
 ness to others. 
 
 Another pioneer in newspaper work in Indiana was John 
 W. Osborn, who came to Vincennes in 18 19, and edited the 
 JVesfern Sun for about a year. In 1823 he founded Terre 
 Haute's first newspaper. In 1834 he began the publication of 
 a paper at Greencastle, which he called the Plou^-Jiboy^ and 
 also started the first temperance paper in the west — the Tem- 
 perance Advocate. In 1838 he established, at Indianapolis, the 
 Indiana Farmer., and during the early part of the civil war 
 the Stars and , Stripes at Sullivan. 
 
 Among the oldest newspapers of the state is the Indian- 
 apolis Sentinel^ which was established in 182 1, the year the city 
 was laid out. It was edited and published by George Smith 
 and Nathaniel Bolton. The former was a peculiar character, 
 who wore a "queue carefully tied with an eel-skin string." 
 The latter was at one time state librarian, and subsequently 
 consul to Geneva, Switzerland, and was the husband of Sarah 
 T. Bolton, the Indiana poetess. The paper was christened the 
 Indianapolis Gazette., and its first office was in a log cabin. We 
 are told that the paper "appeared as it had a chance, and its 
 ink was a compound of tar." Between January and May seven 
 numbers were issued, but after that it was able to make a 
 regular weekly appearance. In 1830 the Indiana Democrat 
 was founded, and soon absorbed the Gazette. In 1841 it passed 
 again under different management, and was called the Indiana 
 Sentinel. That year it began making its appearance semi- 
 
266 HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 weekly, and daily through the meeting of the legislature. But 
 not until April, 1851, did it begin the publication of regular 
 daily issues, which appeared under the name of the Indianapolis 
 Sentinel. A little over a 3'ear after this paper had been estab- 
 lished, the Western Censo?' and Emigrants'' Guide made its 
 appearance, which name was changed in 1825 to the Indiana 
 Journal. 
 
 Among the oldest papers in the state is fhe Fort Wayne 
 Sentinel^ which came into existence in 1833, Thomas Tiger and 
 S. V. B. Noel being its founders. 
 
 Again we have only glimpses of the beginnings. There 
 are now 651 newspapers and periodicals published in Indiana, 
 which have an aggregate circulation of 872,500. 
 
CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 INDIANA AS IT IS. 
 
 A Brief Survey of a Great Commonwealth — Indianapolis, the Seat of 
 Government— A Beautiful, Prosperous and Progressive City — Its 
 Public Buildings and Institutions — The Three French Forts Sup- 
 planted BY the Cities of Lafayette, Vincennes and Fort Wayne — 
 Material and Social Conditions Now and in the Early Days— A 
 Contrast. 
 
 To Indianapolis, the capital of the state, is attached no 
 «arly historic interest, but the city stands to-day pre-eminently 
 above the other cities as regards population, commercial im- 
 portance and intellectual achievement. It vi^as first settled in 
 March, 1819, by John Pogue, a blacksmith, and a year later 
 fifteen families had gathered together and formed a little com- 
 munity. In 182 1 the little settlement was chosen as the capital 
 of the state, on account of its being geographically near the 
 center. The legislature of that year gave it the name it now 
 bears, which was suggested by Jeremiah Sullivan, of Jefferson 
 ■county. It also set apart the present court house square, upon 
 ^which to build a two-story brick court house, which should be 
 used by the state, federal and county courts, and by the legisla- 
 ture for fifty years, or until a state house was built. 
 
 It was not, however, until the year 1824 that the seat of 
 government was removed from Corydon. The documents of 
 
 267 
 
268 HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 the offices, and the mone3's, were stored in a heavy wagon, and 
 so conveyed by Samuel Merrill, the state treasurer. He was 
 accompanied by a number of officers and citizens. They could 
 travel only at the rate of twelve or thirteen miles a day, camp- 
 ing out in the wilderness at night. Arriving in Indianapolis, 
 the precious freight was placed in a small brick building until 
 the court house should be completed. At the time of this 
 removal William Hendricks was governor. 
 
