Arizona republican. [volume] (Phoenix, Ariz.) 1890-1930, 1909-04-19
the IND|AN|ANS
AND THEIR STATE
The Address of Dr.. Wilkinson at the
Picnic on Saturday.


of his address he spoke of the wore
as one of depreciation. After put.
ting his audience into a pleasant
mood by humorous illustrating anec.
dotes, accounting for the movement
of Hoosiers into this valley, he thu.
gave a history of Indiana and if.
people as follows:
How will The Hoosiers-Whc
Were They and Whence Came They ?
do for a theme? And shall | moi
first speak OF the origin of the word
itself? Its first known use in Indiana
was in a Carriers New Years ad-
dress some eighty years ago. 1t was
not coined to designate the sturdy
yeomanry of our native state. 1t was
imported from the south, meaning
much the same as our Illinois hay
seed. 1t was given to Indianians
because of their rustic appearance
You know il was many years before
Indiana had cities-hence but few city
folks-the vast majority were rustics
l have always felt indignant at the
nickname Hoosier as a term of de-
probation. of belittling However, the
DAY has come that il is an honorable
title
As Indianians we have every rea-
son to be proud of our ancestry.
Our state was originally settled by
the best blood of Europe and our own
land. AS did the Puritans and Pill
grims seek homes in the new world
for freedoms sake, so the early set
tiers of Indiana came to escape the
influences of oppression and slavery.
hot
might be free from the hard, tyran-
Gus conditions of the old world. Many
thousands left their homes in the sun
ny south for the rigors and hard
ships of northern cline that they
might leave behind the blight of
slavery. However, it was high moral
principles more than selfish interests
that led them to seek the carving
out of free homes for themselves and
their children in the dense forests
of the moth.
Il challenge any man to an intel
ligent review of the history of In
diana's first settlers. Let us spend
a few moments in such a review.
Doubtless you all know the territory
of Indiana originally belonged to Vir-
ginia by conquest In 1884 that state
ceded it, with a large part of Ohio.
to the United States In 1900 it was
set off from Ohio and given a terri
torial government. Till 1905 il in
cluded what is now the state Of Mich
igan. and until 1909 also what is
now the state of Illinois. Being for
many years a province of Virginia it
was natural Virginians should migrate
thither. Two of its territorial GOV
ernors were from the old dominion
Gen William Henry Harrison and
Gen. Thomas Posey. James Noble. of
notable Virginia family, was In
diana's first United States senator,
serving from 1916 to his death in
1881. Our family physician was
Virginian. Thousands of her best
families came to Indiana, becoming
leaders in territorial and state gov
eminent. So prominent were they as
TO become known as the Virginia
arisfocrats. II was natural. TOO. that
very many should cross the border
from Ohio, my own mother among
them. Her grandfather. DR.. Davis,
settled in Cincinnati. when only log
huts were there. Have heard my
mother tell how they had to stand
guard by night lest Indians should
steal their cattle and horses Later
the family made their home at Brook
VILE, eight miles over the line, in
Indiana. There DR.. Davis established
the first drug store. Last September
had the privilege of helping cele-
brate the centennial of my native
place. BrookviTe May l be INDUCED
TO further say this great grandfather
Of mine fought at Bunker Hill, was
Later a soldier under Washington.
and it's through him | was entitled to
become a Son of the American Rev
olution.
"A large number of Pennsylvanians
came early to Indiana by way of the
Ohio river. 1 personally know many
families. There was David Wallace,
who was one of the early governors
of the state His son, Gen Lew
Wallace. was born in Brookville. The
second territorial governor was John
Gibson. a Pennsylvania OF course
Kentucky contributed largely, and of
the finest families, to lndianas plon-
GERS. The Cumberland road, the Ten
nessee and Cumberland rivers were
highways of immigrants into Indiana
Thousands OF the mouHtdlIetiS VI
Tennessee, North and South Carolina,
of Scotch-Irish descent, of noblest
blood, migrated to Indiana, settling
all I'D and down the White Water
valley. And there were the North
and South Carolina Friends or Quak-
ers, descendants of the noble Husue-
motto stock originally driven from
France because of their heroic pro-
testantism- They, like the Scotch
Irish, left the south because of slav-
cry. They largely made their homes
midway of the state, along what
later was the National road They
became one of the great stalwartly
moral elements of Indiana.
And 1 must not forget that garden
SPOT. northeastern Indiana, made such
by New Englanders from the over
flow in the Ohio Western Reserve,
owned and early settled by Connecti-
cut
l have not yet spoken of the very
early European peoples-the SWISS,
-