James B. Ray
Encyclopedia
James Brown Ray was an Indiana politician and the only Senate
President-Pro-Tempore to succeed to become Governor
of the State
of Indiana
. He served during the period when the state transitioned from personal politics to political parties
, but never joined a party himself. Elevated at age 31, he was the state's youngest governor. Serving from 1825 to 1831, he was the longest-serving governor under the constitution of 1816, and was most known for his eccentricity and early promotion of the creation of large scale railroad system in the state. The state experienced a period of prosperity during his term and a 55% population increase, the greatest of any governor. His promotion of railroads and his alleged involvement in several scandals caused him to lose popularity as his opponents, who favored the creation of canals, considered railroads to be a fantasy idea. Leaving office, he continued to advocate the creation of a railroad system until his death.
, on February 19, 1794, the son of Rev. William Ray, a veteran of the American Revolutionary War
, and his wife Phebe Ann Brown Ray, one of twelve children. He attended local common schools and received a basic education. He moved to Cincinnati, Ohio
, when he was still a boy, where he studied law in the office of General Gano, and was later admitted to the bar in 1816. He met Mary Riddle who he married on December 10, 1818, and the couple had two children. The couple moved to Brookville, Indiana
that year, and Ray setup a law office and quickly rose to prominence in the community.
Ray was known to be rash and sometimes belligerent. In one incident he insulted a Brookville farmer who severely beat Ray for the insult. In another incident, Ray threatened another lawyer with a "thrashing" before a court session, to which the lawyer replied with a fist in Ray's face. The courtroom went wild and both men were restrained before further blows could be thrown.
Ratliff Boon
resigned, Ray was elected senate-president-pro-tempore. In 1823 his wife died and remarried to a widow, Esther Booker or Centerville
, in September 1825, the couple had five children. On February 12, 1825, Governor William Hendricks
resigned from his office to become a senator. Ray, who was still serving as the Senate President Pro Tempore became governor, the only time this occurred in Indiana history
. There was a brief debate about his eligibility because of his age, but he was able to provide proof that he was in fact the required thirty years old.
Indiana was still a young state during Ray's term, but was growing rapidly. Population increased 55% during his term, and the states finances were strengthened during a period of relative prosperity. Party politics also entered the state during his term. Previously, all politicians in the state were loosely affiliated with the Democratic-Republican Party or none at all, but national politics had stirred the collapse of that party the creation of the Democrat and Whig
parties. Ray resisted the rise of the parties and tried to remain neutral.
Ray became the first governor to serve in the new capitol of Indianapolis
. He found the Governor's Mansion to lack privacy, and refused to live there, instead purchasing a private home on the site of the current Marion County Jail. His Indianapolis
home, the oldest still remaining in Indianapolis, was moved in 1977 and is now within the Lockerbie Square Historic District
. Shortly after his elevation, the execution of three murderers was to be carried out. Two of the murders where men and one was still a minor. The three men had taken part in murdering a family of Senecas
. In a last minute decision Ray decided to pardon the young minor, arriving at the location of the execution on horse back just in time to spare the boys life.
In the summer of 1825, Ray announced that he would seek election to the Governors office. Ray's election campaign against Whig candidate, Chief Justice Isaac Blackford
, was difficult, as his opponent had the backing of the Whigs party. Blackford, who was a graduate of Princeton Universtity, charged that Ray was "pompous, poorly educated, and ill-equipped for the job." Ray countered with arguments against party politics and made a strong case for internal improvements, winning the election by 2,622 votes, 13,040 to 10,418, to return to the governors office as an elected governor.
, citing Ohio
's recent success in canals as evidence of their value. He changed his position though in 1827, and instead decided that the state would better benefit from railroads. He soon became the primary opponent of the canal projects, leading to a loss of support in the General Assembly. Railroads were still relatively new, and their value was not yet evident. Ray continued to advocate the railroads into his second term, and requested that the General Assembly create a committee to explore their possibilities. Their report called his plans to make Indianapolis
a railroad hub "utopian", and "mad and impractical". They instead overwhelmingly supported the construction of canals.