 The first marriage that occurred in Indianapolis is worthy 
 of notice, inasmuch as the groom, Jeremiah Johnson, walked 
 sixty miles to Connersville to procure the license, and then had 
 to wait several weeks for the arrival of a preacher before the 
 ceremon}', which made Jane Reagan his wife, could take place. 
 This was in 182 1. The town was chartered as a city in 1847. 
 Indianapolis is regularly and beautifully laid out — probably in 
 conformity with the plans seen b}' Ex-Secretary McCulloch, 
 which he admired on paper, but to which he failed to find any 
 resemblance in the actual appearance of the town when he first 
 visited it in 1833. He says: "It had been selected for the 
 capital, not because there was anything attractive in the situa- 
 tion, but because it was near the geographical center of the 
 state. The parks, in which were the state house and court 
 house, had been enclosed with posts and rail fences, but nothing 
 had been done to the streets except to remove the stumps from 
 two or three of those most used. . . . There were no side- 
 walks, and the streets most in use, after every rain, and for a 
 good part of the 3'ear, were knee-deep with mud." No town 
 in the state was more inaccessible until after the railroads were 
 
HISTORY OF IN or AX A. 269 
 
 built, for, with the exception of two wagon roads — one leading 
 from Madison, the other from Terre Haute — it could only be 
 reached by foot travelers or those on horseback, and then a 
 great part of the year through deepest mud. 
 
 Indianapolis is fortunate in the possession of the desirable 
 features of both village and city. The streets are so wide and 
 so densely shaded, the lawns so large and so beautifully adorned 
 with flowers and trees that it is difficult to realize that one is in 
 a city of over 100,000 inhabitants, until assured of the fact by 
 the presence of all modern improvements and costly and hand- 
 some public buildings. The spacious lawns and 'wide streets, 
 the large area over which the population is scattered, compen- 
 sate in a measure for the scarcity of large public parks, and 
 afford an abundance of fresh air and facilities for out-door 
 recreations, so desirable for the health of a community. 
 
 Indianapolis has been given the name Railroad City, on 
 account of its being the terminus of so many lines. Seventeen 
 distinct lines of railroads enter the city. The street railway 
 system is exceptionally complete and convenient, furnishing 
 transportation to every part of the city. The manufactories 
 are the most extensive and varied in Indiana. Educational 
 privileges are provided in thirty ward schools, two high schools, 
 numerous kindergartens, two classical schools, business colleges, 
 medical colleges, and a number of denominational schools. 
 The free city circulating library of 40,000 volumes, the county 
 library of 3,600 volumes, and the general library of the state, 
 which contains 18,500 volumes, supply the citizens with abun- 
 dant reading matter. 
 19 
 
270 
 
 HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 The public buildings in Indianapolis are among the finest 
 in the United States. Besides various beautiful churches and 
 opera houses, there are the county court house, a massive stone 
 structure which cost $1,800,000; Tomlinson hall, with a seat- 
 ing capacity of 5,000; a handsome $1,000,000 union railway 
 station, and one of the most imposing and most tasteful capitol 
 buildings in the country. 
 
 OLD STATE HOUSE. 
 
 The building of the first state house was begun in 1832, 
 and finished in 1835. ^^ ^^^ of the Doric style of architecture, 
 and cost $58,000. The senate chamber accomodated fifty 
 members; there were rooms for the supreme court and state 
 library; twelve committee rooms, and a hall for one hundred 
 representatives. 
 
HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 271 
 
 The state had long outgrown these provisions when, on 
 
 March 14, 1877, the legislature passed an act providing for the 
 
 * 
 erection of a new state house, appropriating for the purpose 
 
 $2,000,000. The state house commissioners first appointed 
 
 were John Love and Thomas A. Morris, of Indianapolis; Isaac 
 
 PRESENT STATE HOUSE AT INDIANAPOLIS. 
 
 D. G. Nelson, of Fort Wayne, and William R. McKeen, of 
 Terre Haute. This board elected W. C. Tarkington secretary, 
 who served but a few months, when the position was filled by 
 Robert P. Haynes, followed in 1878 by John M. Godown, of 
 Fort Wayne. The building was begun in October, 1878, and 
 completed in the fall of 1888. The stone, wood, brick and con- 
 
272 
 
 HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 Crete used in the construction were furnished by the quarries, 
 forests and factories of the state. The soHdity of the construc- 
 tion, the symmetry of its proportions, and the artistic furnish- 
 ings of both exterior and interior render it a remarkably hand- 
 some and attractive structure, and one of which Indiana may 
 indeed feel proud. 
 
