The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-05-01
HISTORIC INDIANA TOWN.
Not Greatly Changed Since Jonathan
Jennings Lived There.
Special TO the Indianapolis Journal.

CHARLESTOWN, Ind, April is
only one town in Indiana to-day that is
its general appearance links Indiana of the
present with Indiana of the past. Vim
cennes is a modern city in architecture;
Ccrydon is a busy. busting town of to-day,
but Charlestown is the Charlestown of
three-quarters of a century ago. when iona
than Jennings. and Charles Dewey made it
their home. The old brick and stone houses,
built on architectural lines fashionable in
the days of the revolution, still stand splen-
dolly preserved from the ravages of time,
and as one ak the streets of this at
t~ractive old town he is carried back in
memory to the first years of the Hoosier
State, for in and around Charlestown re-
sided many of the history-makers OF early
Indiana.
Jonathan Jennings, Indiana's first Gov
ernor, stepped from a fatboat to the In
diana shore at Jacksonville in 1908. and.
coming to Charlestown, then recently sur
veyed and plated, began the practice of
law. 1t was at Charlestown that he mar
ried Ann Hay, his first wife, a Kentucky
lady. the daughter of John Hay, and the
sister of the celebrated Dr.. Campbell Hay.
Jonathan Jennings was the son of a Pres
byterian minister, a native of Pennsylvania
and when he settled in Charlestown he was
barely twenty-one years of age. Charles
town was settled by old-school P~resbyter-
ians, and it is probable that young Jen-
nings selected this place as his home be-
cause Of the religious tendencies of its in
habitants. He was a Democrat and an
anti-slavery advocate, fearless in the eX-
preston of what he deemed right, and he
soon became less the lawyer and more the
politician, for In 1909 he was elected the
TprrifnrioI 1a1n.oAo 90 Tonrroe- o1-or
Thomas Randolph, a virginian. after a
most exciting and bitter campaign, in which
every effort was made to draw him
into a duel, but without success.
From the day that he entered Congress
until his final retirement from public life
MS history is a part of the history of our
great commonwealth and too weIl-known
TO require reproduction. After Jonathan
JenningS'S marriage to Ann Hay he and his
wife went to housekeeping in Charlestown,
now the property of the heirs of DR.. Daniel
Coombs, deceased. While Governor he tenn
porarily resided at Corydon, but never gave
up ms CharlestoWn residence. During his
public life he purchased q large tract Of
land two and a half miles west of Charles
town, and here he erected a large double
log house, surrounding 1t with all the con-
Venlences and luxurieS of that day. He also
caused to be built and operated on this
his country mansion one day Jonathan Jen-
nings followed the remains Of Ann Hay
Jennings, his first wife, to their final rest
ing place in the old CharlestoWn cemetery,
on what is now known as the Terrier hill.
The Jennings home did not long remain
without a mistress. Miss Clarissa Barbee,
an accomplished young lady of Lexington.
KY, had come to Charlestown to teach in
the Presbyterian Seminary. Governor Jen-
soul of courtesy and gentility, and he soon
won the consent of the fair Miss Barbee
to become his bride. Their wedding was a
very quiet, commonplace affair. Miss Bar
bee lived with some relatives at the old
Green Tree Tavern, which was but recently
torn down to give place to the residence Of
State Senator Watson. From the main en-
trance Of this ancient h~ostelry Governor
Jennings escorted Miss Barbee to the par
They walked along the little village street,
hand in hand, and out into the 'big" road,
thence to the parsons house. where he pro-
and wife. That night the Governor gave a
reception at the old Green Tree Tavern,
and here all the inhabitants of Charlestown
assembled to shower congratulations upon
him and his bride.
When Governor Jennings took his bride
went along with them young Jimmy Sharp,
nine years of age. Miss Barbee had been
his teacher, and he accompanied her to the
Governors home, where she had promised
to continue his instruction. Mrs. Jennings's
little pupil is now the venerable and re-
spected James K. Sharp, of Charlestown.
He became a member of the Governors
household, and as no children blessed the
union, he was regarded both by Mrs. Jen-
AAiAA5o C1i0 NllC NV liO1 u az N44ON hOhlQ
have regarded an own son.
The cloud that had begun to obscure the
governors last days now manifested itself
quently under the influence Of liquor; the
stillhouse was closed, and every effort was
made to keep him out Of town in order that
he might not indulge his appetite, his wife
hoping, like many another devoted wife,
that she might be the means of reforming
Carr, in 1880, virtually sealed his fate. His
friends voted against him at that election,
hoping to break off his habit by temporarily
retiring him from Congress. But nothing
aVailed. Kingly in his bearing when not
under the influence of liquor, he frequently
became so intoxicated that 1t would be
Charlestown in the care of attendants. One
evening he was brought home for the last
Governor breathed his last. His remains
were buried by the side of his first wife in
the old Charlestown cemetery, and for sixty
years no stone marked his last resting
place. The Legislature of 1893 appropriated
$500 with which to erect a monument to
Governor Jennings, and In the fall of that
cemetery, where they now repoSe under the
monument donated by his tardy and inap-
preciative countrymen.
When Governor Jennings was in the
zenith of his power a great many babies
were named for him. Among the number
was a certain Jonathan Jennings Ford, who
as a boy was very proud of the name. AS
he grew to manhood he frequently saw Jen-
nings. now in his decline, sadly under the
influence of liquor, and he became con-
WINGED that the name he bore was a dis
grace to him. He appeared before the next
session of the Legislature and had his name
changed to John Lewis Ford, and shortly
afterwards moved to another county, where
he expected to gain a state reputation in
politics. He reached the Legislature in 1861
as g representative and there his political
career ended. AT a late reunion of the mem
bers of the Legislature of 1851 there was
but one member present who could tell
about what had become of John Lewis
Ford. He was dead and nearly forgotten,
while the name of Jonathan Jennings will
live as long as the history OF Indiana sur
wives.
After the death of Governor Jennings his
widow returned to Charlestown, where she
again aught school for some years. She
finally removed to western Kentucky, where
she spent the remainder of her life among
her relatives. who were wealthy and in
fuential people.