A compromise was ultimately reached which funded both projects. After the William Hendricks administration had restored the state's credit and stabilize income, the new administration was able to move ahead with plans to build canals, railroads, and more roads in the state. Design plans on the Wabash and Erie Canal
began during his administration. The state's first railroad was also constructed, a short line connecting Shelbyville, Indiana
to Indianapolis as a compromise with the governor to approve funds for the canal. Industry in the state expanded exponentially during those years with several large factories opening up in the different locations around the state. Despite the compromise, his opponents accused him of purposely delaying progress on the Wabash and Erie by delaying reports, his slow progress in surveying, and slow page in other areas, further kindling distrust from the legislature.
Another of Ray's key projects was the construction of the Michigan Road
to connect the Ohio River
with Lake Michigan
and pass through Indianapolis in the middle. Such a road would require land sessions from the Pottawatomie tribe in northern Indiana. He wrote President John Adams
requesting such a treaty be negotiated, and Adams responded by appointing Ray and Governor Lewis Cass
of Michigan as commissioners to negotiate a treaty with the tribe. The treaty was concluded in the fall of 1826, along with an additional treaty which provided for the removal of a majority of the Miami tribe
and almost all of the Pottawatomie a few years later. In total over 1000000 acres (4,046.9 km²) were transferred to the United States.
Taking a commission from the federal government to negotiate the treaty was unconstitutional, and Ray's opponents in the legislature seized the opportunity to attack him again. They claimed that in taking the position, he forfeited his position as governor. The situation was similar to the attempted impeachment of Jonathan Jennings
only a few years earlier. A motion to bring impeachment proceedings against him was narrowly defeated in the General Assembly, 31–27.
to include the new criminal and civil laws, and better divide the two sections, using the Napoleonic Code
as a template. Two years after the passage of the bill, Ray had still not began work on it, and requested the General Assembly grant him additional funds and provide him with a staff for the project. The Assembly passed a resolution rebuking his lack of progress, but granted his request. He finally completed the code in 1831.
In 1827, Ray became involved in a bitter dispute with Samuel Merrill
, the Indiana State Treasurer
. Merril was a Whig and a close ally of Blackford, and began to make personal attacks on Ray. He claimed Ray was committing fraud and using his public office for personal gain. He specifically tried to incriminate him for making a secret deal with the Indians when negotiating the treaty in 1826, claiming that he had accepted a bribe from them. Merrill's charges were ambiguous, lacking considerable detail, but was enough to stir a controversy and give another excuse to Ray's opponents to again attack him. Lewis Cass wrote a letter to the General Assembly on Ray's behalf, calling the claims absurd. Despite ending the dispute, Ray's image was severely tarnished.
to join their party. The party was just beginning to form in the state. Ray made an agreement with him, that he would be a Democrat so long as his reply of acceptance remained a secret. Shortly after that, he was interviewed by a pro-Whig newspaper where he called the Democrats an "outrageous, violent faction." The Democrats responded by fielding their own candidate in the election, and the month before election day, they published his secret agreement to run as a Democrat. The revelation caused a major uproar, but despite his apparent attempt to play both parties, he won reelection by plurality. he received 15,131 votes to, defeating Whig Israel T. Branby 's 12,251, and Democrat Harbin H. Moore's 10,898.
In 1830, the entire Indiana Supreme Court was up for reappointment. Ray reappointed Justice Issac Blackford, but refused to reappoint the other two members. He bargained behind the scenes with the Assembly leaders for a deal: he would reappoint their choices to the courts and in exchange they would elect him to the United States Senate. The deal did not remain secret long, and combined with what was considered his "insane" idea of making Indianapolis a hub for a great railroad system, and without a party to support him, he lost most of his public support. He began to allege a conspiracy against him, claiming he was the "victim of misrepresentation and malicious envy." He accomplished very little in his second term, and left office still being despised.
, 5,888–9,635. He attempted to run again in 1833, but dropped out after his inability to win became apparent.
His treatment led him to become even more firm in his views, which further hurt his standing. His behavior only worsened the situation; he was known to walk with a cane, for appearance only, and stop in the street and write in the air with it for no apparent reason. He ran advertisements in the newspaper offering to sell a "tavern-stand", a farm he did not own, and offering to construct a railroad from Charlestown, South Carolina to Indianapolis. He attempted a business venture and opened what he called at "Law, conveyancing, writing, abstract-making, land-agency, general and emigrants' intelligence and counsel office." The business soon folded for lack of customers. He had few friends and most people believed he had become mentally deranged. He took a trip to Wisconsin
in 1848 and stopped in Cincinnati, Ohio
, before returning home. There he developed cholera
and he died on August 4, 1848, aged 54, and was buried in Spring Grove Cemetery
.