 In the square adjoining the state house is a handsome 
 granite monument, surmounted by a bronze statue of Vice- 
 President Thomas A. Hendricks. The entire monument, 
 including the statue, is thirty-eight feet six inches high, and at 
 
 the sides of the pedestal are two seated 
 allegorical figures, representing History 
 and Justice. 
 
 In University Park there is a statue 
 of Vice-President Colfax, erected by 
 the Odd Fellows of the state, and in 
 Circle Park is one of Governor Morton. 
 In this last named park a handsome and 
 imposing monument is being erected 
 (1891) to the memory of the soldiers 
 and sailors of Indiana. When completed 
 this will be the grandest monument of 
 its kind in the country, and will be the 
 equal of many of the most famous in 
 Europe. It will cost about $350,000. 
 Four of the leading charitable institu- 
 tions of the state are found in Indianapolis. The State Institute 
 for the Blind was founded in 1847. The buildings cost $800,000, 
 
HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 273 
 
 and the grounds comprise eight acres. The Central Hospital 
 for the Insane was built in 1848, and has twice been enlarged, 
 at an aggregate cost of $350,000. The Institution for the 
 
 SOLDIERS' AND SAILORS' MONUMENT AT INDIANAPOLIS. 
 
 Deaf and Dumb was established in 1848, and the buildings 
 have cost $220,000. The Woman's Prison and Girl's 
 Reformatory, established in 1869, is an important institution, 
 and the first of its kind opened in the United States. The 
 
274 HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 buildings are commodious and the grounds extensiv.e, and the 
 institution has proved of great benefit to the state. 
 
 Besides these state institutions there are numerous private 
 and church charities which consider and provide rehef for 
 every condition of human suffering. There is no city in the 
 country that has a better organized system of charities than 
 IndianapoHs, which comprises in its management eighteen dis- 
 tinct organizations. 
 
 Early in our history our attention was directed to three 
 important points in Indiana — the three French forts. We 
 remember these as being composed of stockades, around which 
 clustered a few log cabins and Indian wigwams, inhabited by 
 French settlers and Indians. 
 
 As we again look upon the sites of these forts in the year 
 1890, we fail to recognize our early friends, as we find our- 
 selves in the midst of thriving, prosperous, handsomely-built 
 cities with every modern improvement. Fort Ouiatenon we 
 remember as the first post established, though it never developed 
 into a city. But only a few miles from its site the beautiful 
 little city of Lafayette has grown up. It contains a population 
 of over 16,000, and the country around it, which is highly culti- 
 vated and productive, is thickly settled. The farmers are pros- 
 perous and intelligent. The city is well built, is lighted by gas 
 and electricity, and has water works, street railways, a tele- 
 phone exchange, and a public library of over 9,000 volumes. 
 It is the seat of Purdue University, and has a tine system of 
 public schools. The citizens take especial pride in making 
 their homes handsome and attractive, some of the residences 
 
HISTORY OF INDIANA. 276 
 
 being unsurpassed b}' any in the state, while the church edifices 
 and pubhc halls are modern and costly. Lafayette has many 
 prosperous manufacturing establishments, and is an important 
 jobbing and distributing center. 
 
 Where Post St. Vincen^, or, as it was at first known, 
 "poste du Oubache," once sheltered and harbored the little 
 French garrison, commanded by brave and noble officers; 
 where General Clark, so fearless and resolute, gained a foot- 
 hold for American control in the northwest ; where Captain 
 Helm so bravely and heroically held, with one private, the fort 
 for hours against an assault of a large British force; where the 
 first white settlement in Indiana, and one of the first in the west, 
 which could be called a town, was founded, we find the hand- 
 some little city of Vincennes, containing about 12,000 people. 
 The streets are wide and beautifully shaded, the business blocks 
 substantially built, and the public buildings highly creditable to 
 a city of its size, the court house having cost $300,000, and one 
 of the thirteen public halls $75,000. There are many hand- 
 some homes, and the city, in addition to all modern improve- 
 ments, is fortunate in the possession of three parks. Fine 
 educational advantages are afforded by St. Rose's Academy 
 and Vincennes University in addition to those of the public 
 schools. The city is situated in the midst of a rich agricultural 
 district, and being located on the Wabash river, which is naviga- 
 ble from this point to the Ohio, has fine shipping facilities, and 
 affords cheap freight rat(?S on manufactured goods. Four rail- 
 roads pass through the city. 
 
