The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1885-12-01

SKIN ana great reserve power. 1t was on such occa-
slons that he appeared to best advantage. His style
OF speaking was admirable; while he was earnest-at
tunes vehement-he was always graceful and digni-
hed, and therefore. pleasing and persuasive. His
equanimlty and uniform courtesy to the court and
bar, IN defeat as well as victory, was worthy of all
praise, and in this and other respects younger
men, members of this bar-a bar in
moral tone and elevation second to none so
far as | now-wlll do well to make him a model
for imitation. His amiable, CHEEKY, genial good
nature made him a most agreeable companion and
won for him the sympathy and regard of those who
were so fortunate as to meet him in social intercourse.
/ might say more, but, as chairman of the meeting,
extended remarks are not called for on my part.
On motion of Judge Lewis c. Walker, w. A.
Ketcham was made secretary and Charles L..
Holstein. ex-United States District Attorney,
read the following memorial, as prepared by the
bar committee:
THE MEMORIAL.
Thomas A. Hendricks was born Sept. z. 1919. in
Muskingum county, Ohio. In 1920 his parents re-
moved to Indiana, first to Madison, then to Shelby
vile near which place they permanently resided. His
ooyhood and youth were spent in Shelby county, on
his fathers farm. They were those of a pioneer, Of an
early settler lin a -sparselypopulated region of what
was then known elsewhere as the far West. His life
was thus IN every circumstance, coincident with the
morning of the State, the beginning of civilization in a
new commonwealth. Receiving at home a course of
common school education he subsequently, attended and
graduated at Hanover College, in Jefferson county.
choosing the law as a profession, he prosecuted his
studies partly at Shelbyville, partly at Gettysburg,
L d., Dub was admitted TO the bar and commenced the
practice at Shelbyvile, in 1913. His first public po-
sition was attained in 1913, by an election, unsolic-
tied, to the House of Representatives of the General
Assembly. Having served one term, and declining
further service therein, he was, in 1850, elected a
member of the constitutional convention, being one
OF the youngest members of that body. and having in
his associates many of the men most eminent in pub
lie life at that period.
In August, 1851, he was elected a representative in
Congress and served two terms.
In August, 1855, he was rendered and accepted
from President Pierce the position of Commissioner
of the General Land Office, at Washington, wherein he
served nearly four years, resigning in the year 1859.
AS the unanimous choice of his party on the 18th
day of January, 1868, he was elected q senator of the
United States for the term of six years. commencing
on the 4th day of March, 1868, when he took his seat
as such. He soon became in that distinguished body
the recognized leader of his party. Alike fitted for
council and debate, endowed with that rare union of
qualities, an equal proportion of caution and courage
so much needed in the conduct of a parliamentary OPP
position.
In 1872 he was elected Governor Of Indiana, the
first of his political party chosen to such a position
after the close of the war in any Northern State. AS
Governor he originated the system of making and
preserving IN that department a permanent record of
executive action upon all applications before him.
His administration was distinguished for more than
er una aCtehClon TO Ihe cause OF popular educauon:
TOR the humane appeals by the executive in behalf of
the benevolent institutions of the State, appeals which
met a response from the General Assembly alike cred
table TO themselves and their constituents.
In 1877, and again in 1884, he visited Europe,
travelling through the British islands, and the princi-
pal countries of the continent. A single remark made
NpNh AoI OtuL AEo AEo COuT CudU IL ii
were a people much attached to their country, not at
all TO their institutions of government" shows the
habit of thoughtful observation which characterized
even his leisure.
In 1884 he was elected Vice president of the United
States, and entered upon his duties as such on the 4th
day of March, 1885, serving as the presiding officer
of the Senate during the brief executive session held
under the new administrator.