Indiana Senate
The Indiana Senate is the upper house of the Indiana General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Indiana. The Senate is composed of 50 members representing an equal number of constituent districts. Senators serve four-year terms without term limits...
President-Pro-Tempore to succeed to become Governor
Governor of Indiana
The Governor of Indiana is the chief executive of the state of Indiana. The governor is elected to a four-year term, and responsible for overseeing the day-to-day management of the functions of many agencies of the Indiana state government. The governor also shares power with other statewide...
of the State
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
of Indiana
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
. He served during the period when the state transitioned from personal politics to political parties
Political Parties
Political Parties: A Sociological Study of the Oligarchical Tendencies of Modern Democracy is a book by sociologist Robert Michels, published in 1911 , and first introducing the concept of iron law of oligarchy...
, but never joined a party himself. Elevated at age 31, he was the state's youngest governor. Serving from 1825 to 1831, he was the longest-serving governor under the constitution of 1816, and was most known for his eccentricity and early promotion of the creation of large scale railroad system in the state. The state experienced a period of prosperity during his term and a 55% population increase, the greatest of any governor. His promotion of railroads and his alleged involvement in several scandals caused him to lose popularity as his opponents, who favored the creation of canals, considered railroads to be a fantasy idea. Leaving office, he continued to advocate the creation of a railroad system until his death.
Family and background
James Brown Ray was born in Jefferson County, KentuckyJefferson County, Kentucky
As of the census of 2000, there were 693,604 people, 287,012 households, and 183,113 families residing in the county. The population density was . There were 305,835 housing units at an average density of...
, on February 19, 1794, the son of Rev. William Ray, a veteran of the American Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
, and his wife Phebe Ann Brown Ray, one of twelve children. He attended local common schools and received a basic education. He moved to Cincinnati, Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
, when he was still a boy, where he studied law in the office of General Gano, and was later admitted to the bar in 1816. He met Mary Riddle who he married on December 10, 1818, and the couple had two children. The couple moved to Brookville, Indiana
Brookville, Indiana
Brookville is a town in Brookville Township, Franklin County, Indiana, United States. The population was 2,625 at the 2000 census. The town is the county seat of Franklin County.-Geography:...
that year, and Ray setup a law office and quickly rose to prominence in the community.
Ray was known to be rash and sometimes belligerent. In one incident he insulted a Brookville farmer who severely beat Ray for the insult. In another incident, Ray threatened another lawyer with a "thrashing" before a court session, to which the lawyer replied with a fist in Ray's face. The courtroom went wild and both men were restrained before further blows could be thrown.
Legislator
Ray's outspoken manner helped him gain popularity in his community. In 1821 he served a one year term in the Indiana House of Representatives. In 1822 Ray was elected to the Indiana State Senate beginning his term on December 2. On January 30, 1824, the same day Lieutenant GovernorLieutenant Governor of Indiana
The Lieutenant Governor of Indiana is a constitutional office in the US State of Indiana. Republican Becky Skillman, whose term expires in January 2013, is the incumbent...
Ratliff Boon
Ratliff Boon
Ratliff Boon was the second Governor of Indiana from September 12 to December 5, 1822, taking office following the resignation of Governor Jonathan Jennings' after his election to Congress...
resigned, Ray was elected senate-president-pro-tempore. In 1823 his wife died and remarried to a widow, Esther Booker or Centerville
Centerville, Indiana
Centerville is a town in Center Township, Wayne County, Indiana, United States. The population was 2,552 at the 2010 census.-Geography:Centerville is located at , at an altitude of 1,014 feet . U.S...
, in September 1825, the couple had five children. On February 12, 1825, Governor William Hendricks
William Hendricks
William Hendricks was a Democratic-Republican member of the House of Representatives from 1816 to 1822, the third Governor of Indiana from 1822 to 1825, and an Anti-Jacksonian member of the U.S. Senate from 1825 to 1837. He led much of his family into politics and founded one of the largest...
resigned from his office to become a senator. Ray, who was still serving as the Senate President Pro Tempore became governor, the only time this occurred in Indiana history
History of Indiana
The history of human activity in Indiana, a US state in the Midwest, began with migratory tribes of Native Americans who inhabited Indiana as early as 8000 BC. Tribes succeeded one another in dominance for several thousand years and reached their peak of development during the period of...
