﻿ESAKEY: STATE BANKING IN INDIANA 



295 



the chairman of the bank committee after it had held an all night 

 session and had succeeded in getting the "percussion clause'^ out. 

 Mr. Willard told the chairman that would never do. The chair- 

 man at once reconvened his committee and reinserted the "per- 

 cussion." Jonathan S. Harvey of Indianapolis was a law partner 

 of Mr. Newcombj a member, and naturally visited the legislature 

 often. He got interested in the bank measure and subscribed for 

 one hundred shares which he sold to DePauw for $500 premium. 

 Captain Austin M. Puett was a brother-in-law of Governor Wright, 

 and a friend of Judge Roach. It was thought Captain Puett might 

 get the Governor to favor the bill. If Mr. Puett could do this 

 Judge Roach promised to let him subscribe 100 shares, but failing 

 to convince the Governor, he did not get any subscription, although 

 he worked for the lobby throughout the session. John Hunt, a 

 cousin of the Governor, came up from Richmond with the intention 

 of fighting the bih. In fact he had a bill of his own to present. 

 While he was waiting to see the Governor, he was met by Captam 

 Puett and taken over to the Bates House, the lobby headquarters. 

 Here he was introduced to Judge Smith and Judge Roach, by whom 

 he was induced to engage in banking. He spent four or five weeks 

 laboring in behalf of the lobby, only to be refused a subscription 

 at the openings. There were Ransom W. Aiken of Bloomington, 

 the banker who failed when the war took the edge off his Missouri 

 stocks; James Dick, to whom the lobby took a fancy when he came 

 up to see his friend Samuel Judah, and asked him to assist Judah 

 in opening the subscription books at Vincennes; and a great many 

 others of lesser note. 



Almost anything was promised to anybody who, it was thought, 

 could exert an influence. Samuel H. Buskirk, member of the 

 house from Monroe county, was promised a branch at Bloomington; 

 J. J. Alexander, a senator, was promised a branch in his home town, 

 Gosport; John Hunt of Madison, member of the house, was promised 

 all the stock he wanted; James McCurry, a representative of Put- 

 nam county, was to have a subscription of 400 shares; Senator 

 Samuel I. Anthony was given 30 shares in the Laporte bank which 

 he sold to Rose for $50; Amzi L. Wheeler, a representative, supjDorted 

 the bill and took 1,060 shares of stock in the Plymouth branch which 

 he 'sold for $7,000 premium; Senator Harris Reynolds of Fountain 

 county supported the charter and subscribed for a few shares in the 

 Lafayette branch; Austin H. Brown, editor of the Indianaipolis 

 Sentinel, was offered 500 shares for his support; Swan Brookshire, 

 a senator for Montgomery county, was promised a branch at Craw- 



1.5—29048] 



