Conquest of the Country Northwest of the River Ohio 1778-1783 and Life of Gen. George Rodgers Clark, Vol. 1: Over One Hundred and Twenty-Five ... and Full List of Those Alloted Lands in Clark
(Excerpt from Conquest of the Country Northwest of the Riv...)
Excerpt from Conquest of the Country Northwest of the River Ohio 1778-1783 and Life of Gen. George Rodgers Clark, Vol. 1: Over One Hundred and Twenty-Five Illustrations, With Numerous Sketches of Men Who Served Under Clark and Full List of Those Alloted Lands in Clark's Grant for Service in the Campaigns Against the British Posts Showing Exact Land Allotted Each
He has earnestly endeavored to make it a full and fair history, and trusts that he has brought much that was meager and fragmentary into a more compact and desirable form, besides adding to the aggregate of information heretofore published upon the subject.
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William Hayden English was an American congressman from Indiana and the Democratic nominee for vice president in 1880.
Background
William Hayden English was born at Lexington, Scott County, Ind. , the son of Elisha G. and Mahala (Eastin) English. On his mother’s side he was descended from Jost Hite, one of the first white settlers of the Shenandoah Valley. His parents removed from Kentucky to Indiana in 1818, and there Elisha English, a Democrat, took a prominent part in politics, being at different times sheriff of Scott County, a representative and also a senator in the Indiana legislature, and United States marshal.
Education
Young English attended Hanover College for three years, studied law, and was admitted to the bar at the early age of eighteen.
Career
In 1840, he was a delegate to the Democratic state convention at Indianapolis.
In 1843 English was elected clerk of the Indiana House of Representatives, and a year later he received an appointment in the Treasury Department at Washington, a position he held until shortly before the end of Polk’s presidency, becoming, soon after, clerk of the United States Senate committee on claims during the historic session of 1850.
He next became secretary of the convention that framed the Indiana constitution of 1851, and as speaker, during part of the session of the next House of Representatives, played a leading part in readjusting the laws and machinery of government to the conditions created by the new constitution.
In 1852 he was elected to represent the second Indiana district in the Thirty-third Congress.
As a member of that body he voted for the Kansas-Nebraska Bill and was one of the few Northern Democrats so voting who survived the next congressional election.
He was reëlected for a third term in 1856 and again in 1858.
A conference committee became necessary, and as a member of this committee English played a leading part in framing the compromise known as the English Bill.
This measure, which ultimately became a law, in effect offered the people of Kansas a bribe of public land if they would ratify the pro-slavery constitution, a thing which, as English had foreseen, they refused to do.
In 1860 he declined to stand for réélection and retired to private life.
Upon the outbreak of war, Governor Morton offered him command of a regiment, but he declined it.
He supported the Union cause, however, and opposed the Knights of the Golden Circle in Indiana.
He played a prominent part in the business life of the city and ultimately became a millionaire.
In 1880 geographical and other reasons led the National Democratic Convention to nominate him for the vice-presidency as the running mate of General Hancock.
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Achievements
In 1863 he removed to Indianapolis, and there helped to organize the First National Bank, of which he became president, holding that position until 1877.
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Politics
In the latter year he stood with Douglas in opposing the effort of Buchanan and the South to bring Kansas into the Union under the Lecompton constitution, which had been ratified in an election in which the voters of the Territory had not been given a fair chance to express their views.
Views
In a speech in the House, he warned his Southern associates that his constituents would only “march under the flag and keep step to the music of the Union. ”
Quotations:
In a speech in the House, he warned his Southern associates that his constituents would only “march under the flag and keep step to the music of the Union. ”
Membership
a representative and also a senator in the Indiana legislature
admitted to the bar at the early age of eighteen
In 1852 he was elected to represent the second Indiana district in the Thirty-third Congress. As a member of that body he voted for the Kansas-Nebraska Bill and was one of the few Northern Democrats so voting who survived the next congressional election. He was reëlected for a third term in 1856 and again in 1858.
While a congressman he was a regent of the Smithsonian Institution, and in later life he was long president of the Indiana Historical Society.
Interests
Throughout his life he was interested in scientific and literary matters. While a congressman he was a regent of the Smithsonian Institution, and in later life he was long president of the Indiana Historical Society
Connections
In 1847, while a clerk at Washington, English married Emma Mardulia Jackson of Virginia. A son and a daughter were born of this union.
