WILLIAM HENDRICKS, Governor of Indiana from 1822 to 1825, was born at Ligionier, Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, in 1783. He was educated at Cannonsburg, having for a classmate Dr. Wylie, afterward a distinguished president of the State University at Bloomington. They both became eminent, one as a statesman, the other as an educator, but their diverse pathways did not sever their early friendship, which terminated only with their lives.

       After reaching manhood Mr. Hendricks left Pennsylvania and located at Cincinnati, Ohio. He remained there but a year or so, and during that time studied law and was admitted to the bar. In 1814 he left Cincinnati and took up his abode at Madison, this State, and resided there until he died.

       Indiana was then a Territory, and the same year, 1814, he was elected a member of the House of Representatives of the Territorial Legislature from Jefferson county, and was chosen Speaker of that body. The question of a State government was then agitating the people, and in 1816 a convention was held at Corydon to form a State constitution. This was but two years after Mr. Hendricks settled at Madison, but during this time he became so well known that on the organization of the convention he was made its secretary. He so discharged the duties of this office as to win the good opinion of the delegates, and when the convention adjourned he had established for himself a reputation for business aptitude and political sagacity equal to that of any man within the State. At the next August election--the first held under the State government--he was elected the sole representative of the people of the new State to the National Congress. He was re-elected in 1818 and in 1820, thus serving the people of Indiana in Congress for six consecutive years. He discharged the duties of his high position with so much acceptability that at the end of his third term, in 1822, he was elected Governor of the State without opposition, receiving 18,340 votes, all that were cast. Thus he and Jonathan Jennings, the first Governor, exchanged places.

     Before Governor Hendricks's term as Governor had expired the Legislature elected him a Senator of the United States, and on Saturday, February 12, 1825, he filed his resignation as Governor in the office of the Secretary of State, and notified the Senate thereof in the following communication, dated as Indianapolis the day aforesaid:

     "GENTLEMEN OF THE SENATE--Permit me to inform you that I have filed in the office of the Secretary of State my resignation as Governor, and to assure you of the great degree of gratitude, which, under all circumstances, I must ever feel for the many signal instances of confidence reposed and honor conferred by the people and Legislature of the State. I have the honor to be, with the greatest respect, your obedient servant,

       In 1831 he was re-elected, and at the expiration of this term--in 1837--he retired to private life, and never afterward took upon himself the cares of public office. Thus it will be seen that for twenty-one years--from 1816 till 1837--he served without intermission the people of Indiana in the three highest offices within their gift.

       Men who found empires should not be forgotten. They plant the tree of civil liberty, and water its roots, while those who come after them but trim its branches to preserve its symmetry. If they plant carelessly and in poor soil the tree will have but a sickly growth. That the men who planted Indiana in the wilderness sixty-seven years ago planted wisely and well, is evidenced by its wonderful growth. It was then inhabited only by a few thousand hardy pioneers, who had settled on its southern and eastern borders; now it contains two millions of properous people, its whole area being covered with happy homes.

       William Hendricks had as much to do with laying the foundations of this great State and commencing its superstructure as any other man, excepting Jonathan Jennings only, and yet how few there are who know he ever lived. How transitory is the fame of human greatness.

"This is the state of man; to-day he puts forth
The tender leaves of hope, to-morrow blossoms,
And bears his blushing honors thick upon him;
The third day comes a frost, a killing frost,"

and he dies and is forgotten.

     Worldly honors are not easily won, although the bard tells us that some men have greatness thrust upon them. In the contest for fame there is sharp competition, and those only win who have endurance and mettle. A number of educated and talented young men had come to Indiana in quest of fortune, and had William Hendricks been a dolt or a laggard he would have been distanced in the race. But he was neither. He was talented and energetic, and he won. He also knew how to utilize the means at his command and to make the most of the situation. When he came to Indiana he brought with him a printing press, and soon afterward, commenced the publication of a weekly paper. It was called the Eagle, and, I believe, was the second newspaper published in the State, the Vincennes Sun being the first. Through his paper he became known and paved the way for his political fortune. He made the first revision of the laws of the State and had it printed on his own press. The Legislature offered to pay him for his work, but he declined all pecuniary compensation. It then passed a resolution of thanks, the only return for his labor he would take.

       Governor Hendricks was a friend to education. Hanover College and the State University at Bloomington both received his fostering care. He took an active interest in public enterprises, and frequently aided them with his purse. He was very politic in his actions, never antagonizing a man when he could honorably avoid it. He had a large estate, and after leaving the Senate he spent his time in managing it and practicing law. He held on to his real estate with great tenacity, leasing it for a term of years when practicable, instead of selling it. Many houses were erected at Madison on property leased of him, and, like most houses built under such circumstances, they were poorly and cheaply constructed. His disposition to lease rather than sell his property caused much dissatisfaction among the people, and very greatly lessened his influence.

       On the 16th of May, 1850, Governor Hendricks rode out to his farm, just north of Madison, to oversee the building of a family vault. While assisting in the preparation of a receptacle for his body "after life's fitful fever" was over, he was taken ill and soon afterward died. The author is not certain whether he died at the farm-house or was taken back to his home in the city, but is inclined to the opinion that he breathed his last near the spot where he is buried and where his remains have crumbled to dust.

       The Indiana Gazetteer of 1850 thus speaks of him:

       "Governor Hendricks was for many years by far the most popular man in the State. He had been its sole representative in Congress for six years, elected on each occasion by large majorities, and no member of that body, probably, was more attentive to the interests of the State he represented, or more industrious in arranging all the private or local business entrusted to him. He left no letter unanswered, no public office or document did he fail to visit or examine on request; with personal manners very engaging, he long retained his popularity."

       Governor Hendricks was of a family that occupies a front place in the history of Indiana. There is probably no other one in the State that has exerted so wide an influence upon it politics and legislation as his. His eldest son, John Abram, was a captain in the Mexican war, and a lieutenant-colonel in the war of the rebellion. He was killed in the battle of Pea Ridge while in command of his regiment. Another son, Thomas, was killed in the Teche country during General Bank's campaign up Red river. A brother and a nephew sat in the State Senate, and another nephew, Hon. Thomas A. Hendricks, has received the highest honors his State could confer upon him.

       Governor Hendricks was about six feet high and had a well-proportioned body. He had auburn hair, blue eyes and a florid complextion. His manners were easy and dignified, and his address that of a well-bred gentleman. He was not a great lawyer, nor an eloquent advocate, but he prepared his cases with care and was reasonably successful at the bar. In early life he was a Presbyterian, but in his later years he joined the Methodist church and died in her communion. He never had a picture taken of himself, so there is no portrait of him in the State library, while portraits of the other Governors are there. This is to be regretted, for the people whose ancestors honored him so highly would like to know something of his form and features. The only picture they can have of him must be drawn with the pen, and the author submits this sketch as an effort in that direction. Would that the work were better done.