It is the dictate of our nature, no less than of enlightened
social policy, to honor the illustrious dead; to bedew with
affectionate tears the silent urn of departed genius and virtue; to
unburden the fullness of the surcharged heart in eulogium upon
deceased benefactors; and to rehearse their noble deeds for the
benefit of those who may come after us. It has been the
commendable custom of all ages and all nations. Hence the
following feeble tribute to one of nature's noblemen.
Samuel Hanna was born October 18, 1797, in Scott county,
Kentucky. His father, James Hanna, removed to Dayton, Ohio, in
1804, and settled on a new farm, lying contiguous to the southern
boundary of that town. He was one of a numerous family, all of
whom attained respectable, and most of them, distinguished positions
in life. Samuel's early days were passed, like those of most
boys in a new country, in assisting his father to clear up his farm,
and in the enjoyment of such limited educational advantages as were
attainable in the West at that early day. His earliest
employment, away from the protection of the parental roof, was that
of post-rider, as it was called; that is, taking newspapers from the
publication office and delivering them to subscribers at their
residences, located far and near over the country - an employment
now obsolete, but extensively practiced fifty years ago, when
post-offices were almost entirely limited to county-seats. In
this humble calling, the youthful Hanna passed considerable time,
traversing, week after week, the then wilderness of western Ohio.
There is one incident connected with his first business
enterprise well worthy of being recorded for the benefit of the
young men who are ambitious to rise in the world.
It seems that in his nineteenth year, young Hanna occupied the
position of clerk in a store in Piqua, Ohio. He and another
young man, also a minor, bought out the proprietor, giving their
notes for $3,000. Soon after, these notes were transferred to
an innocent purchaser. About the same time, the goods which
they had purchased were taken from them by writ of attachment,
leaving the young men without means, and [sic] incumbered by a heavy
indebtedness. Hanna's partner soon relieved himself of the
liability by the plea of infancy. Not so young Hanna.
Although his friends advised him to the same course, representing
that he had been swindled, he nobly declined, declaring that he
would pay the last dollar of the debt, should providence ever [sic]
favour him with the means. It is but justice to the
memory of Mr. Hanna to say that he subsequently redeemed this
promise, and paid the debt, in full, principal and interest.
Integrity and uprightness thus early evinced, amidst strong
inducements to a contrary course, characterized his long and useful
career, and gave him immense influence over his fellow men. If
young men would emulate his example in this respect, the word
failure would seldom be written over their business lives.
Subsequently he engaged for sometime in teaching a country
school; and he is represented, no doubt, truly as having been a
vigorous disciplinarian - an exact, systematic, and thorough
instructor. Indeed, he seems, at that early day, to have
indicated his future eminence and usefulness, by adopting and acting
upon, that honest but homely maxim that exerted an influence so
marked and so beneficial on all his subsequent career, and extended
up to the hour of his death: "Whatever you find to do, do it with
all your might," or, "Whatever is worth doing, is worth doing well."
He attended the Indian treaty at St. Mary's, in 1818, in the
character of a sutler, or purveyor, in connection with his brother
Thomas, furnishing both food for men and provender for horses, all
of which was hauled with an ox-team from Troy, Ohio; he, with his
own hands, hewing out feed-troughs for the stock. By this
operation he realized a small amount of money. This was his
first substantial acquisition - the corner-stone upon which his
subsequent colossal fortune was reared. Here, too, his purpose
was formed of emigrating to Fort Wayne, where he was destined to act
so conspicuous and important a part in developing the resources of
the country and building up a city.
He arrived here in 1819, when he was in his twenty-second year.
He found the place a mere Indian trading-post, with very few white
inhabitants, and those merely remnants of the old military
establishment. Outside of the "Post" and its immediate
vicinity, there were no white settlers, and the country in every
direction, for hundreds of miles, was an unbroken wilderness,
swarming with the red men of the forest. He immediately
entered upon mercantile pursuits in a small way, at what is now the
Northwest corner of Columbia and Barr Streets. The town was
not then laid out. His first store-house was a rude log cabin,
erected, principally, with his own hands. This primitive
structure was soon superseded by a story-and-a-half frame building,
and that, in after years, by a substantial brick block of business
houses. These are still retained by the family and belong to
the sharer of his joys and his sorrows, his toils and his trials,
[sic] tho trusted and honored companion of his youth, his manhood,
and his old age, and who yet survives. May her remaining days
be many among the living.
Of course, at that early day, his chief customers were Indians.
