Northwestern Indiana from 1800 to 1900A regional history written by Timothy H. Ball . . . .
Source Citation:
Ball, Timothy H. 1900.
Northwestern
Indiana from 1800 to 1900 or A View of Our Region Through the Nineteenth Century.
Chicago, Illinois: Donohue and Henneberry. 570 p.
NORTHWESTERN INDIANA FROM 1800 TO 1900
148
CHAPTER XI.
POLITICAL HISTORY.
It is not designed in this chapter
to give the vote of each county, year by year, according to the division of
citizens into political parties, but it is considered sufficient, for the
objects of this historic record, to give the political aspects in each county in
1840, 1852, 1856, and 1860, and then the prevailing political sentiment of the
counties since the changes brought about by the Civil War and the era of
Reconstruction.
As all students of American history know, the year of 1840 was a time of great
political excitement over the entire country, and it was the first presidential
campaign in which these new counties in Northwestern
Indiana had taken much of any part.
For twenty-four years, from 1801 to 1825,
Jefferson, Madison, and Monroe, had held in succession the office of President,
all being what by some were called Democratic-Republicans; then, for four years
John Quincy Adams, called a National Republican, was President; and for twelve
years more Jackson and Van Buren, called simply Democrats, held that high
office; and now many of the people were desirous of a change in the
administration of national affairs. William Henry Harrison, of Ohio, was
nominated for President and John Tyler, of Virginia, for Vice President by a
party or a union of different forces bearing the old historic name of Whig. It
was the noted
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Log Cabin and Hard Cider campaign. In La Porte County the contest was a very
exciting one, on the Whig side such men as General Joseph Orr and Hon. John B.
Niles, with many other prominent citizens being found; and on the Democratic
side such men as Gilbert Hathaway, C. W. Cathcart, and many more whose names
will long remain in Northern Indiana history. It
was not only an exciting and arduous, but with some even a bitter struggle for
success. Wilber F. Storey, afterward connected with the "Chicago Times," was
then an editor of the "La Porte Herald," and his utterances in regard to the
antislavery men who were beginning to vote with the Whigs, just before the
political campaign opened, indicated full well the spirit of the man whose
utterances in the "Chicago Times" in the opening years of the Civil War needed
to be suppressed by the strong arm of power at Washington. And the publisher,
also an editor of that same "Herald," in his issue of July 11, 1840, says the
Whigs, whom he styles Federalists, residing in La Porte, "are the most
abandoned, reckless, hypocritical, murderous, and lost to every noble,
honorable, virtuous feeling, of any other community with which I am acquainted;
and within the last few years I have traveled through nine states of the Union,"
words which General Packard, with good reason, says, "embittered the already
aroused feeling of the Whig party"; and words which he who in the heat of his
vexation wrote them did not suppose, probably, would live a month. Surely one
lesson of history is, that men should not write nor even speak that which they
would be ashamed to have go down to posterity.
Two resolutions adopted in this hot campaign will
150
be quite sufficient to show the spirit of that time in
La Porte and also in Porter County. The first is Democratic:
"Resolved, That Federal principles are like Harrison victories, few and far
between -- and made to suit party customs; and that Harrison's battles, so
gloriously won, according to the tactics of the Federal party, are like his
principles, wholly unknown and unheard of."
The other is a Whig resolution, adopted by the senatorial convention at
Valparaiso, March 28, 1840, "presided over by Solon Robinson," then of Lake
County, "with James Blair, of Porter, and Alexander Blackburn, of La Porte, vice
presidents, H. S. Orton and Samuel S. Anthony, secretaries."
"Resolved, That we have our political log cabin already raised, that next August
we will roof it in, that next November we will chink Locofocos into the cracks,
and that next March we will move into it." And in March, 1841, General Harrison
did go into the White House at Washington.
