A. James Fuller - Oliver P. Morton and the Politics of the Civil War and Reconstruction

Oliver P. Morton, undated carte de visite.

and the

A. James Fuller

The Kent State

University Press

KENT, OHIO

2017 by The Kent State University Press, Kent, Ohio 44242
All rights reserved

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 2016054760
ISBN 978-1-60635-310-3
Manufactured in the United States of America

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Fuller, A. James, author.
Title: Oliver P. Morton and the politics of the Civil War and Reconstruction / A. James Fuller.
Description: Kent, Ohio : The Kent State University Press, 2017. | Includes bibliographical references
and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016054760 | ISBN 9781606353103 (hardcover : alk. paper) |
ISBN 9781631012716 (epdf)
Subjects: LCSH: Morton, Oliver P. (Oliver Perry), 1823-1877. | Governors--Indiana--Biography. |
Indiana--Politics and government--1861-1865. | Indiana--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Biography. |
United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Biography. | Legislators--United States--Biography. |
Reconstruction (U.S. history, 1865-1877)
Classification: LCC F526.M87 F85 2017 | DDC 328.73/092 [B]--dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016054760

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Introduction: Interpreting the Great War Governor
and Reconstruction Senator

Frontispiece. Oliver P. Morton, undated carte de visite

IN WRITING THE LIFE OF OLIVER MORTON, I have accumulated many debts to individuals who have helped me throughout the process. Knowing that I cannot thank all of them, and at the risk of failing to acknowledge significant contributions, I humbly hope to express my gratitude to those who guided and encouraged me, corrected some of my errors, and inspired me.

The good people of Centerville, Indiana, have extended their Hoosier hospitality to me on several occasions over the years. I especially thank Ron Morris for his walking tour of the town on a rainy summer day. And I am grateful that he welcomed me into his historic propertiesincluding the Morton House. Jim Resh and Beth Treaster were two among many others who made me feel welcome in Mortons hometown. Centerville has preserved so many historic buildings along Main Street that it allows one to imagine life there during Mortons lifetime.

It is customary and correct that historians and biographers thank librarians and archivists for the help that they provide us. Such professionals have done much to help me with my work on Morton. At the Indiana State Archives, Michael Vetman was always ready to help a scholar working for days on end. Elizabeth Hague and Stephanie Gowler showed me how to use an ultraviolet light to examine what looked like blank pages in a volume of Mortons letter books faded by too many years of storage in a Chicago attic. At the Indiana Historical Society, Paul Brockman, Suzanne Hahn, and Nicole Poletika all greeted me with friendly smiles and happily guided me to the materials I needed. Several dedicated professionals treated me well at the Indiana State Library, and I especially thank Marcia Caudell, Bethany Fiechter, and Brent Abercrombie for assisting me during my many long days spent in the reading room there. Marcia also offered valuable insights into Mortons life, and Brent provided useful information about Daniel D. Pratt as well as his knowledge of many other collections. Among the public historians who have supported me in this project, Pamela Bennett of the Indiana Historical Bureau often encouraged my work along the way.

Editors make the publication of our work possible, and as with archivists, they usually receive a much-deserved expression of gratitude in a books acknowledgments. Joyce Harrison patiently waited for this biography of Morton through many delays caused by personal circumstances. I thank her and the other professionals at the Kent State University Press for accepting my excuses and making this publication possible.

Several people who should have seen this completed book have passed away since I began to work on it in 2008. Three of my graduate school mentors are now gone, and I regret that I did not finish this biography in time to send them a copy. Jack Temple Kirby, Michael OBrien, and Andrew R. L. Cayton all shaped my thinking and my work, both during graduate school and in the years after. I can never hope to live up to the examples set by these three men, but I hope that, somehow, my own efforts as a scholar serve as some small part of their legacies.

Friends and colleagues help make writing a less lonely process. At the University of Indianapolis, two of my departmental colleagues, in particular, have always provided a sympathetic ear and sage advice. Larry Sondhaus is a trusted friend with whom I can share the frustrations and joys of research and writing. Ted Frantz helped me with clarifications and suggested useful titles as I tried to comprehend the complexities of Mortons role in the politics of the 1870s.

A number of historians in Indiana and elsewhere have been collegial and supportive of my work. Jenny Weber, Anita Morgan, Doug Gardner, Richard Nation, Thomas Mackey, Glenn Crothers, Chris Phillips, and Anne Marshall all provided comments and criticisms that helped me along the way. Jim Madison encouraged me at several points along the way, and I am grateful for his kind remarks. Eric Sandweiss gave me constructive criticism and useful advice. Mark Summers generously shared sources, and I am indebted to him for his many books that guided me through the twists and turns of the Reconstruction era. Tom Rodgers has shared his research and interpretations with me, sending me copies of conference papers even as his published articles helped me to better understand Indiana politics in the mid-nineteenth century. Nicole Etcheson has become a good friend as well as a clear-eyed critic, and I appreciate that she always employed humor as she prodded me to finish this book. Daniel Stowell shares my interests in Southern history and Southern Baptists as well as a passion for Abraham Lincoln, and he has supported and critiqued my study of Morton from the beginning.

I acknowledge Mike Greens work on Republican ideology during the war in the introduction to this volume, but I must thank him for it here as well. Mike is a longtime friend, but I appreciate his critical eye, and his insightful suggestions forced me to make this a better book. Steve Towne inspired this biography before I knew him, but he has become a good friend as well. His sharp mind and incredible memory embarrass those around him, as we marvel at how he can remember primary sources in many different archives, often citing box and folder numbers as well as specific dates and authors. His criticisms of my rough draft corrected many of my errors and required me to make some difficult decisions about how to explain several important events. He is an accomplished historian as well as an archivist, and Steves groundbreaking research on the militarys investigations of the Copperheads has allowed me to reinterpret Morton in ways that would not otherwise have been possible.