Indian trade has always been profitable, even when conducted
honestly and justly, as is universally conceded is always was by
this young trader. It may here be remarked that Indian
traders, as a class, have mostly been regarded as about the worst
specimens of the race; being chiefly intent, by the basest arts,
upon defrauding the ignorant and simple-minded children of the
forest out of their annuities, or whatever little property they
might possess. But no such imputation attaches to the
character of Mr. Hanna. By a course of fair and honorable
dealing, first with his Indian customers, and then with the whites,
as they came into the country and the Indians needed, he acquired a
high degree of regard and consideration on the part of the people
among whom he lived so many years. This regard and
consideration went on increasing in volume and intensity while he
lived, and only culminated when the portals of the tomb shut him
from mortal sight forever.
Samuel Hanna's splendid fortune was not acquired by defrauding
his fellow-men, either white or red; but by great business sagacity,
the most indomitable industry, and rigid economy. These three
qualities he possessed in an eminent degree. He especially
claimed credit for his economy during the early stages of his
business career; and often declared that he never expended one
dollar for any personal pleasure or luxury until he was worth over
fifty thousand. How many young men of the present day will be
able to say this when they are old?
From his first settlement at Fort Wayne, Mr. Hanna, at all times,
and on all occasions, evinced a strong desire to build up the town,
to advance its material interests in every way, and to improve and
develop the resources of the country; and though not inattentive to
his own individual interests, the cardinal purpose was kept steadily
in view during his whole life. In all meetings of the people
for the promotion of public improvements or public welfare, he was
always a conspicuous and leading actor. He early perceived the
indispensable necessity of opening and improving roads and other
facilities for travel and intercommunication; but to fully
appreciate his designs in this respect, it may be necessary to
revert to the condition of things at that time.
As has already been remarked, Fort Wayne, as he found it, was
situated in a wilderness, far removed from all improvements.
The country around afforded no supplies, except the inconsiderable
amount yielded by the chase, and a a very small quantity of corn
grown on the bottoms in the immediate vicinity by the occupants of
the "Post," or Fort, themselves. The chief supply of
provisions or provender, and almost every necessary of life, had to
brought from a distance; mostly from Miami county, Ohio, by way of
St. Mary's; being transported by wagons to the latter place, thence
to Fort Wayne by flat-boats, down the St. Mary's river. The
dangers and difficulties that attended the shipment of supplies
through this channel can scarcely be conceived at the present day.
Imagine men with loaded teams, struggling through swamps and
interminable mud, day after day, lodging in the wilderness by night,
then conceive the perils of boating on a crooked, narrow stream,
through dense forests, beset with fallen trees and removing them,
exposed to wet and cold, with no protection but the scanty garments
they wore, and they saturated with water for days in succession.
Such was the severity of the service, that many persons engaged in
it were brought to a premature grave.
The facilities for obtaining goods were little or no better.
They were, mostly purchased in New York or Boston, and brought up
the Maumee in pirogues, a most laborious task; or packed through the
wilderness from Detroit, on horses.
When it is considered that these were the best, and almost the
only sources of supply, at that early day, the gigantic difficulties
in the way of founding and building a city, may be faintly imagined
but never described, nor even fully appreciated at the present time.
Mr. Hanna, though he clearly saw and deeply felt them all in their
fullest force, was by no means discouraged or disheartened.
They only excited the ardor and enthusiasm of his indomitable
nature, and nerved him to redoubled effort and determination.
He and a few other public spirited men, who generally followed his
lead, addressed themselves to the work of their removal with
resolute and untiring energy.
The fruits of their noble efforts we this day largely enjoy.
Pause for a moment and contrast the present Fort Wayne and its
surroundings with the Fort Wayne of 1819. Then but few people,
except Indians, no schools, no churches, no improved country, no
town - not even a laid-out town plat. Now, a population
rapidly approaching 30,000; a well cultivated, densely peopled,
wealthy, productive and prosperous country in every direction;
canals, turnpikes, railroads and other facilities for travel and
transportation, abound, brining to the city abundant supplies of
produce, goods, building materials, and whatever may conduce to the
comfort and convenience of the people (giving profitable employment
to many of them), or add material prosperity to the place. New
structures are springing up in all directions as if by magic.
Temples of public worship, colleges and free schools, are being
erected and beautified. Everything indicates thrift,
enterprise, progress, and prosperity. Society is out of its
infancy, and is rapidly assuming the proportions of a giant.
What has caused this wonderful transformation ? - this bleak,
desolate, and savage wilderness "to blossom as the rose," and
become, in this short period of time, the habitation of a great, a
free, a powerful, prosperous and magnanimous people? Such
wonders are not visible everywhere. In many places, even in
this favored land, instead of the rapid advances of improvement, we
see evident signs of stagnation, of decay and dilapidation.
