Alvin Peterson Hovey Alvin Peterson Hovey ( September 6 , 1821 – November 23 , 1891 ) was a Union general during the American Civil War , an Indiana Supreme Court justice , congressman , and the 21st Governor of Indiana from 1889 to 1891 . During the war he played an important role in the Western theatre , earning high approval from Grant , and uncovered a secret plot for an uprising in Indiana . As governor , he launched several legal challenges to the Indiana General Assembly ' s removal of his powers , but was mostly unsuccessful . He successfully advocated election reform before he died in office . Early life . Family and background . Alvin Peterson Hovey was born in Mount Vernon , Indiana on September 6 , 1821 to Abiel and Francis Hovey . His mother died while he was a young boy , and his father died when he was fifteen leaving him orphaned . His youth was spent in poverty , and after being sent to an orphanage following his father ' s death , he received a basic education before being turned out at age eighteen . Hovey wanted to become a lawyer , and went work as a bricklayer by day , and studied law at night in the office of John Pitcher , a Mount Vernon attorney in 1840 . After over three years of study in the office , he was admitted to bar in 1843 and opened his own law office . Hovey was propelled into the state spotlight in 1849 when he was appointed to oversee the estate of the deceased William McClure . McClure was a wealthy idealist who was one of the co - founder of the failed utopian settlement of New Harmony , Indiana . In his will , he ordered that his estate be sold and the proceeds be used to fund the construction of libraries . His two siblings had already seized much of his estate , sold it , and made off with the funds . Posey filed over sixty lawsuits to reclaim the assets of the estate , and used the proceed for their intended purpose . The funds successfully funded the opening of 160 libraries in Indiana and Illinois . The case gained considerable press coverage around Indiana , and Hovey gained considerable popularity from his success . He met and married his wife Mary Ann in 1844 , and the couple had five children . Only two of the children survived infancy . Constitutionalists . Hovey was elected as a Democrat to serve as a delegate in 1850 to help create a new constitution for the state of Indiana . Hovey supported the educational and governmental reforms to the constitution , as well as being a driving force in some of the more controversial aspects of the constitution . He opposed the extension of suffrage to women and blacks , and proposed adding a section to the constitution to ban free blacks from Indiana . His proposal was accepted because it was viewed as a punishment to the southern states , who would be required to care for the free blacks . He also opposed the bankruptcy reforms , saying that it would grant to much protection from creditors , and encourage laziness . The constitution was approved by the public , but the anti - black portions were ruled unconstitutional by the U . S . Supreme Court two years later . In 1854 , Hovey was appointed by Governor Joseph A . Wright to fill a vacancy on the Indiana Supreme Court until an election could be held . At the time of his appointment , he was 34 , making him the youngest justice in the history of the court . It also made him the only constitutional delegate to become the interpreter of a document which he himself had helped write . His most important decision was in voting to strike down taxing laws created by some townships to increase funding for their schools . His decision stated that the constitution required all state schools be funded uniformly . He campaigned to be elected to the Supreme Court , but was defeated having only served six months on the court . In 1855 , Hovey was appointed by United States President Franklin Pierce to serve as US Attorney for Indiana . The state Democratic party had been going though a period of internal problems over the slavery issue . The pro - slavery faction , led by Jesse D . Bright , expelled many anti - slavery members of the party including Hovey during the 1858 state convention . Bright was able to influence President James Buchanan to remove Hovey from office because of his position . Hovey responded by running for Congress against Democrat William E . Niblack as an Independent , but was defeated by a large margin . Hovey then joined the Republican Party , along with many of the other expelled Democrats . American Civil War . Front lines . Immediately following the outbreak of the American Civil War in 1861 , Hovey was commissions as a colonel and organized the First Regiment of the Indiana Legion , a militia force that was used to defend the state during the war . Shortly thereafter , he was appointed colonel of the 24th Regiment Indiana Infantry . His regiment was quickly sent to the front - lines where he led it in the Battle of Shiloh in 1862 . He remained with the advance elements of the main western Union army , and was promoted to brigadier general of United States Volunteers . During the siege of Corinth he commanded the 1st Brigade in Lew Wallace ' s 3rd Division . Hovey briefly commanded the District of Eastern Arkansas during the Fall of 1862 but returned to brigade command in the Army of the Tennessee in 1863 . In January he was given command of the 12th Division in the XIII Corps . He led his division at the Battle of Champion Hill later that year earning the praise of General Ulysses S . Grant . He again led his division in the Siege of Vicksburg , breaking Confederate control of the Mississippi River . Grant again praised Hovey as key to the siege ' s success . Shortly after the battle , he received word that his wife had died , and returned home to arrange for guardians for his children . Her death was deeply saddening to Hovey who was