 At the point so long held by the Indians — so bravely and 
 
270 HISTORY OF I INDIANA. 
 
 persistently defended by them — the favorite resort of the tribes 
 of the northwest, where their chief villages, those of Kekionga 
 were situated ; the point which General Washington considered 
 the most important for the American forces to hold, and where, 
 after General Wayne's victories over the Indians, a post was 
 built and named for him; the point which was held successively 
 by four different nations — the French, English, Indians and 
 Americans — is now the site of the city of Fort Wayne, an im- 
 portant commercial and manufacturing center. Where once 
 the feasts of cannibals were held, 37,000 people are now engaged 
 in the employments and pursuits of modern life. Passing 
 through, or terminating in the city, are six important railroads. 
 Its business prosperity rests upon its extensive manufacturing 
 interests. The number of employes in the various mills and 
 factories is about 5,000. Fort Wayne has an excellent system 
 of water works, an efficient tire department, and tire-alarm tele- 
 graph, and all other modern improvements. The streets are 
 prettily shaded and well kept, and many of the residences are 
 elegant and commodious. The city boasts of many fine educa- 
 tional institutions. In addition to twelve fine public school 
 buildings are the Concordia College, Taylor University, West- 
 minster Seminary, a college of medicine, a business college, two 
 musical conservatories, and several other private and denomina- 
 ational schools. A few miles northeast of the city is located the 
 Academy of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart. And very lately 
 has been established east of the city the Home for Feeble- 
 Minded Children, a very extensive and beneficent state 
 institution. 
 
HISTORY OF INDIANA. 277 
 
 Second in size only to Indianapolis is Evansville, which 
 contains over 50,000 inhabitants. It was named for General 
 Evans, one of its founders. It is one of the most enterprising 
 . and progressive cities of the state. Picturesquely located on 
 the hills overlooking the Ohio river, with lines of steamboats 
 leaving daily for points on the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, and 
 with five lines of railroads, the transportation facilities leave 
 little to be desired. Rich and inexhaustible supplies of coal and 
 iron are found in the neighborhood of the city, and mining 
 forms one of the principal industries. It is surrounded also by 
 one of the finest grain and meat-producing sections of the state. 
 Evansville has large and important manufacturing establish- 
 ments. The lumber interest is of commanding importance. 
 The county buildings are new and imposing, and the business 
 blocks substantial and handsome, while mnny beautiful homes 
 and church edifices adorn the city. Among the various modern 
 improvements are thirty-six miles of street railway. Fifteen 
 public schools, two business colleges, and several denomina- 
 tional schools provide the youth with educational advantages. 
 Three public libraries and an art gallery minister to the literary 
 and artistic tastes of the inhabitants. The Southern Hospital 
 for the Insane, an important st^te institution, is located at 
 Evansville. 
 
 Another flourishing city is Terre Haute, which is situated 
 on the high banks of the Wabash river. It was laid out in 
 18 16 by the Terre Haute Company. In 1853 it was incorpor- 
 ated as a city, and since 1870 its growth has been remarkable. 
 The country adjoining Terre Haute is very fertile, and has con- 
 
278 HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 tributed largely to the prosperity of the city. It has a number 
 of extensive and successful manufactories, and is a leading rail- 
 road center. Some of the largest wholesale houses of the state 
 are found here. Terre Haute is a wealth}', handsomely-built 
 cit}', and has a population exceeding 30,000. The schools are 
 numerous and well equipped. The State Normal School is 
 located at this point, and the Terre Haute School of Industrial 
 Science. 
 