Why this difference? In many instances the country lacked
those enterprising men so indispensable to lead the masses, and
inspire them with energetic effort, to direct those efforts, when
aroused, to proper means and judicious ends - in short, to lend a
powerful helping hand, and throw in the scale a heavy purse, when
other resources fail. Society needs generals in civil life, as
well as in war. Samuel Hanna was emphatically a general in
civil life. His name is intimately associated and blended with
every period in the history of Fort Wayne. No public
enterprise of importance was ever undertaken by her citizens without
his concurrence and aid. In truth, it would be impossible to
write the history of Fort Wayne, without, at the same time, writing
a large portion of the biography of Samuel Hanna. His vast and
controlling influence is visible everywhere, and was potential for
good whatever it extended.
Soon after commencing operations at Fort Wayne, Samuel Hanna was
appointed Agent of the American Fur Company, a responsible position,
which he filled for a number of years to the entire satisfaction of
the Company. He was, also, Associate Judge of the Circuit
Court, and was repeatedly elected, at that early period, and, in
subsequent years, a member of the State Legislature. To the
importance of some of his services in the latter capacity, allusion
will, hereafter, be made. As his means accumulated he extended
his mercantile operations to other places, particularly to
Lafayette, where he was, for many years, concerned in a large house
with his brother Hugh, from both of which he realized large returns.
He became an extensive land owner in the Wabash valley and
elsewhere. The writer well remembers having heard him remark,
upon setting out for Indianapolis in 1843, that he could go by way
of Lafayette and return by way of Andersontown, and feed his horse
at his own corn crib every night during his journey.
The American people have been informed that a dim foreshadowing
of a canal to connect Lake Erie with the Ohio river, was entertained
by Gen. Washington and other early patriots and statesmen, as one of
the possibilities of the far future. But they are indebted to
Judge Hanna for the first practical conception of this magnificent
project. It was in a familiar conversation with the late David
Burr in a little summer-house attached to his then residence, at the
northwest corner of Barr and Berry streets, that he first broached
the subject of a canal to connect Lake Erie with the Wabash river,
to that gentleman. It struck Mr. Burr favorably. He was
a scholarly gentleman of ability and influence, well and
respectfully remembered by the older citizens of the place.
The two frequently consulted together in regard to this important
matter, and partially matured a plan of operations. They
opened correspondence with the Indiana Representatives and Senators
in Congress, and secured their favor and influence for the great
undertaking. These efforts resulted, in 1827, in a grant by
Congress to the State of Indiana, of each alternative section of
land for six miles on each side of the proposed line, through its
whole length, to aid in the construction of the canal. Strange
as it may seem at the present day, a powerful opposition to the
acceptance of the grant by the State, was organized in some parts
thereof, and Judge Hanna was elected to the Legislature as the
especial champion of the canal policy. The contest was ardent
and protracted, but resulted in the acceptance of the grant, and an
appropriation of one thousand dollars to purchase the necessary
engineering instruments and procure the survey and location of the
summit level. Judge Hanna, David Burr, and a Mr. Jones were
appointed Canal Commissioners. Judge Hanna went to New York,
purchased the instruments, and, returning by way of Detroit, packed
them on horseback from that city to Fort Wayne. Civil
Engineers were scarce in the West at that day, but the commissioners
procured one, and immediately entered upon the survey, commencing on
the St. Joseph river, six miles above Fort Wayne, where the feeder
dam was afterwards built, Mr. Burr operating as rod-man and Judge
Hanna as ax-man, both at ten dollars per month. The second day
the engineer was taken sick and was compelled to abandon the work,
Judge Hanna and Mr. Burr, along, continuing and completing the
survey of the summit feeder. They made their report to the
succeeding session of the Legislature, and Judge Hanna, being again
a member, secured its adoption, and the passage of an Act
authorizing the construction of the Wabash and Erie Canal.
Thus originated, and was inaugurated, almost, if not entirely,
through the untiring energy, the indomitable perseverance of these
two noble pioneers, Hanna and Burr, this stupendous work of Internal
Improvement - the longest continuous line of artificial water
communication on the American continent; if not the world; and which
was of such incalculable value to Fort Wayne and all Northern
Indiana. They are far, very far, in advance of what they would
have been, had there been no Wabash and Erie Canal. Indeed, it
is no exaggeration to say that they would hardly yet have been out
of the primeval wilderness without that great work.
Judge Hanna was Fund Commissioner for several years, and
negotiated for most of the money with which the work was carried on.