slow to recover emotionally . He returned briefly to the front in 1864 to the 1st Division in the XXIII Corps division during the Atlanta Campaign . In August 1864 the 1st Division was discontinued and its regiments dispersed throughout the other divisions in the XXIII Corps . Hovey , without a command , again returned home . For the remainder of the war he was in command of the military District of Indiana . He resigned from the Union Army on October 7 , 1865 . Sons of Liberty . Back in Indiana , Governor Oliver P . Morton placed Hovey in command of the Regular army and Indiana Legions units in the state . His primary task was overseeing recruitment and keeping anti - government activities under control . To accomplish the task , Hovey raised a division of ten - thousand troops , but would only accept unmarried men . Because of the young age of most of his soldiers , his division was nicknamed " Hovey ' s Babies . " His investigations uncovered a network of southern sympathizers known as the Sons of Liberty and the Knights of the Golden Circle . He alleged the group had secret plans for an uprising in Indianapolis in August 1864 . To prevent the plot , he had dozens of suspects arrested and taken before military tribunals for judgment . Several were sentenced to hanging , but their terms were commuted to life in prison . After the war , the U . S . Supreme Court ruled the trials unconstitutional in the case of Ex parte Milligan . After the war ended , Hovey brevetted as a major general before resigning from the army . He then remarried to Rosa Alice , the stepdaughter of Caleb B . Smith , in 1865 . He was then appointed as Minister to Peru and dispatched to the country . Just prior to his departure , his new wife fell ill and died . During his time in Peru , the country was constantly at war with its neighbors and undergoing violent revolution . Hovey spent a good deal of his time trying to determine who was running the country on any given day . In 1870 he resigned from his post and return to Mount Vernon where he resumed his law practice . Governor . Clash with General Assembly . In 1872 , the Republican party entered Hovey ' s name as a candidate to run for governor , but he declined , claiming he was finished with politics . For the next fourteen years he continued operating his private law practice until 1886 , he was nominated to run for Congress and accepted . He defeated his Democratic opponent J . E . McCullough 18 , 258 to 16 , 907 . Two years later , he was nominated to run for Governor of Indiana . Benjamin Harrison was running for President that year and was immensely popular in the state . Despite his party ticket ' s popularity , he barely won the election , defeating Democrat Courtland C . Matson by a plurality , 49 % – 48 . 6 % of the vote , and Democrats retained majorities in both houses of the Indiana General Assembly . At age sixty - eight , Hovey became the oldest man ever elected governor , up until that time . In the last year of the term of Hovey ' s predecessor , Governor Albert G . Porter , the General Assembly had passed a series of laws weakening the governor ' s powers . The legislature perused an agenda for the most part differing from the Governor ' s , and overrode most of his symbolic vetoes to enact it . Hovey attempted to reclaim some of the power taken by the legislature by taking many of their recent laws to the courts . They had removed all the governor ' s appointment powers , and the Indiana Supreme Court ruled in the legislatures favor in that matter . In another case , where the assembly had created state board to run police , fire , and other department at the local level , taking their control from Republican controlled local governments , the courts ruled in favor of Hovey and declared the laws unconstitutional . In a fight over who had the right to appoint newly created department heads , the court ruled against both the assembly and the governor , stating that like all other departments heads must be elected in a general election . Reforms . The only agenda item which Hovey was able to pass through the General Assembly was voter reform . The state for several election cycles been the victim of serious voter fraud , and had among the least restrictive voter regulations in the nation . Parties created their own ballots , and were responsible for including their opponents on their ballots . This led to considerable trickery on the party of the parties who would deliberately make their ballot in a manner to increase the likelihood voters would choose their candidate , even accidentally . Vote buying had also become commonplace ; that had led to a national scandal in the election of Benjamin Harrison . The reforms enacted created the secret ballot , standardized ballots , provided more supervision at polling stations , and gave the responsibility of creating ballots to the state . Hovey had campaigned on dealing with the White Cap groups operating in southern Indiana . The vigilante groups had carried out several lynchings , including the Reno Gang , and had been carrying out other forms of vigilante justice , especially in Harrison and Crawford Counties . The often meted out corporeal punishments to men who were believed to not be taking care of their family , local criminals , and alcoholics . Hovey launched investigations into the groups , and made known his intentions to put an end to their organizations . Although no arrests were made , the threat led to a significant decrease and eventual end to their activities . Death . In 1891 , Hovey fell ill and died on November 23 , 1891 and was succeeded by his Lieutenant Governor Ira Joy Chase . Hovey ' s body lay in state in Indianapolis before his remains were removed to his hometown for a funeral . He is buried in the Bellefontaine Cemetery near Mount Vernon , Indiana . References . Notes Bibliography