 Of the remaining cities of the state we can but briefly 
 mention the most important — New Albany, where so much 
 steamboat building is carried on, and where the largest plate 
 glass works in the world are situated; Richmond, the home of 
 a large Quaker element, and noted for the refinement and cul- 
 ture of its people; Logansport, enterprising and progressive, 
 and the location of the Northern Hospital for the Insane; South 
 Bend, bright, energetic and attractive, where the largest wagon 
 works in the world are located; Madison, a city of beautiful 
 homes; Michigan City, the only lake port, and the location of 
 the Northern prison; Jeffersonville, a lively manufacturing city, 
 and the seat of the Southern prison. There are also the four 
 wide-awake and prosperous cities of the gas fields — Anderson, 
 Muncie, Marion and Kokomo — which doubled in population 
 between 1880 and 1890, and which apparently have a great 
 future before them. Besides these, there are numerous pretty 
 towns of from 2,000 to 10,000 inhabitants, dotted over the state, 
 possessing many modern improvements, well supplied with 
 churches and schools, and containing an alert, active and pro- 
 gressive population. 
 
HISTORY OF INDIANA. 279 
 
 As we consider the present domestic and social 
 condition of the inhabitants, not only of our larger towns 
 and cities, but of the rural districts as well, we can but 
 contrast them with those of fifty and sixty 3'ears ago. 
 
 The fields were then cultivated entirely by hand, 
 requiring weeks to do what now is accomplished in a few 
 hours by machinery. The spinning, weaving, and stitch, 
 stitch, stitching of the long seams, which then occupied so 
 much of woman's time, are now likewise done by the factor- 
 ies and the sewing machine. The rude log-cabin has made wa}' 
 for the mansion of brick and stone, or the pretty, comfor- 
 table frame cottage. Instead of bare floors or rag-carpets, 
 we tread on soft carpeting. In the place of the tallow 
 candle, we illuminate our homes with a flood of gas or elec- 
 tric light. The plain furniture, which barely sufficed to 
 provide comfort, is now supplanted by that which is luxurious 
 and artistic. With books we are almost surfeited, while the 
 few volumes found in the pioneer home were deemed its 
 treasures. Rare and beautiful pictures look down upon us 
 from our walls, supplanting the strings of dried apples hang- 
 ing from the ceiling, and the gun at the side of the door 
 kept for use in case of an Indian attack. And few homes 
 are, to-day, considered complete without a piano or musical 
 instrument of some kind. In place of the long horse-back 
 jaunts, requiring two and three weeks to go from the central 
 part of the state to either the northern or southern extrem- 
 ities, we are swiftly carried in luxurious cars from point to 
 point. We use the telegraph more freely than our fathers did 
 
280 HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 the mails; and the telephone seems now an indispensable 
 adjunct to business life. The educational facilities, so crude 
 and limited in those early days, are now superior and 
 abundant. 
 
 This glimpse of the state's present condition reveals 
 a picture of prosperity and great possibilities. We now bid 
 farewell to the history of Indiana, and to the youth of the 
 state, with the earnest hope that they with whose future its 
 destiny rests, will ever lead her onward and upward in the 
 noble and honorable career upon which she has been so grandly 
 started. 
 
INDIANA OFFICIAL REGISTER. 
 
 TERRITORIAL GOVERNORS. 
 
 Arthur St. Clair, Governor Northwest Territory. 
 John Gibson, from 1800 to January 10, 1801. 
 William H. Harrison, from 1801 to 18 12. 
 Thomas Posey, from 1812 to 18 16. 
 
 GOVERNORS OF THE STATE. 
 
 Jonathan Jennings, from 18 16 to 1822. 
 
 Ratliffe Boone, from September 12 to December 5, 1822. 
 
 William Hendricks, from 1822 to 1825. 
 
 James B. Ray (acting), February 12 to December 11, 1825. 
 
 James B. Ray, from 1825 to 1831. 
 
 Noah Noble, from 1831 to 1837. 
 
 David Wallace, from 1837 to 1840. 
 
 Samuel Bigger, from 1840 to 1843. 
 
 James Whitcomb, from 1843 to 1848. 
 
 Paris C. Dunning (acting), from 1848 to 1849. 
 
 Joseph A. Wright, from 1849 to 1857. 
 
 281 
 
282 HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 Ashbel P. Willard, from 1857 to i860. 
 
 Abram A. Hammond (acting), from i860 to 1861. 
 
 Henry S. Lane, from January 14 to January 16, 1861. 
 