. There was a brief debate about his eligibility because of his age, but he was able to provide proof that he was in fact the required thirty years old.
Governor
Whig Party (United States)
The Whig Party was a political party of the United States during the era of Jacksonian democracy. Considered integral to the Second Party System and operating from the early 1830s to the mid-1850s, the party was formed in opposition to the policies of President Andrew Jackson and his Democratic...
parties. Ray resisted the rise of the parties and tried to remain neutral.
Ray became the first governor to serve in the new capitol of Indianapolis
Indianapolis
Indianapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population is 839,489. It is by far Indiana's largest city and, as of the 2010 U.S...
. He found the Governor's Mansion to lack privacy, and refused to live there, instead purchasing a private home on the site of the current Marion County Jail. His Indianapolis
Indianapolis
Indianapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population is 839,489. It is by far Indiana's largest city and, as of the 2010 U.S...
home, the oldest still remaining in Indianapolis, was moved in 1977 and is now within the Lockerbie Square Historic District
Lockerbie Square Historic District
Lockerbie Square Historic District is a historic district on the National Register of Historic Places within Indianapolis, Indiana, listed on February 23, 1973, with a boundary increase on July 28, 1987. It is noted for its Federal, Italianate, and Queen Anne style architecture...
. Shortly after his elevation, the execution of three murderers was to be carried out. Two of the murders where men and one was still a minor. The three men had taken part in murdering a family of Senecas
Seneca nation
The Seneca are a group of indigenous people native to North America. They were the nation located farthest to the west within the Six Nations or Iroquois League in New York before the American Revolution. While exact population figures are unknown, approximately 15,000 to 25,000 Seneca live in...
. In a last minute decision Ray decided to pardon the young minor, arriving at the location of the execution on horse back just in time to spare the boys life.
In the summer of 1825, Ray announced that he would seek election to the Governors office. Ray's election campaign against Whig candidate, Chief Justice Isaac Blackford
Isaac Blackford
Isaac Newton Blackford was the second Chief Justice of the Indiana Supreme Court, the court's longest serving Justice, and among the longest serving jurists in the history of the United States. He wrote an eight volume work entitled Blackford's Reports recording all the early decisions of the court...
, was difficult, as his opponent had the backing of the Whigs party. Blackford, who was a graduate of Princeton Universtity, charged that Ray was "pompous, poorly educated, and ill-equipped for the job." Ray countered with arguments against party politics and made a strong case for internal improvements, winning the election by 2,622 votes, 13,040 to 10,418, to return to the governors office as an elected governor.
Internal improvements
At his first meeting with the legislature on December 8, 1825, he delivered an address calling for the construction of internal improvementsInternal improvements
Internal improvements is the term used historically in the United States for public works from the end of the American Revolution through much of the 19th century, mainly for the creation of a transportation infrastructure: roads, turnpikes, canals, harbors and navigation improvements...
, citing Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
's recent success in canals as evidence of their value. He changed his position though in 1827, and instead decided that the state would better benefit from railroads. He soon became the primary opponent of the canal projects, leading to a loss of support in the General Assembly. Railroads were still relatively new, and their value was not yet evident. Ray continued to advocate the railroads into his second term, and requested that the General Assembly create a committee to explore their possibilities. Their report called his plans to make Indianapolis
Indianapolis
Indianapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population is 839,489. It is by far Indiana's largest city and, as of the 2010 U.S...
a railroad hub "utopian", and "mad and impractical". They instead overwhelmingly supported the construction of canals.