Those who, as young men, enter into political life since the great changes
produced by the Civil War, may see corruption and hear abuse heaped upon
political opponents, but the bitterness manifested by many toward those who were
opposed to slavery, while that "irrepressible conflict" was leading on to the
great battles and the red fields of blood, they cannot readily realize. That
editor of the "La Porte Herald" already named, Wilber F. Storey, who became
editor-in-chief and proprietor of the "Chicago Times," published in March, 1840,
a long article on what he called "Abolitionism." In that article he styled it a
"nefarious subject," mentioned contemptuously
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some "friends of the poor negro" who held a meeting in the La Porte court house,
expressed the hope that the Democratic party would drive the antislavery men out
of their party, and called those who spoke against slavery "abolition loafers."'
It is evident that even in the campaign of 1840 elements were at work that would
be felt more fully in 1860.
La Porte County, Porter County, the State of Indiana
and the whole country went that year in favor of the Whig party.
Two brilliant speakers, "captivating" one was called, and the other "a popular
speaker of great eloquence," were candidates for Congress, E. A. Hannegan and
Henry S. Lane. The latter was elected.
In Lake County the Democrats were quite largely in the majority and gave their
vote for E. A. Hannegan. Solon Robinson, however, the first settler at Crown
Point, with some other Whigs, had attended that great gathering in May, 1840, at
the Tippecanoe battle ground, held in honor of General Harrison, of whom the
Whigs of La Porte said: "The battle fields of Tippecanoe, of Fort Meigs, and of
the Thames, present to the world imperishable monuments of his fame as a
soldier, and upon that evidence he may safely rest."
In 1840 Starke County and Newton had not been organized; and Jasper, with its
large territory, having then only twelve hundred and sixty-seven inhabitants,
and one hundred and thirty-eight polls, took but little part in political
affairs.
Says Judge Thompson, of Rensselaer: "In 1840 the entire taxable valuation of
property in what is now Newton, Benton, and Jasper, was $20,340." He
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says again: "Prior to 1840 there were settlements at Blue Grass, Wall Street,
Carpenter's Creek, Gillam, Crockett's Graveyard, and a few scattering houses
throughout the county."
White County, next to La Porte County in age, had not then become populous; nor
yet had Pulaski, then but recently organized, its first term of court held in
1840; so these counties took no very active part in the political campaign of
1840. Lake County had then fourteen hundred and sixty-eight inhabitants.
In 1848 there was another exciting campaign. General Taylor was the Whig
candidate for President and General Lewis Cass the Democratic candidate. One
sentence may well be quoted here as belonging to this canvass which was
"constant, thorough, and able." "Passions were deeply stirred, for more and more
were questions, arising out of the institution of slavery, coming to the
surface, and although both the old parties endeavored to ignore such questions,
like the ghost of murdered Banquo, they would not 'down.'"
The "Higher Law" was mentioned in discussions in these exciting days. Schuyler
Colfax, afterward Vice President of the United States, was for the first time a
candidate for Congress, nominated by a Whig convention in May, 1851. His
Democratic competitor was Graham N. Fitch. The position of the two parties in
this part of Indiana is shown in two of their
resolutions adopted at their district conventions. The first is Democratic:
"Resolved, That we abide by the letter and spirit of the Constitution, and that
we will stand by each and all of its compromises, and therefore recognize the
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binding force of every clause (the delivery of fugitives
from labor
included), and we regard any action from
any quarter, North or South, that tends to weaken or
estrange our high allegiance to its solemn provisions, as equally faithless and
treasonable."
And the corresponding Whig resolution was this:
"Resolved, That our position remains unchanged; no interference with the
domestic policy or peculiar institutions of sister States; no extension of slave
territory; no diffusion of an institution, which it is believed tends to degrade
labor and blight industry, over more of national soil than it now covers; no
countenancing of disunion sentiments whether at the North or South; but
devotion, unfaltering and unconditional devotion to our glorious Union, in any
event, under all circumstances, despite all contingencies."
By a convention adopting this as setting forth their views Schuyler Colfax
received his first nomination for Congress.