In alluding to this subject, the American Railway Review,
of September 1st, 1859, says:
"Probably no one contributed more to the success of the canal
policy during the first and trying years of its progress, than
Samuel Hanna of Fort Wayne. From 1828 to 1836, he was
successively Canal Commissioner and Fund Commissioner, besides
serving three years in the State Senate and one year in the House,
representing, as Senator, perhaps one-third the entire area of the
State, and filling, in each body, for a part of the time the post of
Chairman of the Canal Committee. In these official stations he
evinced the same judgment, tact and force of character which, nearly
a quarter of a century afterwards, enabled him to render important
service to the Northern section of Indiana, the enterprise of
completing, under financial difficulties, such as would have
discouraged men less courageous in assuming pecuniary
responsibilities, that portion of the [sic] Pittsburg, Fort Wayne &
Chicago Railway lying west of Crestline."
Perhaps the wisdom and ability of Judge Hanna were never more
strikingly displayed in any single act of his life than in the
establishment and organization of the State Bank of Indiana.
When the derangement of the currency and financial embarrassment,
consequent upon the veto of the United States Bank and other kindred
measures occurred, he was a member of the Legislature. The
President had recommended the creation of more State Banks to supply
the circulation, retired by the closing of that institution.
Accordingly, a charter was introduced into the Indiana Legislature
of such a character that Judge Hanna and other judicious members
thought it ought not to pass. He opposed its passage with
great power and ability, and was principally instrumental in
defeating it; but it was clearly seen that a charter of some kind
would pass at the next session. A committee was appointed to
prepare a proper charter during the vacation, to be presented again
when the Legislature again convened. Judge Hanna was made
Chairman of that committee, and to him was confided the duty of
drafting the proposed new charter. How well he performed the
duty, may be inferred from the fact that it passed both houses of
the Legislature almost precisely as it came from his hand within a
few days after their coming together, and was approved January 28th,
1834. Thus was created the State Bank of Indiana, by common
consent, one of the best banking institutions that has ever existed
in this country - an institution that continued in operation twenty
years, affording the people a safe and sound currency, and yielding
to the State a large accumulated fund at its close; an institution
that exerted a marked influence on the subsequent Bank Legislation
of many other states. No one ever lost a dollar by the State
Bank of Indiana.
A branch was at once established at Fort Wayne, of which Judge
Hanna was President much of the time, and Hon. Hugh McCulloch,
present Secretary of the United States Treasury, Cashier, during the
whole time of its continuance. The branches of this
institution were generally well and discreetly managed, but
according to a unanimous public sentiment, the Fort Wayne Branch was
managed with preeminent skill and ability.
In 1836, Judge Hanna purchased the remaining land interest of
Barr and McCorkle, adjoining, and surrounding the then plat of Fort
Wayne. This purchase, although it ultimately proved very
profitable, for many years, involved him in serious financial
embarrassments. He immediately commenced laying off and
selling lots, but sales for some time were not rapid, money was
exceedingly scarce, and most of those who did buy were unable to pay
when their liabilities became due. Meanwhile, the interest on
his large purchase had to be paid regularly. Moreover, such
was his leniency towards his debtors, that he would, and did, for
years, suffer every kind of inconvenience and pecuniary sacrifice,
rather than press or distress them. Multitudes have
comfortable homes today, in this city, who are indebted for them to
the kindness and forbearance of Judge Hanna. It was a rule
with him never to urge payment of any one who kept his interest paid
up, and many were in arrears for even that for years together,
without being disturbed.
In 1843, an outlet for produce and an inlet for people were
opened by the opening of the canal to the Lake; the country began
rapidly to settle, and the town to improve. The sale of lots
was greatly augmented, money became more abundant, and payments more
ready. Then Judge Hanna began to reap the benefits of his
hazardous purchase - to enjoy the reward of his years of toil and
embarrassments, and of his generous forbearance towards his poor
debtors. "Hanna's Addition" is a very extensive and important
part of the present city of Fort Wayne.
For several years succeeding 1836, Judge Hanna devoted himself,
mainly, to the affairs of the Fort Wayne Branch Bank, to the
management and improvement of his estate, and to the enjoyment of
his domestic and social relations; accepting, occasionally, a seat
in the Legislature of the State. During this period, his pet
project, the Wabash and Erie Canal, was open to Toledo, working
wonders in the development of both town and country. But the
roads leading to Fort Wayne were in a wretched condition much of the
time, and their improvement became a subject of vital necessity.
