486 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



years of service as such, for three years of which he was the president of the joint 

 board. He was an active participant in securing free schools for Indiana, and 

 did much to bring Putnam county into line in favor of that system. Some educa- 

 tional opinions then entertained by him were in advance of the times. Insisting 

 that the common schools should be thorough and facilities for higher education 

 ample, he, in an address, urged the necessity for schools in which complete train- 

 ing in agriculture and the mechanical arts could be acquired. This brought him 

 in conflict with some leading educators, but time has demonstrated the wisdom of 

 his thought, as "Kose Polylechnic Institute" and "Purdue University" evidence; 

 and he is now insisting that the idea then advanced by him will remain of im- 

 perfect execution until capital and philanthropy shall equip and thoroughly en- 

 dow an institution wherein the children of the State who choose may, without cost, 

 acquire any of the skilled mechanic arts and handicrafts without the influence or 

 aid of guilds or trades unions. 



Eminent as a physician, his lucrative practice enabled him.to acquire a large 

 estate in wild lands. This he did preparatory to returning to agriculture as a pro- 

 fession. From these lands the inferior timber was removed, and the lands set in 

 blue-grass. This, at the time, was considered a waste by many, but the Doctor 

 reaped from it afterwards abundant harvests of rich pasture and fat cattle. 



Though engaged in an arduous profession, he, through study, became a believer 

 in, and an advocate of, the American system of Mr. Clay. This brought him early 

 into political prominence, and as he had the courage of his convictions, the result 

 was that in 1831, 1832, 1844 and 1845 he represented Putnam county in the In- 

 diana House of Representatives, and in the last term was Speaker of the House. 



In 1839, 1840 and 1841 he was the Senator from Putnam county, and was, in 

 1846, the Whig candidate for Lieutenant Governor of Indiana. In 1850 he was 

 elected to the convention which framed the Constitution of Indiana of 1851, and 

 was active in the deliberations of that body. His services in this convention 

 closed his political career. He sympathized with labor and with men too intense- 

 ly to readily reconcile himself to the compromise measures of 1850, and never 

 again became a candidate. In 1860, however, he earnestly advocated the election 

 of Lincoln, and gave to his administration an earnest, loyal, and enthusiastic sup- 

 port. 



In 1843 he removed from Greencastle to his farm two miles east of town, and gave up 

 his medical practice, as rapidly as hia patients would permit. Thenceforward, he 

 sought to make agriculture and stock raising his profession, declaring that he could 

 accomplish more in this for himself and his race than in any other calling. For a 

 time he edited an agricultural department in a newspaper, and in this way, as well 

 as in public addresses, sought to introduce better modes of farming. More through 

 his efforts than that of any other, the Putnam County Agricultural Society was or- 

 ganized and continued. He introduced into the county and bred large flocks of 

 Spanish merino sheep, and for a time made sheep husbandry most prominent. 

 While thus engaged, he endeavored to organize an incorporated company for the 

 purpose of importing and breeding Shorthorn cattle. Not succeeding in this, 

 through defects in Indiana law, he began that enterprise alone. In 1848 he pur- 

 chased and brought into Putnam county the first thoroughbred Shorthorn cattle. 