There was already a small but growing Free Soil party, not satisfied, even, with
the position taken by the Whigs. Their candidate in 1848 was Martin Van Buren,
and in 1852, the year which has been named as one of special interest, their
candidate was John P. Hale. In this year, Franklin Pierce being the Democratic
candidate and the Whigs endeavoring to elect one more general, the noted
Winfield Scott, a Democratic wave seemed to sweep over the country. The Whigs
had elected General Harrison, they had elected General Taylor, both of whom died
in office; they had failed to elect that grand statesman and favorite son of
Kentucky, Henry Clay, although La Porte County gave him a good majority; and
now, in 1852, they failed to elect General Scott. It was their last great
154
effort. The party was broken up. A new party was growing, which became before
long the great Republican party of the northern portion of the whole country. A
square issue in regard to the growth of slavery was soon to be made. About 1852
a party also was formed, the American party which included the "Know-Nothings,"
which prevailed for a time in both the North and the South, including largely
those who had been Whigs; the Kansas and Nebraska bill, repealing the Missouri
Compromise of 1820, was introduced by Stephen A. Douglas and passed by Congress
in May, 1854; and all those in favor of free territorial soil became still more
aroused to the fact of the conflict before them, and were gathering their forces
to meet it. The Republican party was organized. In 1856 the combined forces that
went into this party held their first national convention and nominated for
President John C. Fremont. But the Democrats elected this year one more
President, James Buchanan, and it was evident before long that not ballots but
bullets would be needful to settle the conflict, when in 1860, on a full tidal
wave of success Abraham Lincoln was elected to be the next President of the
United States.
The position of the counties in these different years is now to be examined.
La Porte County in 1852 gave to the Democratic electors a majority of one
hundred and eleven, at the same time the Free Soil party in the county giving to
John P. Hale one hundred and thirty-six votes, so that had these votes been
given for General Scott La Porte would still have held a Whig majority. Schuyler
Colfax and Henry S. Lane were this year among the defeated Whig electors.
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In 1856 La Porte County went strongly Republican and gave Colfax one hundred and
thirty majority for representative in Congress. The year, 1860, came, when the
whole nation, both North and South, saw that there was no light conflict before
them; yet not even then foreseeing how desperate and how bloody it would be. An
organization known as Wide Awakes in La Porte, added brilliancy to the night
scenes, as with torch lamps they moved in long processions on the streets of
that beautiful city. The election day came. Colfax received a majority of one
thousand and five for another term in Congress as Republican representative. La
Porte County continued Republican till 1872, when it became Democratic, and
since that time its vote has not been constant for one party.
Porter County in 1852 was probably Democratic, as it had been in 1848, giving a
few Free Soil votes, -- the vote of two townships is not at hand -- but in 1856
it was strongly Republican, and in 1860 the county gave for Lincoln a large
majority. It continued to be a Republican County until after 1880, and for
several years past it has been generally Republican. Lake County, at first and
for several years largely Democratic, when the Republican party was formed,
became strongly Republican, the Free Soil Democrats of whom there were many,
going with the Whigs to help form that large party that for twenty-four
consecutive years had a Republican President in the White House. (It may be
noted as a somewhat singular coincidence that as the so-called
Democratic-Republican party had control of the government
from 1801 to 1825, so the Republican, the Free Soil party, had control
for the same length of time, from 1861 to 1885.)
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The other five counties, Starke, Pulaski, White, Jasper, and Newton, have been
quite uniform in their political preferences, Starke and Pulaski Democratic;
Jasper and Newton Republican; and White in 1896 giving a Democratic majority for
Secretary of State, the two parties, however, being quite evenly balanced.
In the last few years, in all these counties there have been some Prohibition
votes. The Prohibition candidate for governor a few years ago, R. S. Dwiggins,
was a resident of Rensselaer.
Number of voters in 1895 --
|
Counties |
White. |
Colored. |
|
La Porte |
9,414 |
38 |
|
Lake |
8,192 |
21 |
|
Porter |
5,128 |
2 |
|
White |
4,780 |
3 |
|
Jasper |
3,444 |
6 |
|
Pulaski |
3,219 |
1 |
|
Newton |
2,600 |
19 |
|
Starke |
2,465 |
. . |
DISTRICTS AND
CONGRESSMEN.