The question as to how the desired improvement could be affected was
extensively agitated. About this time the building of plank
roads was coming into practice in some of the eastern states and in
Canada. A gentleman of this country, the late Jesse Vermilyes,
visited and examined some of them, taking particular note of the
manner of their construction and reported favorably. The idea
was seized by Judge Hanna with avidity and acted upon with his
accustomed promptness and energy. He and some other
enterprising gentlemen, here and along the line, northward,
immediately began to organize the Fort Wayne and Lima Plank Road
Company and procure the stock subscriptions. The people were
very solicitous for the road, but they were generally poor in money,
and these subscriptions were almost entirely made in land, goods,
labor &c. About all the money used in building fifty miles of
this road was borrowed of the Branch Bank, on the credit of the
company; and this was expended in building the necessary steam
saw-mills. The first attempt to let contracts proved a
failure. In order to give the work a start, Judge Hanna took
the first ten miles north of Fort Wayne and went, personally, into
the work; superintending, directing, and with his own hands
assisting in the most laborious operations. Others followed
his example, and within about two years the road was completed to
Ontario, a distance of fifty miles - the first improvement of the
kind undertaken and completed in Northern Indiana. Other
similar works followed in quick succession leading to Fort Wayne,
among which was the Piqua Plank Road. In the construction of
this, as in that of the Lima road, Judge Hanna was an active and
leading participant. While others nobly did their whole duty,
it cannot be denied that he was the Hercules, whose shoulder to the
wheel propelled both of those works toward completion.
When the Pennsylvania and Ohio Railroad reached Crestline [Ohio],
and it was proposed to extend it to Fort Wayne, under the name of
the Ohio and Indiana Railroad, Judge Hanna was ready with his
powerful cooperation. He was largely instrumental in inducing
the people of Allen county to vote a subscription of $100,000 to its
capital stock. This was the turning point of the great
enterprise at that time. Without this timely aid, the work
would have been indefinitely postponed, if not entirely defeated.
The project was strong in merit, but weak in funds. It was
difficult to find responsible parties who were willing to undertake
the construction of work; but Judge Hanna, as in all else, was equal
to the emergency. In 1852, he, in connection with our
respected fellow citizen, Pliny Hoagland, Esq., and the late Hon.
Wm. Mitchell, took the whole contract from Crestline to Fort Wayne,
132 miles, and immediately entered upon the prosecution of the work.
After making some progress, the available means of the company
became entirely exhausted, and the work was suddenly brought to a
stand-still. A meeting of the directors was called at Bucyrus;
but the prospect presented was all dark and dubious. No one
could devise the ways and means to advance a step in the work.
The case looked hopeless and desperate. Dr. Merriman, the
President of the company, a most amiable and estimable gentleman,
resigned in despair of rendering any further service. Judge
Hanna was immediately elected to fill the vacancy occasioned by his
resignation. In three days he was in the Eastern cities,
pledging his individual credit and that of his coadjutors, Hoagland
and Mitchell, for funds. This effected, without delay, he
hastened to Montreal and Quebec, to redeem iron that had been
forfeited for non payment of transportation. In this he was
successful. The crisis was passed - light was ahead.
Work was resumed. The Ohio and Indiana Railroad was again
making progress, and in November, 1854, overcoming the most
formidable obstacles, the cars from Pittsburg and Philadelphia, came
rolling into Fort Wayne, waking the echoes of the wilderness as they
came, and bringing hilarious joy and gladness to this hitherto
isolated community. Then "was the town all a jubilee of
feasts," festivity and exultation, such as it had never exhibited
before, and possibly may never exhibit again. It was the
initial line of a system of railroads that are destined, at no
distant day, to radiate from Fort Wayne, "like the spokes from the
hub of a wheel."
In the autumn of 1852, while encumbered with the building and
financial embarrassments of the Ohio and Indiana Railroad, the Fort
Wayne and Chicago Railroad company was organized, and Judge Hanna
was elected President.
"The means of this company to prosecute the work were to be
derived, mainly, from the sale of stock and bonds. The stock
subscriptions which were paid in cash into the Treasury, were very
small - amounting, perhaps, in all, to less than three percent
on the final cost of building and equipping the road between Fort
Wayne and Chicago. The stock subscriptions were paid, mostly
in uncultivated lands, farms, town-lots, and labor upon the road.
A large portion of the real estate thus conveyed to the company in
payment of subscriptions to stock, (over $1,000,000 in value,) was
mortgaged by the company to obtain the necessary cash means to pay
for grading the roadway."
Other cash means had to be derived from the sale of bonds; and,
as the company had been but recently organized, with but little or
no work done on its line of road, of course, it securities met with
no ready sale. In the face of these discouraging
circumstances, which would have overwhelmed almost any other man,
Judge Hanna went resolutely to work on the new line. He was
thus, President and chief manager of two companies - both without
money, except what his own exertions provided - whose united lines
extended from Crestline to Chicago, a distance of 280 miles, and a
leading contractor for the construction of one of them.
