James Whitcomb was a Democratic United States Senator and the eighth Governor of Indiana.
Background
James Whitcomb, son of John and Lydia (Parmenter) Whitcomb, was born in Rochester, Windsor County, Vt. His father served as a private in the American Revolution; his first paternal American ancestor, John, emigrated from England and settled in Dorchester, Massachussets, by 1635. In 1806 the family moved to the neighborhood of Cincinnati, Ohio.
Education
James, studious, and a poor farmer, is said to have worked his way through Transylvania University, Lexington, Ky. , but there is no record of his attendance. He studied law.
Career
In 1822 was admitted to the bar of Fayette County, Ky. From 1824 to 1836 he practised law at Bloomington, Ind. , and from 1826 to 1829 was prosecuting attorney for that judicial district, the fifth. He was elected to the state Senate for the sessions 1830-31 and from 1832 to 1836, standing with the Democratic party as party lines became definitely drawn. In 1836 he was appointed commissioner of the general land office by President Jackson, serving until the end of Van Buren's term, and mastering both French and Spanish for use in his work. In 1841 he established a law office at Terre Haute, Ind. , where he soon developed a large and lucrative practice. In the campaign of 1843 he wrote a popular treatise, Facts for the People, one of the most effective arguments ever written against a protective tariff. Whitcomb was elected governor over the incumbent, Samuel Bigger - the first Democrat to defeat a Whig for that office - and took office in December 1843. In 1846 he was reelected over Joseph G. Marshall. As governor, Whitcomb contributed decisively toward the adjustment of the staggering indebtedness incurred by the state in the building of roads, railroads, and especially canals, under the Mammoth Improvement acts, and in the failure of most of the canal system. Under an arrangement effected by Charles Butler, attorney for the largest bondholding interests, the bondholders agreed to take as half payment the Wabash and Erie Canal and to accept state "registered" and "deferred" stock for the other half of the bonds, and the state stopped payment of principal and interest on the old bonds. Though there had been default in payment of interest and though investors lost heavily, the state technically avoided repudiation of its debts. Whitcomb vigorously promoted popular education and the development of benevolent institutions. The office of superintendent of common schools was created in 1843; a school for the deaf was developed by the state in 1844; a state hospital for the insane was provided for in 1845 and received patients in 1848; and in 1847 the Indiana Institute for the Education of the Blind was created. He was an ardent supporter of the national administration in the War with Mexico, financed the raising of troops by loans from branches of the State Bank, and personally superintended recruiting in Indianapolis. In the election of United States senator by the General Assembly for the term beginning in March 1849, Whitcomb defeated the incumbent, Edward Allen Hannegan. In failing health, and suffering severely from gravel, he took little part in the Senate proceedings in the critical years 1849-52, and died in New York City, after a surgical operation. He is buried in Crown Hill Cemetery, Indianapolis.
Achievements
Works
book
book
Personality
He was an active member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and at the time of his death a vice-president of the American Bible Society. He was an accomplished violinist and an eloquent speaker, forceful both in his ideas and in his expression. His personal charm and social grace were strangely crossed with habits of penuriousness in small matters, which, with his elaborate entertainments in the old "Governor's Mansion, " were long a tradition throughout the state. He was an inveterate smoker and user of snuff. Somewhat above average height, he was of a compact build, of dark complexion, with a mass of black hair, usually falling in ringlets nearly to his shoulders.
Connections
On March 24, 1846, he married Martha Ann (Renwick) Hurst, daughter of William Renwick of Pickaway County, Ohio. Mrs. Whitcomb died the following year, shortly after the birth of a daughter.