When, in 1843, an act
was passed "for revising and consolidating the
Statutes of the State of Indiana," it was enacted
in the section in regard to the counties, "The State of
Indiana shall be, and the same is hereby divided into the following
counties, to wit:" The names of eighty-eight counties then follow, but no Newton
County is named, as it was then included in Jasper. After defining the
boundaries of the eighty-eight counties, ten Congressional districts were
formed. Our eight counties Newton as a part of Jasper, were then placed in the
Ninth
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district, along with nine other counties, the General Assembly thus making this,
in the number of counties, the largest district in the State. The other
districts numbered from four to fourteen counties
each. It is to be supposed that the northwestern
part of Indiana, in 1843, was not very densely
populated. In arranging the senatorial districts, "La Porte, Lake, and Porter,"
were entitled to one senator; "Warren, White, Pulaski, Jasper, Benton, and
Starke," to one. So that, with the aid of two other counties, we then elected
two State senators. In arranging for representatives, La Porte was then allowed
to have two; Porter and Lake were to elect one; White, Pulaski, and Jasper,
together with Benton, to elect one; and Starke along with Marshall and Fulton
could also elect one. Five representatives we could elect with the help of three
other counties.
But population increased. Time brought its various changes.
In 1872 an act of the General Assembly re-arranging senators and representatives
became a law, and then La Porte County alone was entitled to one senator; Lake
and Porter to one; Newton, Jasper, and White, with Benton, to one; Starke with
St. Joseph to one; and Pulaski, along with Marshall and Fulton, to one. La
Porte, Porter, and Lake, were allowed one representative each; Jasper and White
together, one; Newton with Benton, one; Pulaski and Starke with a part of
Fulton, one.
In 1876, when there were thirteen Congressional districts, our eight counties,
with Carroll and St. Joseph, constituted the Tenth. There were cast that year,
for President, 35,187 votes in this Tenth district, distributed thus: For Hayes,
17,902; for Tilden, 16,917; and for Cooper, 368.
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At the session of the Indiana Legislature in 1895
a new arrangement for Congressional districts was made. The State was again
divided into thirteen districts, the Tenth to comprise the counties of Lake,
Porter, and La Porte; White, Newton, and Jasper, with Warren, Tippecanoe, and
Benton. Pulaski and Starke were placed in the Thirteenth district. The number of
counties, according to this last division, ranges from
two to ten in a district, one district only, the Fourth, exceeding the
Tenth in number. The average number of counties in a district is now seven, so
the Tenth is not quite up to the average.
In 1897 another act of the Legislature changed slightly the apportionments of
senators and representatives which had been re-arranged in 1895. This last act
gave to La Porte and Starke one senator; to Lake and Porter one; to Newton,
Jasper, and White, one; and to Pulaski with Cass, one. This act gave, for
representatives, to White and Pulaski, one; to Porter, one; to Newton with
Benton, one; to Lake with Jasper, two; and to La Porte with Starke, two.
FULL LIST OF CONGRESSMEN.
This list contains the names of representatives in Congress for only one
district. Some of the eight counties have been at times in other districts.
Indiana had in 1831 and 1832, the twenty-second
session of Congress, only three districts; but at the time of the next session,
for the years 1833 and 1834, there were seven, and ours continued to be the
Seventh district till 1843.
First -- Edward S. Hannegan, Democrat. Two terms, 1833 to 1836.
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Second -- Albert S. White, Democrat, 1837 and 1838.
Third -- Tilghman A. Howard, Democrat, 1839 and 1840.
Fourth -- Henry S. Lane, Whig, 1841 and 1842.
Fifth -- Samuel C. Sample, Whig, 1843 and 1844.
The district was now the Ninth.
Sixth -- Charles W. Cathcart, Democrat, 1845 to 1848. Two terms.
Seventh -- Graham N. Fitch, Democrat, 1849 to 1852. Two terms.