 Oliver P. Morton (acting), from 1861 to 1865. 
 
 Oliver P. Morton, from 1865 to 1867. 
 
 Conrad Baker (acting), from 1867 to 1869. 
 
 Conrad Baker, from 1869 to 1873. 
 
 Thomas A. Hendricks, from 1873 to 1877. 
 
 James D. Williams, from 1877 to 1880. 
 
 Isaac P. Gray (acting), from 1880 to 1881. 
 
 Albert G. Porter, from 1881 to 1885. 
 
 Isaac P. Gray, from 1885 to 1889. 
 
 Alvin P. Hovey, from 1889 to . 
 
 LIEUTENANT GOVERNORS. 
 
 Christopher Harrison, from 18 16 to 181 9. 
 Ratliffe Boone, from 1819 to 1825. 
 John H. Thompson, from 1825 to 1828. 
 Milton Stapp, from 1S28 to 1831. 
 David Wallace, from 1831 to 1837. 
 David Hillis, from 1837 ^° 1840. 
 Samuel Hall, from 1840 to 1843. 
 Jesse D. Bright, from 1843 to 1845. 
 Godlove S. Orth (acting), 1845. 
 James G. Reed (acting), 1846. 
 Paris C. Dunning, from 1846 to 1848. 
 James G. Reed (acting), 1849. 
 James H. Lane, from 1849 to 1852. 
 
HISTORY OF INDIANA. '283 
 
 Ashbel P. Willard, from 1852 to 1857. 
 Abram A. Hammond, from 1857 to i860. 
 John R. Cravens ( acting), from 1859 to 1863. 
 Paris C. Dunning (acting), 1863 to 1865. 
 Conrad Baker, from 1865 to 1867 
 Will Cumback (acting), from 1867 to 1869. 
 Will Cumback, from 1869 to 1873. 
 Leonidas Sexton, from 1873 to 1877. 
 Isaac P. Gray, from 1877 to 1880. 
 Frederick W. Viehc (acting), 1881. 
 Thomas Hanna, from 188 1 to 1885. 
 Mahlon D. Manson, from 1885 to 1886. 
 Robert S. Robertson, from 1887 to i889.'^'* 
 Ira J. Chase, from 1889 to . 
 
 JUDGES OF THE SUPREME COURT. 
 
 James Scott, from 1816 to 1831. 
 John Johnson, from 1816 to 1S17. 
 Jesse L. Holman, from 18 16 to 1831. 
 Isaac Blackford, from 181 7 to 1853. 
 Stephen C. Stephens, from 183 1 to 1836. 
 John T. McKinney, from 1831 to 1837. 
 Charles Dewey, from 1836 to 1847. 
 Jeremiah Sullivan, from 1837 to 1846. 
 Samuel E. Perkins, from 1846 to 1865. 
 Thomas L. Smith, from 1847 ^° ^^53- 
 
 * Title contested, and A. G. Smith, President of the Senate, presided over that 
 bodv. 
 
284 HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 Andrew Davison, from 1853 to 1865. 
 William Z. Stuart, from 1853 to 1857. 
 Addison L. Roache, from 1853 to 1854. 
 
 Alvin P. Hovey (appointed), from to 1854. 
 
 Samuel B. Gookins, from 1854 to 1857. 
 
 James L. Worden (appointed), from 1858 to 1865. 
 
 James M. Hanna (appointed), from 1858 to 1865. 
 
 Charles A. Ray, from 1865 to 187 1. 
 
 Jehu T. Elliot, from 1865 to 1871. 
 
 James S. Frazer, from 1865 to 187 1. 
 
 Robert S. Gregory, from 1865 to 1871. 
 
 James L. Worden, from 187 1 to 1882. 
 
 Alexander C. Downey, from 187 1 to 1877. 
 
 Samuel A. Buskirk, from 187 1 to 1877. 
 
 John Pettit, from 187 1 to 1877. 
 
 Andrew L. Osborne, from 1872 to 1874. 
 
 Horace P. Biddle, from 1874 to 1880. 
 
 William E. Niblack, from 1877 to ^^^9- 
 
 George V. Howk, from 1877 to 1889. 
 
 Samuel E. Perkins, from 1877 to 1879. 
 