A compromise was ultimately reached which funded both projects. After the William Hendricks administration had restored the state's credit and stabilize income, the new administration was able to move ahead with plans to build canals, railroads, and more roads in the state. Design plans on the Wabash and Erie Canal
Wabash and Erie Canal
The Wabash and Erie Canal was a shipping canal that linked the Great Lakes to the Ohio River via an artificial waterway. The canal provided traders with access from the Great Lakes all the way to the Gulf of Mexico...
began during his administration. The state's first railroad was also constructed, a short line connecting Shelbyville, Indiana
Shelbyville, Indiana
Shelbyville is a city in Addison Township, Shelby County, Indiana, United States. The population was 17,951 at the 2000 census. The city is the county seat of Shelby County...
to Indianapolis as a compromise with the governor to approve funds for the canal. Industry in the state expanded exponentially during those years with several large factories opening up in the different locations around the state. Despite the compromise, his opponents accused him of purposely delaying progress on the Wabash and Erie by delaying reports, his slow progress in surveying, and slow page in other areas, further kindling distrust from the legislature.
Michigan Road
Michigan Road
The Michigan Road was one of the earliest roads in Indiana. Roads in early Indiana were often roads in name only. In actuality they were sometimes little more than crude paths following old animal and Native American trails and filled with sinkholes, stumps, and deep, entrapping ruts...
to connect the Ohio River
Ohio River
The Ohio River is the largest tributary, by volume, of the Mississippi River. At the confluence, the Ohio is even bigger than the Mississippi and, thus, is hydrologically the main stream of the whole river system, including the Allegheny River further upstream...
with Lake Michigan
Lake Michigan
Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America and the only one located entirely within the United States. It is the second largest of the Great Lakes by volume and the third largest by surface area, after Lake Superior and Lake Huron...
and pass through Indianapolis in the middle. Such a road would require land sessions from the Pottawatomie tribe in northern Indiana. He wrote President John Adams
John Adams
John Adams was an American lawyer, statesman, diplomat and political theorist. A leading champion of independence in 1776, he was the second President of the United States...
requesting such a treaty be negotiated, and Adams responded by appointing Ray and Governor Lewis Cass
Lewis Cass
Lewis Cass was an American military officer and politician. During his long political career, Cass served as a governor of the Michigan Territory, an American ambassador, a U.S. Senator representing Michigan, and co-founder as well as first Masonic Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Michigan...
of Michigan as commissioners to negotiate a treaty with the tribe. The treaty was concluded in the fall of 1826, along with an additional treaty which provided for the removal of a majority of the Miami tribe
Miami tribe
The Miami are a Native American nation originally found in what is now Indiana, southwest Michigan, and western Ohio. The Miami Tribe of Oklahoma is the only federally recognized tribe of Miami Indians in the United States...
and almost all of the Pottawatomie a few years later. In total over 1000000 acres (4,046.9 km²) were transferred to the United States.
Taking a commission from the federal government to negotiate the treaty was unconstitutional, and Ray's opponents in the legislature seized the opportunity to attack him again. They claimed that in taking the position, he forfeited his position as governor. The situation was similar to the attempted impeachment of Jonathan Jennings
Jonathan Jennings
Jonathan Jennings was the first Governor of Indiana and a nine-term congressman from Indiana. Born in Readington, New Jersey, he studied law with his brother before immigrating to Indiana in 1806 where he took part in land speculation...
only a few years earlier. A motion to bring impeachment proceedings against him was narrowly defeated in the General Assembly, 31–27.
Waning popularity
Other events began to transpire, which caused Ray's popularity to wane considerably. The General Assembly passed a bill to have him expand the Indiana CodeIndiana Code
The Indiana Code is the code of laws for the US State of Indiana. The contents are the codification of the all the laws currently in effect within Indiana...
to include the new criminal and civil laws, and better divide the two sections, using the Napoleonic Code
Napoleonic code
The Napoleonic Code — or Code Napoléon — is the French civil code, established under Napoléon I in 1804. The code forbade privileges based on birth, allowed freedom of religion, and specified that government jobs go to the most qualified...
as a template. Two years after the passage of the bill, Ray had still not began work on it, and requested the General Assembly grant him additional funds and provide him with a staff for the project. The Assembly passed a resolution rebuking his lack of progress, but granted his request. He finally completed the code in 1831.
In 1827, Ray became involved in a bitter dispute with Samuel Merrill
Samuel Merrill (Indiana)
Samuel Merrill was an early leading citizen of the U.S. state of Indiana.-Biography:Samuel was born in 1792 in Peacham, Vermont, the second son of Jesse and Priscilla Merrill. He attended Dartmouth College for one year before moving to Pennsylvania to study law with his older brother James. In...