Instead of being overcome or depressed by this immense
responsibility; instead of fainting or faltering under the load that
would have crushed most other men, he was fully up to the occasion.
The difficulties that surrounded him only nerved him to the exertion
of his great powers. The brightness of his true character
never blazed out in fuller effulgence. The greater the
pressure, the greater was always his resources, and the greater the
elasticity of his nature.
Under such adverse circumstances, as above alluded to, it was not
to be expected that the work would progress with great rapidity.
The Pennsylvania Central Railroad Company extended a little
assistance to the new enterprise, but not sufficient to effect any
very decided results. In the beginning of 1856, however, the
cars were running to Columbia City, and considerable grading had
been done between that town and Plymouth, a distance of 45 miles
further west.
During that year, it became apparent to many of the stock
holders, as well as managers of the separate corporations, extending
from Pittsburg to Chicago, and which, in fact, for all practical and
business purposes, formed but one line, that the interests and
convenience of each, as well as of the public, would be promoted by
merging their separate existence into one great consolidated
company. Judge Hanna early and earnestly espoused the cause of
consolidation, and a meeting was called at Fort Wayne to consider
and act upon the subject. Contrary to expectation,
considerable opposition to the projected consolidation manifested
itself at this meeting, headed and managed by the shrewd and
talented Charles L. Boalt, encouraged and assisted by others
hardly less astute. The debate was animated and exciting.
The best talent on both sides was warmly enlisted. The contest
extended to considerable length, and its issue appeared doubtful.
Before the debate closed, Judge Hanna rose for a final appeal.
No one who heard that brief effort will forget it. It was a
condensed array of facts and arguments - a splendid out-burst of
burning, earnest, eloquence. The opposition was literally
crushed out. The vote resulted in a large majority for
consolidation - many who had opposed it in the beginning, voting in
its favor. Thus, on the first day of August, 1856, the three
minor corporations were obliterated on terms satisfactory to
themselves, and the great Pittsburg, Fort Wayne, and Chicago
Railroad Company succeeded to their franchises and liabilities.
The Hon. G. W. Cass was elected President, and Judge Hanna Vice
President of the consolidated company; the former holding the
position until the present day, and the latter until his decease.
Out of respect to the memory of the late incumbent, the vacancy has
never since been filled.
The new arrangement infused new life and energy into the work.
Jesse L. Williams, Esq., was appointed Chief Engineer, and under his
vigorous management, in November, a little over three months after
the consolidation, the road was open to Plymouth, sixty-six miles
west of Fort Wayne. That section of the Cincinnati, Peru and
Chicago Railroad, extending from Plymouth to La Porte, and there
connecting with the Southern Michigan and Northern Indiana Railroad,
was opened for business about the same time; thus giving, by the aid
of two other lines, a through route from Pittsburg to Chicago.
The idea was conceived, and gained some strength, of permitting the
western terminus of the Pittsburg, Fort Wayne, and Chicago Road to
rest at Plymouth for a while, perhaps indefinitely; and of reaching
Chicago over the two other routes, by way of La Porte. This
plan Judge Hanna opposed with even more than his usual vigor and
ability, and was largely instrumental in defeating it. Nothing
less than a direct, independent line - the company's own line
- would satisfy him. As the round-about arrangement, upon
trial, proved disadvantageous to the company, it was abandoned, and
the direct line pushed forward to an early completion.
While Judge Hanna would never yield an iota of the interests of
the company to any outside consideration, he was not unmindful of
the interests of the Fort Wayne, nor, perhaps, of his own individual
interests. When those of the company could be as well, or
better, subserved at Fort Wayne than elsewhere, he preferred Fort
Wayne. Hence his untiring efforts for the establishment and
building up, here, of the immense repair shops and manufactories
that constitute so important a feature of Fort Wayne.
To him are we, mainly, if not entirely, indebted for the
incalculable benefit derived from their location here. His
sagacity foresaw their importance from the beginning, and he never,
for a moment, lost sight of it. He had the aid and
co-operation of other able and influential men, but he had to
encounter the determined opposition of others equally able and
influential. Those who are familiar with the proceedings of
the Board of Directors, from the time of the consolidation, onward,
know with what persistent industry and faithfulness he pursued this
cherished object. Sometimes he advanced towards it by direct
approaches - sometimes by strategy, or a "flank movement" - but he
always advanced, never receded. Success was the work of years,
but success was achieved at last, and the people of this city are
now enjoying, and always will enjoy the fruits of those enduring,
persevering, effective exertions for their benefit, that were
silently, steadfastly prosecuted all those years, and of which few
of them were aware until the work was consummated. Judge
Hanna, by his wisdom, his moderation, his prudence, his conciliatory
manners, possessed a standing, and exerted an influence in, the
Board of Directors, equaled by few and surpassed by none; and now,
that he has ceased from his labors and gone to his reward, it is no
disparagement to the other distinguished gentlemen who composed that
Board, nor evidence of undue partiality on the part of his friends,
when they regard him as having been "the noblest Roman of them all."