 John T. Scott, from 1879 to 18S0. 
 
 WilHam A. Woods, from 1881 to 1883. 
 
 Byron K. Elliott, from 1881 to . 
 
 William H. Coombs, from December 2, 1882, to 1883. 
 Edwin P. Hammond, 1883. 
 Allen Zollars, from 1883 to 1889. 
 Joseph A. S. Mitchell, from 1885 to 1890. 
 
 Walter Olds, from 1889 to . 
 
 John D. Berkshire, from 1889 to 1891. 
 
 Silas D. Coffey, from 1889 to . 
 
 John J. Miller (appointed), from 1891 to . 
 
 R. Wes. McBride (appointed), from 1890 to 
 
HISTORY OF INDIANA. 285 
 
 UNITED STATES SENATORS. 
 
 James Noble, from 1816 to 183 1. 
 
 Walter Taylor, from 1816 to 1825. 
 
 William Hendricks, from 1825 to 1837. 
 
 Robert Hanna (appointed), 1831. 
 
 John Tipton, from 1831 to 1839. 
 
 Oliver H. Smith, from 1837 to 1843. 
 
 Albert S. White, from 1839 to 1845. 
 
 Edward A. Hannegan, from 1843 to 1849. 
 
 Jesse D. Bright, from 1845 to 1861. 
 
 James Whitcomb, from 1849 to 1852. 
 
 Charles W. Cathcart (appointed), from 1852 to 1853. 
 
 JohnPettit, from 1853 to 1857. 
 
 Graham N. Fitch, from 1857 to 1861. 
 
 Joseph A. Wright (appointed), from 1861 to 1863. 
 
 Henry S. Lane, from 1861 to 1867. 
 
 David Turpie, 1863. 
 
 Thomas A. Hendricks, from 1863 to 1869. 
 
 Oliver P. Morton, from 1867 to 1877. 
 
 Daniel D. Pratt, from 1869 to 1875. 
 
 Joseph E. McDonald, from 1875 to 1881. 
 
 Daniel W. Voorhees (appointed), from 1877 ^^ ^^79- 
 
 Daniel W. Voorhees, from 1879 to . 
 
 Benjamin Harrison, from 1881 to 1887. 
 David Turpie, from 1887 to . 
 
