Thomas A. Hendricks

In 1845, ThomasHendricks married Eliza C. Morgan of North Bend, Ohio. They had a son, Morgan, who unfortunately died at the age of three.

Thomas Hendricks died unexpectedly in his sleep on November 25, 1885, in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States,at the age of 66. His funeral was held in St. Paul's Cathedral, Indianapolis, and he was later interred in Indianapolis's Crown Hill Cemetery.

Thomas Hendricks was born on September 7, 1819, in Muskingum County, Ohio, United States, to John Thomson Hendricks, a farmer who later became involved in politics, and his wife, Jane. He was one of the eight children in his family.

In 1820, his family settled on a farm in Madison, in Jefferson County, Indiana, and later moved to Shelby County, Indiana. After Hendricks’ father was appointed deputy surveyor of public lands for his district, their home was frequently visited by the state's leading men, which inclined his interest towards politics from a young age.

After receiving elementary education from the Shelby County Seminary and Greensburg Academy, Hendricks attended the Hanover College, Indiana, from where he graduated in 1841.

After finishing college, he studied law from a school in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. Thereafter, he returned to Indiana and was admitted to the bar in 1843. Subsequently, he began a private law practice in Shelbyville.

In 1848, Thomas Hendricks entered into politics as a member of the Indiana House of Representatives, where he served a one-year term and was speaker of the house.

In 1850, Hendricks was appointed, as a Democrat, a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Indiana's 5th district, where he served from March 1851 to March 1853.He was the chairman of the Committee on Mileage in Thirty-second Congress.

From March 1853 to March 1855, he served as Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Indiana's 6th district. He was on the Committee on Invalid Pensions in Thirty-third Congress.

In 1855, Hendricks was appointed the Commissioner of the General Land Office in Washington, D.C., a post he retained until 1859. After resigning as land commissioner, Hendricks moved to Indianapolis and in 1860, he ran as the Democratic candidate for governor of Indiana, but lost.

In 1862, he was elected by the Indiana General Assembly to the U.S. Senate during the American Civil War. From 1863 to 1869, he remained in the Senate, covering the Thirty-eighth, Thirty-ninth, and Fortieth Congresses, as leader of its small Democratic minority.

During his tenure as governor of Indiana, Hendricks was successful in convincing legislature to enact election reform and judiciary reform. While serving at the post, he also proposed to build a new Indiana Statehouse, the cornerstone for which was laid in 1880, after he left office. The building was completed eight years later and is still in use.