Thomas A. Hendricks
Thomas Andrews Hendricks (September 7, 1819 – November 25, 1885) was an American politician and lawyer from Indiana who served as the 16th governor of Indiana from 1873 to 1877 and the 21st vice president of the United States from March until his death in November 1885. Hendricks represented Indiana in the U.S. House of Representatives (1851–1855) and the U.S. Senate (1863–1869). He also represented Shelby County, Indiana, in the Indiana General Assembly (1848–1850) and as a delegate to the 1851 Indiana constitutional convention. In addition, Hendricks served as commissioner of the United States General Land Office (1855–1859). Hendricks, a popular member of the Democratic Party, was a fiscal conservative. He defended the Democratic position in the U.S. Senate during the American Civil War and Reconstruction era and voted against the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution. He also opposed Radical Reconstruction and President Andrew Johnson's removal from office following Johnson's impeachment in the U.S. House.
"Thomas Hendricks" redirects here. For his uncle, the state representative, see Thomas Hendricks Sr. For the musician, see Tom Hendricks.
Thomas A. Hendricks
5th district (1851–1853)
6th district (1853–1855)
November 25, 1885 (aged 66)
Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S.
1
Attorney
Born in Muskingum County, Ohio, Hendricks moved to Indiana, with his parents in 1820; the family settled in Shelby County in 1822. After graduating from Hanover College, class of 1841, Hendricks studied law in Shelbyville, Indiana, and Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. He was admitted to the Indiana bar in 1843. Hendricks began his law practice in Shelbyville, moved to Indianapolis in 1860, and established a private law practice with Oscar B. Hord in 1862. The firm evolved into Baker & Daniels, one of the state's leading law firms. Hendricks also ran for election as Indiana's governor three times, but won only once. In 1872, on his third and final attempt, Hendricks defeated General Thomas M. Brown by a margin of 1,148 votes. His term as governor of Indiana was marked by numerous challenges, including a strong Republican majority in the Indiana General Assembly, the economic Panic of 1873, and an economic depression. One of Hendricks's lasting legacies during his tenure as governor was initiating discussions to fund construction of the present-day Indiana Statehouse, which was completed after he left office. A memorial to Hendricks was installed on the southeast corner of its grounds in 1890.
Hendricks, a lifelong Democrat, was his party's candidate for U.S. vice president with New York governor Samuel Tilden as its presidential nominee in the controversial presidential election of 1876. Although they won the popular vote, Tilden and Hendricks lost the election by one vote in the Electoral College to the Republican Party's presidential nominee, Rutherford B. Hayes, and his vice presidential running mate, William A. Wheeler. Despite his poor health, Hendricks accepted his party's nomination for vice president in the election of 1884 as Grover Cleveland's running mate. Cleveland and Hendricks won the election, but Hendricks only served as vice president for about eight months, from March 4, 1885, until his death on November 25, 1885, in Indianapolis. He is buried in Indianapolis's Crown Hill Cemetery.
Early life and education[edit]
Hendricks was born on September 7, 1819, in Muskingum County, Ohio, near East Fultonham and Zanesville. He was the second of eight children born to John and Jane (Duke) Hendricks. His father was from Pennsylvania, and his mother was from Virginia.[1][2][3]
In 1820 Hendricks moved with his parents and older brother to Madison in Jefferson County, Indiana, at the urging of Thomas's uncle, William Hendricks, a successful politician who served as a U.S. Representative, a U.S. Senator (1825–1837), and as the third governor of Indiana (1822–1825).[4][5] Thomas's family first settled on a farm near his uncle's home in Madison, and moved to Shelby County, Indiana, in 1822. Hendricks's father, a successful farmer who operated a general store, became involved in politics, including appointment from President Andrew Jackson as deputy surveyor of public lands for his district.[6] Indiana's Democratic Party leaders frequently visited the Hendricks home in Shelbyville, and from an early age Hendricks was influenced to enter politics.[7][8]
Hendricks attended local schools (Shelby County Seminary and Greensburg Academy). He graduated from Hanover College in Hanover, Indiana, in 1841, in the same class as Albert G. Porter, also a future governor of Indiana.[6][9][10] After college Hendricks read law with Judge Stephen Major in Shelbyville, and in 1843 he took an eight-month law course at a school operated by his uncle, Judge Alexander Thomson in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. Hendricks returned to Indiana, was admitted to the bar in 1843 and established a private practice in Shelbyville.[10][11][12]
Marriage and family[edit]
Hendricks married Eliza Carol Morgan of North Bend, Ohio, on September 26, 1845, after a two-year courtship. The couple met when Eliza was visiting her married sister, Mrs. Elizabeth Morgan West, in Shelbyville.[13] The couple's only child, a son named Morgan, was born on January 16, 1848, and died in 1851, at the age of three.[10][14] Thomas and Eliza Hendricks moved to Indianapolis in 1860[10] and resided from 1865 to 1872 at 1526 South New Jersey Street, now known as the Bates-Hendricks House.[15][16]