The eighth governor of Indiana and a United States senator, described as "one of the most attractive characters in Indiana public life" by Hoosier historian Jacob Piatt Dunn, Jr., James Whitcomb was born in Rochester, Windsor County, Vermont, the son of John, a Revolutionary War veteran, and Lydia (Parmenter)Whitcomb. In 1806, Whitcomb and his family moved to a farm near Cincinnati, Ohio. James Whitcomb's love of books, and disregard for farming, caused his father to prophesies that his son would never amount to anything in life.
Whitcomb supported himself by teaching as he worked his way through Transylvania University, Lexington, Kentucky, graduating in 1819. After reading law in a law office, he was admitted to the bar in Fayette County, Kentucky, in March 1822. Two years later, Whitcomb established a private law practice in Bloomington, Indiana, which he operated for ten years. In 1826, Governor James B. Ray appointed Whitcomb as prosecuting attorney for the fifth judicial district. Elected to six consecutive terms in the state senate beginning in 1830, Whitcomb adamantly opposed the movement in the state for massive internal improvements, which led to the passage of the Mammoth Internal Improvements Act of 1836. The act provided for the construction of canals and a railroad and improvement of the state's roads. Whitcomb was one of only nine legislators who voted against the act.
President Andrew Jackson appointed Whitcomb in October 1836 as the commissioner of the general land office in Washington, D.C. and continued in that post through the end of President Martin Van Buren's term. During his time in office, Whitcomb taught himself to read both French and Spanish in order to read land grants printed in those languages. He returned to Indiana in 1841, establishing a successful law practice in Terre Haute. A leading figure in Democratic politics in the state, he cemented his popularity with party members during the campaign of 1843 when he wrote Facts for the People in Relation to a Protective Tariff, which argued strongly against the protective tariff. Selected by the Democratic State Convention in 1843 as the party's gubernatorial nominee, Whitcomb defeated incumbent Whig Governor Samuel Bigger by approximately 2,000 votes. Whitcomb was reelected as Indiana governor in 1846, winning 64,104 votes to 60,138 votes for Whig candidate Joseph Marshall and 2,301 votes for Liberty Party nominee Stephen C. Stevens. On March 24, 1846, Whitcomb married Martha Ann Hurst, who died a year later following the birth of the couple's daughter.
Whitcomb won favor with Hoosier voters during his terms as governor by settling the enormous state debts incurred by the collapse of Indiana's internal improvements system. In an arrangement brokered by the legislature and Charles Butler, a lawyer who represented New York and London bondholders, the state agreed to pay half of its internal improvement, the other half being assumed by creditors in return for stock in the Wabash and Erie Canal. Also during the Whitcomb administrations the state improved its public charities, establishing its first mental health institution (Central State Hospital in Indianapolis) along with a school for the deaf and the Indiana Institute for the Education of the Blind. When the United States declared war on Mexico in 1846, Whitcomb secured loans from the various branches of the state bank to finance the raising of troops for the conflict.
Described by contemporaries as being compact and strongly built, Whitcomb was above average in size with black hair and a dark complexion. Along with politics, he was active in numerous organizations, serving as vice president of the American Bible Society, one of the founders of the Indiana Historical Society, and an active Freemason and member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Although he smoked and took snuff regularly, the farmer's son was known for being very economical with his time and money. An accomplished musician, Whitcomb composed numerous pieces for the violin and enjoyed hosting parties at the governor's mansion in Indianapolis. He became so popular with Hoosiers that some named their children after him. Reuben Riley, a Greenfield, Indiana, attorney, dubbed his second son, who would win fame as the "Hoosier Poet," James Whitcomb Riley.
In 1849 the Indiana General Assembly selected Whitcomb over incumbent Edward Allen Hannegan to serve in the United States Senate. Suffering from gravel, a disease that causes calculous masses in the kidneys and urinary bladder, however, Whitcomb played little role in Senate proceedings. He died on Oct. 4, 1852, following an operation in New York and is buried in Indianapolis's Crown Hill Cemetery.
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