POPULATION OF INDIANA 
 
 [Ce/isits uf iSqo.\ 
 
 SUMMARY BY COUNTIES 
 
 Adams 20,181 
 
 Allen 66,689 
 
 Bartholomew 23,867 
 
 Benton 11.903 
 
 Blackford 10,461 
 
 Boont- 26,572 
 
 J^iawn 10,308 
 
 Carroll 20,021 
 
 i:ass 3I7I52 
 
 Clark 30.259 
 
 Clay 30,536 
 
 Clinton 27,370 
 
 Crawford I3>94i 
 
 1 )avies^ 26,227 
 
 Dearborn 23,364 
 
 Decatur 19,277 
 
 Dekalb 24,307 
 
 Delaware 30,131 
 
 Dubois 20,253 
 
 Elkhart 39,20i 
 
 Fayette 12,630 
 
 Floyd 29,458 
 
 Fountain '9,55^ 
 
 Franklin 18,366 
 
 Fulton 16,746 
 
 . Gibson 24,920 
 
 Crant 3',493 
 
 Creene 24,379 
 
 41aniilton 26,123 
 
 I lancock 1 7,829 
 
 Harrison '. 20,786 
 
 Hendricks 21,498 
 
 Henry 23,879 
 
 1 lo w ard 26, 1 ^ 6 
 
 Huntington 27,644 
 
 Jackson 24,139 
 
 Jasper 11,185 
 
 Jay 23,47-3 
 
 Jefferson 24,507 
 
 Jennings 14,608 
 
 Johnson 19,561 
 
 Knox 28,044 
 
 Kosciusko 28,645 
 
 Lagrange 15,615 
 
 Lake 23,886 
 
 Laporte , 34,445 
 
 Lawrence 19,792 
 
 Madison 36,487 
 
 Marion 141,156 
 
 Marshall 23,818 
 
 Martin ^3,973 
 
 M iami 25,823 
 
 Monroe 17,673 
 
 Montgomery 28,025 
 
 Morgan 18,643 
 
 Newton 8,803 
 
 Noble 23,359 
 
 Ohio 4-955 
 
 Orange 14,678 
 
 Owen 1 5,040 
 
 Parke 20,296 
 
 Perry 18,240 
 
 Pike 18,544 
 
 Porter 18,052 
 
 Posey 21,529 
 
 Pulaski 11,233 
 
 Putnam 22,335 
 
 Randolph 28,085 
 
 I-^ipiey 19,350 
 
 Rush 19,034 
 
 Saint Joseph 42,457 
 
 Scott 7,833 
 
 Shelby 25,454 
 
 Spencer 22,060 
 
 Starke 7-339 
 
 Steuben 14,478 
 
 286 
 
HISTORY OF INDIANA. 
 
 287 
 
 Sullivan 21,877 
 
 Switzerland 12,514 
 
 Tippecanoe SS^oyS 
 
 Tipton if^i'S? 
 
 Union 7>oo^ 
 
 Vanderburg 59,809 
 
 Vermilion 13, 1 54 
 
 Vigo 50,195 
 
 Wabash 27, 1 26 
 
 Warren '0.955 
 
 Warrick 2i,i6i 
 
 Washington 18,619 
 
 Wayne 37,^28 
 
 Wells 21,514 
 
 White 15,671 
 
 Whitley 17,768 
 
 Population 0/ the State" iSgo, 1^1^2,404. 
 
 « 
 The population of the thirty-seven cities, having 4,000 or more inhabitants, 
 
 in the order of their rank, is as follows: 
 
 COUNTIES. 
 
 1890. 
 
 Indianapolis. . . 
 Evansville .... 
 Fort Wayne. . . 
 Terre Haute . . 
 South Bend . . . 
 New. Albany . . 
 Richmond .... 
 
 Lafayette 
 
 Logansport . . . 
 
 .Elkhart 
 
 Muncie 
 
 Michigan City. 
 
 Anderson 
 
 Jeffersonville . . 
 
 Madison 
 
 Vincennes 
 
 Marion 
 
 Kokomo 
 
 Huntington . . . 
 
 Marion 
 
 Vanderburg . 
 
 JAllen 
 
 'Vigo 
 
 Saint Joseph . 
 
 Floyd 
 
 'Wayne 
 
 Tippecanoe . . 
 
 Cass 
 
 Elkhart 
 
 ' Delaw are .... 
 
 iLaporte 
 
 Madison ■ . . . . 
 
 Clark 
 
 'Jefferson 
 
 Knox 
 
 (irant 
 
 Howard 
 
 Huntington , . 
 
 105,436 
 50.756 
 35.393 
 30,217 
 21,819 
 21,059 
 16,608 
 16,243 
 13.328 
 11,360 
 
 ".345 
 
 10,776 
 
 10,741 
 
 10,666 
 
 8,936 
 
 8,853 
 
 8,769 
 
 8,261 
 
 7,328 
 
 Laporte 
 
 Peru 
 
 Columbus 
 
 Crawfordsville . 
 Washington . . 
 
 (ioshen 
 
 Frankfort 
 
 Brazil 
 
 Shelbyville .... 
 
 Hammond 
 
 Seymour 
 
 Wabash 
 
 Valparaiso .... 
 Mount Vernon. 
 Connersville . . . 
 Greencastle. . . . 
 Lawrenceburg . 
 Blooinington . 
 
 COU.NTIES. 
 
 Laporte 
 
 Miami 
 
 Bartholomew . . 
 Montgomery. . . 
 
 Daviess 
 
 Elkhart 
 
 Clinton 
 
 Clay 
 
 Shelby 
 
 Lake 
 
 Jackson 
 
 Wabash 
 
 Porter 
 
 Posey 
 
 Fayette 
 
 Putnam 
 
 Uearborn 
 
 Monroe 
 
 1890. 
 
 7,126 
 
 7,028 
 6,719 
 6,089 
 6,064 
 6.033 
 5,9«9 
 5,90s 
 5,451 
 5,428 
 5.337 
 5,105 
 5,090 
 4.705 
 4.54S 
 4.390 
 4.2 H 
 4,018 
 

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