Eighth -- Norman Eddy, Democrat, 1853 and 1854.
Ninth -- Schuyler Colfax, Anti-Nebraska and afterward Republican. Seven terms,
1855 to 1868.
Tenth -- Jasper Packard, Republican. Three terms. The district now the Eleventh,
1869 to 1874.
Eleventh -- William S. Haymond, Democrat, 1875 and 1876. District now the Tenth.
Twelfth -- William H. Calkins, Republican, 1877 to 1880. Two terms.
Thirteenth -- Mark L. De Motte, Republican, 1881 and 1882.
Fourteenth -- Thomas J. Wood, Democrat, 1883 and 1884.
Fifteenth -- William D. Owen, Republican, 1885 to 1890. Three terms.
Sixteenth -- David H. Patton, Republican, 1891 and 1892.
Seventeenth -- Thomas Hammond, Democrat, 1893 and 1894.
Eighteenth -- Jethro A. Hatch, Republican, 1895 and 1896.
Nineteenth -- Edgar D. Crumpacker, Republican, 1897 to 1900.
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JUDICIAL CIRCUITS AND JUDGES.
Thirtieth Circuit -- Jasper and Newton counties with Benton form this circuit.
Present judge elected in 1896, S. P. Thompson, of Rensselaer. Republican.
Thirty-first Circuit -- Lake and Porter counties. Judge, John H. Gillett,
residing at Hammond. Re-' publican.
Thirty-second Circuit -- La Porte County with St. Joseph. Judge, Lucius Hubbard,
of La Porte.
Thirty-ninth Circuit -- White with Carroll County. Judge, Foreman F. Palmer, of
Monticello.
Forty-fourth Circuit -- Pulaski and Starke counties, both Democratic, electing
as the present judge, George W. Beeman.
In the records of La Porte County are the names of these four who have been
members of the Congress of the United States: C. W. Cathcart, Jasper Packard,
William H. Calkins, and Mulford K. Farrand.
Congressmen from Porter County are the following:
Mark L. De Motte, Edgar D. Crumpacker.
From Lake County: Thomas J. Wood and Thomas
Hammond.
La Porte County has furnished one United States Senator, Charles W. Cathcart,
from 1852 to 1853, and one judge of the Supreme
Court, Andrew L. Osborne, from 1872 to 1874.
Lake County has furnished a Secretary of State, Charles F. Griffin,
from 1887 to 1891; a Crown Point boy and then a
young lawyer; a Sunday-school superintendent and active in the temperance work
of the town, then sent to Indianapolis, and now a resident lawyer at Hammond.
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ADDENDUM.
Among those events that are deserving of notice some space should surely be
given to the part taken by citizens in these counties to what is known as our
Mexican War, which commenced in April, 1846, and ended in September, 1847. Of
this conflict the author of that highly praised "Dictionary of United States
History," advertised as "the grandest book of the age," takes the opportunity to
say: "The war was plainly one of unjust aggression on a minor power, with the
object of winning more territory for new slave States." The opinion of a
recorder of history may be of value, or it may not be of value; but a writer of
history is not required to express his private opinion in order to give correct
facts. There are, probably, two sides to the questions concerning every war, --
the present ones of 1900 being no exceptions -- and there were many to uphold
the action of our government in 1846, as there are to uphold its action in 1898,
1899, and 1900.
Whether any readers of these pages agree with Professor Jameson in his needless
thrust at the action of our government or whether they believe, with many
others, that the Mexican was a justifiable war, out of which grew grand and good
results, they will surely accord to the men who went from
these counties due respect for patriotism and for valor. La Porte County,
the most populous and most wealthy,
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took the lead in this as in some other movements, and soon a company was sent
forth with W. W. McCoy as captain.
The ladies of La Porte presented to this company a beautiful silk banner, which
was borne with honor over sparkling waters and bloody battlefields, and was in
August, 1848, returned with credit to the hands of the ladies who had given it.
In that company, Robert Fravel, First Lieutenant; C. W. Lewis, Second
Lieutenant; Samuel Mecum, Ensign and Color Bearer, were ninety-two young men.
