US Senator. Indiana Governor. After attending the Transylvania University in Lexington, Kentucky, he was admitted to the bar in 1822. Moving from Kentucky to Indiana in 1824 he established his law practice in Bloomington. He was the prosecuting attorney for Monroe County from 1826 to 1829, and a state senator from 1830 to 1831 and 1832 to 1836. After serving as the Commissioner of the General Land Office from 1836 until 1841, he resumed his law practice in Terre Haute. He was elected as the 8th governor of Indiana, serving from December 6, 1843 to December 26, 1848. During his administration, the Hospital for the Insane, the Asylum for the Education of the Deaf and Dumb, and the Institute for the Education of the Blind were established. Elected on a democratic ticket in 1848, he served in the United States Senate from March 4, 1849 until his death; serving as the chairman of the Committee on Claims and the Committee on Public Buildings. Originally buried at Greenlawn Cemetery, he was reinterred at Crown Hill Cemetery by his daughter in 1898. He donated a collection of 150 rare books to the DePauw University Library, leaving instructions that the collection never leave the library. Although it is now virtually impossible for anyone to take the books out of the building, the legend of his ghost protecting the collection is still a recognized Indiana haunt.
US Senator. Indiana Governor. After attending the Transylvania University in Lexington, Kentucky, he was admitted to the bar in 1822. Moving from Kentucky to Indiana in 1824 he established his law practice in Bloomington. He was the prosecuting attorney for Monroe County from 1826 to 1829, and a state senator from 1830 to 1831 and 1832 to 1836. After serving as the Commissioner of the General Land Office from 1836 until 1841, he resumed his law practice in Terre Haute. He was elected as the 8th governor of Indiana, serving from December 6, 1843 to December 26, 1848. During his administration, the Hospital for the Insane, the Asylum for the Education of the Deaf and Dumb, and the Institute for the Education of the Blind were established. Elected on a democratic ticket in 1848, he served in the United States Senate from March 4, 1849 until his death; serving as the chairman of the Committee on Claims and the Committee on Public Buildings. Originally buried at Greenlawn Cemetery, he was reinterred at Crown Hill Cemetery by his daughter in 1898. He donated a collection of 150 rare books to the DePauw University Library, leaving instructions that the collection never leave the library. Although it is now virtually impossible for anyone to take the books out of the building, the legend of his ghost protecting the collection is still a recognized Indiana haunt.
Bio by: Beth Painter
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