From the farmhouse to the. vice presidency-such
was the commencement and end of a career untouched
by %dishonor, unclouded by suspicion. His public acts
as a senator and representative in Congress have gone
into history. His record has received the highest pos
slble Communication and approval from the vast con-
stituency he served by his subsequent preferment to
the second Office in the gift of the Nation-from the
consideration, also, that begun in one age, another
generation OF his countrymen arose to do him honor
and to complete the fullorbed cycle of his fame.
Mr.. Hendricks was throughout the whole period of
cerned In the conduct of causes. His en-
trance upon and employments in public life
s wsfe o episodes sn+ excursions KEY sion s;n useful a. to himself self
beaten path of forensic labor. On the floor of the
Senate, in the halls of legislation he sojourned-at the
bar, in the courts, he dwelt. He was engaged in very
much of the important litigation at the capital of his
State, His practice was by no means local: He at
tended in the discharge of professional duties
of the higher courts of adjoining
States and the Supreme Court at Washington. Much
of his life, however. was non professional. His time
and thought were at very frequently recurring inter
walls given to the work of the hustings. There was
something in the mere aspect of a large popular as
sembly which had for him a special attraction. His
manner in addressing a mixed audience was peculiarly
his own-neitner that of conversation nor oratory;
something better suited than either to his pur-
pose. He was one of the most impressive and
successful of public canvassers. Nor did he disre-
gard the unconsidered tri1es of the campaign. There
was ali affiuent grace in his situations which largely
supplemented argument. He was, moreover, a man of
normal action and opinion, following the ordinary
bent and tenets of his party; no fanatic, zealot or ex-
tremist upon any subject; not such a one as the null
titude often follow, but a character smoothly rounded
to completeness, without edges or angles, with no
corners in his creed political; yet he was and contin-
ued to be a popular favorite to the last.
To the stores of information acquired by extensive
travel and intercourse, both at home and abroad, he
added a close acquaintance with the works of the best
authors, being a careful habitual reader of books not less
than of men. His literary taste was highly cultivated.
His excellence as a writer, manifest enough in his
messages and state papers. would have earned partic-
ular recognition but that it has been overshadowed
by his more imposing reputation as a public speaker.
In religion he was an Episcopalian, an active mem
Der and officer for many years of st. Pauls Church,
indianapolis. Upon this subject he was firm in his
convictions, in his life consistent, in his Christian
profession unobtrusive. He walked with humility in
faith. A man much given to charity, and of the most
enlightened and liberal tolerance; nevertheless he
was strongly ATTACKED to his church, to his party, to
his State, giving voice often with emphasis to his
affection, that men might note not him but these, the
s~o-greatly reyered objects of his devotion and regard.
The virtues of his private life were such as may be
most commended in the friend, the ~neighbor and the
citizen. He was naturally of a disposition sedate,
though cheerful; in address urbane; in manner ex-
tremely afable, but with dignity; in conversation
pleasing; IN society attracting, but not engrossing the
attention of others; to woman deferential with a high
| degree of courtesy enforced. indicative of respect and
interest. Such was Hendricks.
Discerning the man, his life and acts at large in the
mass, in that respect too most nearly concerning
ourselves, we may say. with verify, he was
pre- eminently a product of Indiana, an offspring of the
| State, a growth of its laws and institutions, and that
the just pride taken in him by the people of this com
monwealth was entertained not without reason for a
| fellow-citizen so ilustrious.
He died in this city, where he would have wished to
die. where he most really lived; at home; surrounded
| by tn0-a whom he loved; in the metropolis of the
| State which he 1iissa served so long and by which he
had been so often and Sc highly honored. Not with
out unavailing sorrow for a calamity so grievous do
we tender to his bereaved consort AID the kindred of
his household our profound condolences and sincerest
sympathy in the irreparable loss which has befallen
thela. DAVID TURPIE,
A. L. RoACHE,
A. G. HARRIS,
NOBLE G. BUTLER,
CHAS. L. HOLSTEIN,
Bar Memorial Committee.
On fha copcluciou of the raadiuO nf the uamo.