, the Indiana State Treasurer
Indiana State Treasurer
The Indiana Treasurer of State is a constitutional and elected office in the executive branch of the government of Indiana. The treasurer is responsible for managing the finances of the U.S. state of Indiana. The position was filled by appointment from 1816 until the adoption of the new...
. Merril was a Whig and a close ally of Blackford, and began to make personal attacks on Ray. He claimed Ray was committing fraud and using his public office for personal gain. He specifically tried to incriminate him for making a secret deal with the Indians when negotiating the treaty in 1826, claiming that he had accepted a bribe from them. Merrill's charges were ambiguous, lacking considerable detail, but was enough to stir a controversy and give another excuse to Ray's opponents to again attack him. Lewis Cass wrote a letter to the General Assembly on Ray's behalf, calling the claims absurd. Despite ending the dispute, Ray's image was severely tarnished.
Second term
When Ray ran for reelection in 1828, he was approached by state Democrat leader Ratliff BoonRatliff Boon
Ratliff Boon was the second Governor of Indiana from September 12 to December 5, 1822, taking office following the resignation of Governor Jonathan Jennings' after his election to Congress...
to join their party. The party was just beginning to form in the state. Ray made an agreement with him, that he would be a Democrat so long as his reply of acceptance remained a secret. Shortly after that, he was interviewed by a pro-Whig newspaper where he called the Democrats an "outrageous, violent faction." The Democrats responded by fielding their own candidate in the election, and the month before election day, they published his secret agreement to run as a Democrat. The revelation caused a major uproar, but despite his apparent attempt to play both parties, he won reelection by plurality. he received 15,131 votes to, defeating Whig Israel T. Branby 's 12,251, and Democrat Harbin H. Moore's 10,898.
In 1830, the entire Indiana Supreme Court was up for reappointment. Ray reappointed Justice Issac Blackford, but refused to reappoint the other two members. He bargained behind the scenes with the Assembly leaders for a deal: he would reappoint their choices to the courts and in exchange they would elect him to the United States Senate. The deal did not remain secret long, and combined with what was considered his "insane" idea of making Indianapolis a hub for a great railroad system, and without a party to support him, he lost most of his public support. He began to allege a conspiracy against him, claiming he was the "victim of misrepresentation and malicious envy." He accomplished very little in his second term, and left office still being despised.
Return to private life
Ray returned to his law practice which he moved to Indianapolis, after his term as governor. He found it difficult to find clients and public dislike for him did not fade. He ran for Clerk of Marion County in 1831 but was overwhelmingly defeated. He ran for Congress in 1837, but was soundly defeated by William HerodWilliam Herod
William Herod was a U.S. Representative from Indiana.Born in Bourbon County, Kentucky, Herod completed preparatory studies.He studied law and was admitted to the bar in Bracken County, Kentucky....
, 5,888–9,635. He attempted to run again in 1833, but dropped out after his inability to win became apparent.
His treatment led him to become even more firm in his views, which further hurt his standing. His behavior only worsened the situation; he was known to walk with a cane, for appearance only, and stop in the street and write in the air with it for no apparent reason. He ran advertisements in the newspaper offering to sell a "tavern-stand", a farm he did not own, and offering to construct a railroad from Charlestown, South Carolina to Indianapolis. He attempted a business venture and opened what he called at "Law, conveyancing, writing, abstract-making, land-agency, general and emigrants' intelligence and counsel office." The business soon folded for lack of customers. He had few friends and most people believed he had become mentally deranged. He took a trip to Wisconsin
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
in 1848 and stopped in Cincinnati, Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
, before returning home. There he developed cholera
Cholera
Cholera is an infection of the small intestine that is caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. The main symptoms are profuse watery diarrhea and vomiting. Transmission occurs primarily by drinking or eating water or food that has been contaminated by the diarrhea of an infected person or the feces...
and he died on August 4, 1848, aged 54, and was buried in Spring Grove Cemetery
Spring Grove Cemetery
Spring Grove Cemetery and Arboretum is a nonprofit garden cemetery and arboretum located at 4521 Spring Grove Avenue, Cincinnati, Ohio. It is the second largest cemetery in the United States and is recognized as a U.S. National Historic Landmark....
.