On the 12th day of June, 1866, the day after the death of Judge
Hanna, a meeting of condolence was held at the Court House by the
citizens of Fort Wayne, and addressed by Hon. Joseph K. Edgerton.
At the risk of some repetition, the following truthful and
eloquent passages are extracted from his address on that occasion:
"When I first knew Judge Hanna, he was a large town proprietor in
Fort Wayne, and a large Real Estate owner in Allen County - reputed
rich in property, but poor in money - and all the powers of his mind
and body seemed identified with and concentrated on the development
of his county, and the building up of Fort Wayne. He had
before been an active coadjutor in the construction of the Wabash
and Erie Canal, and, as one of the Fund Commissioners of Indiana,
had in part borne well the heavy burden of managing the finances of
the State, during the darkest period of its financial history.
The Wabash and Erie Canal, upon which great hopes had been
passed, had not realized those hopes. It had done much, but
not all that was required, for the material development of the
Wabash Valley. It had helped Fort Wayne to grow from an Indian
frontier trading post, to a thriving county town of some 2,000 or
3,000 people - but with the projection and construction of Railroads
on the North and South of us, drawing to them the movement of men to
the Northwest, Fort Wayne and Northern Indiana were passed by, and
it plainly was not in the power of the Wabash and Erie Canal to save
Fort Wayne from impending stagnation. No man more clearly saw
this than did Judge Hanna, nor was more active and able in effort
than he to avoid impending evil.
Judge Hanna not only planned and worked with his head, but with
his hands also, in building the Lima Plank Road. He was one of
the contractors on that work, and I well remember seeing him on one
occasion, with ax in hand, superintending the work and showing the
workmen how to lay the plank.
Plank roads had their day - they were poor substitutes for the
iron way, and the locomotive power of steam.
When that grand national line of railway, which is now the pride
and strength of Fort Wayne, and with which his name is forever
identified, the Pittsburg, Fort Wayne and Chicago Railway, was first
projected, - beginning with the section from Pittsburg to Massillon,
thence from Massillon to Crestline, thence from Crestline to Fort
Wayne, and finally developing in the grand idea of a consolidated
continuous line from Pittsburg to Chicago - Judge Hanna was
among the first to see, to appreciate, and to take hold of the
golden enterprise, that was, in ten years time, to bring up Fort
Wayne from the condition of an insignificant county town, to rank
and dignity among the first commercial and manufacturing towns of
Indiana; and not only to do that, but to make hundreds of miles of
before wilderness country, to bear their golden grain, and to dot
them with thriving, busy towns and villages.
Judge Hanna early became identified with the Ohio and Indiana
Railroad - the middle section between Crestline and Fort Wayne - of
what is now the Pittsburg, Fort Wayne & Chicago road - on which work
was commenced in the spring of 1852. He was greatly
instrumental in procuring the Indiana charter for this road, and the
Allen county, Indiana, subscription of $100,000, and other county
subscriptions in Ohio to aid in its construction. In 1852 he
succeeded Dr. Merriman as President of the road, and became
emphatically its leading spirit. In September 1852, he was
made first President of the Fort Wayne and Chicago Railroad Company
on its organization at Warsaw. From that time until the
reorganization of the Pittsburg, Fort Wayne and Chicago Railway
Company in 1862-62, no man held a more important position than did
Judge Hanna. His labor and devotion to the work were
unceasing.
It was my fortune to be intimately associated with Judge
Hanna in active railroad management from 1854 to the close of 1860.
I had abundant opportunity of knowing his zeal, his ability, his
devotion, his untiring labor in the great work on which he had built
his hopes of fortune and a public name. The powerful
corporation, now so strong and prosperous, measuring its annual
income, by well-nigh half a score of millions of dollars, knew in
its early history, both before and after the consolidation, many
dark and gloomy hours. From the Fall of 1854 to the close of
1860, it passed through a fearful struggle, not only for the
completion of work, but for its own corporate and financial life.
The financial disasters of 1857 found the consolidated company with
an incomplete road, with meager revenues, and a broken credit.