Some of them did not return. The company was organized in May, 1847. The peace
was proclaimed July 4, 1848.
Captain Joseph P. Smith, a business man of Crown Point, proposed to raise a
company for this war. (W. A. Goodspeed in "Porter and Lake" says that he was the
"only one man in the county who knew anything of military tactics." And at that
same time there was living in Lake County one who had been colonel of a company
of cavalry, and had been on many a muster field before 1832. But of course W. A.
Goodspeed could not be expected to know. He came, a stranger among us, to write
the history of Porter and of Lake counties. He should have refrained
from volunteering statements about matters which
he could not know.) Captain Smith, it was understood, had been captain of a
military company in New York, and did have some knowledge of military drill. He
raised a company in four or five counties, some twenty-five men of Lake County,
one hundred and seven in all, and left Crown Point for Mexico. It would seem
that, in point of time, Captain Smith's patriotic action was in advance of
Captain McCoy's
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of La Porte, for the evidence is that he crossed the Tippecanoe with his entire
company on the way to Madison, Indiana, before the
last of April, 1847; but in regard to numbers La Porte County took the lead.
This company was quite unfortunate; some actually deserted, and many never
returned. Some made good soldiers in a later and a larger war.
NAVIGATION OF
NORTHWESTERN INDIANA FROM 1800 TO 1900
FRONT MATTER AND DEDICATION
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
CHAPTER 1
- GENERAL OUTLINES
CHAPTER 2
- THE INDIANS
CHAPTER 3
- THE EARLY SETTLERS
CHAPTER 4
- WHAT THE EARLY SETTLERS FOUND
CHAPTER 5
- PIONEER LIFE
CHAPTER 6
- COUNTY ORGANIZATIONS
CHAPTER 7
- OUR LAKES AND STREAMS
CHAPTER 8
- LAKE MICHIGAN WATER SHED
CHAPTER 9
- TOWNSHIP AND STATISTICS
CHAPTER
10 - RAILROAD LIFE
CHAPTER
11 - POLITICAL HISTORY
CHAPTER
12 - THE WAR RECORD
CHAPTER
13 - RELIGIOUS HISTORY
CHAPTER
14 - RELIGIOUS HISTORY
CHAPTER
15 - RELIGIOUS HISTORY
CHAPTER
16 - SUNDAY SCHOOLS
CHAPTER
17 - TOWNS AND VILLAGES OF NEWTON AND JASPER
CHAPTER
18 - TOWNS AND VILLAGES OF WHITE, PULASKI AND STARKE
CHAPTER
19 - VILLAGES, TOWNS AND CITIES OF LAKE
CHAPTER
20 - VILLAGES AND TOWNS OF PORTER
CHAPTER
21 - VILLAGES, TOWNS AND CITIES OF LA PORTE
CHAPTER
22 - EARLY TRAVELS
CHAPTER
23 - PUBLIC SCHOOLS
CHAPTER
24 - PRIVATE AND PAROCHIAL SCHOOLS
CHAPTER
25 - LIBRARIES
CHAPTER
26 - OTHER INDUSTRIES
CHAPTER
27 - SOCIAL ORGANIZATIONS
CHAPTER
28 - THE KANKAKEE REGION
CHAPTER
29 - DRAINING MARSHES
CHAPTER
30 - ANIMALS AND PLANTS
CHAPTER
31 - MISCELLANEOUS RECORDS
CHAPTER
32 - COURT HOUSES
CHAPTER
33 - ARCHAEOLOGICAL SPECIMENS
CHAPTER
34 - BIRTH PLACES OF PIONEERS
CHAPTER
35 - McCARTY
CHAPTER
36 - ATTEMPTS TO CHANGE
CHAPTER
37 - ALTITUDES
CHAPTER
38 - MISCELLANEOUS RECORDS
CHAPTER
39 - SOME STATISTICS
CHAPTER
40 - WEATHER RECORD
CONCLUSION
Transcribed by Steven R. Shook, April 2012