Many of its best friends, even among its own managers, were inclined
to grow weary and to faint by the way. Through all this trying
period no man worked more faithfully and hopefully or was consulted
more freely, or leaned upon with more confidence, than was Judge
Hanna. He was a tower of strength to an almost ruined
enterprise. He was at brief times gloomy and desponding, but
he was a man of large hope, and a robust, physical organization,
that eminently fitted him to stand up and toil on to a successful
end. I think I may truly say, that no man who has ever been
connected with the management of the Pittsburg, Fort Wayne and
Chicago Railroad has had a larger share of confidence of all
interested in it than Judge Hanna possessed. I have seen him
in all phases of the company's affairs, and in the midst of
negotiations involving the most vital interests in Chicago,
Cleveland, Pittsburg, Philadelphia, and New York. Surrounded
by the most sagacious financiers, and railway men of the country,
such men as J. F. D. Lanier, Richard H. Winslow, John Ferguson,
Charles Moran, J. Edgar Thomson, Wm. B. Ogden, George W. Cass, Amasa
Stone, there was in Judge Hanna, a weight of character, a native
sagacity and far-seeing judgment, and a fidelity of purpose to the
public trust he represented, that commanded the respect of all, and
made him the peer of the ablest them.
If I were to attempt to define most clearly Judge Hanna's
position and influence in the management of the Pittsburg, Fort
Wayne and Chicago Railroad, I would say that he was especially the
advocate and guardian of the local interests of the road. He
was ever watchful for the home stock-holders, the local trade, the
rights and interests of the towns and counties on the railway, and
the rights and interests of the men who worked on the road. In
those dark days, when the company could not, or did not, always pay
its men, and suffering and strikes were impending, Judge Hanna
sympathized with, and did all he could for, the men on the road who
earned their daily bread by the work of their hands and the sweat of
their brows.
Judge Hanna lived to see the Pittsburg, Fort Wayne and Chicago
Railroad a completed and eminently successful public work. He
lived to see Fort Wayne, the city of his love, to which he came when
it was but a trading post, with no town or even post office between
it and Chicago, grown to a large and prosperous city. He lived
to reap, as he deserved, large pecuniary rewards for his years of
toil and risk and self-denial. He died peacefully in his own
home, surrounded by the evidences of the material prosperity he had
aided to promote.
In our cemetery of Lindenwood, there is a beautiful monument,
which Judge Hanna's own forecast and good taste have already erected
to his memory. It will ever be looked on with interest, but
Samuel Hanna has a grander and more lasting monument in Fort Wayne
itself. Of him may well be said here what is inscribed upon a
marble tablet over the entrance to the choir in St. Paul's Cathedral
in London, to the memory of Sir Christopher Wren, its architect,
"Si Monumontum requiris circumspice."
One marked feature of Judge Hanna's character was his untiring
energy. It was not in his nature to cease to work, until he
ceased to live. We have evidence of this as well as other
marked characteristics, his hopefulness and self-reliance, in the
zeal and energy with which, just before his death, he was entering
upon a new field of public labor, the building of the Grand Rapids
and Indiana Railroad, a project second only in its public
importance, and in its bearing upon the interests of Fort Wayne, to
the Pittsburg, Fort Wayne and Chicago Railroad itself.
Knowing Judge Hanna, as I did, and of the influence he was able
to bring to bear upon his new enterprise, I have but little doubt
that if he had lived and retained his mental and physical strength,
but few years would have elapsed before the iron rails of the Grand
Rapids and Indiana Railway would have stretched from Fort Wayne to
Mackinaw. But, like other greatly useful public men, it was
his fate, under the will of God, to die ere he seemed to have
rounded the full sphere of his usefulness.
It is perhaps not meet that I should say but a few words more as
to the personal character and domestic habits of Judge Hanna.
Most of you knew him well, for he went in and out before you for
many years. Neither in person nor in mind was he what may be
called a polished or educated man. He was a self-made
man. He had received few advantages of early education.
His was not a disciplined mind in the scholastic sense of the term.
His teacher was the experience of an active and eventful life.
He was eminently a man of affairs, - a practical man - not a man of
minutiae or detail - not a particularly orderly or systematic man,
but one of a large, clear mind, and of indomitable purpose, grasping
with great power the salient points and bearing and end of a public
question, and moving towards it, if not always rapidly or
gracefully, yet strongly and surely. While Judge Hanna was not
a scholar, he was a great reader, and had learned much from books,
as well as from men and things, and if without the aptitude or
genius to produce what was elegant in literature or in art, he was
an intelligent admirer and judge of both.
Judge Hanna belonged to the higher type of the pioneer class of
men. He was a planter and builder, more than a legislator.
He had the hope, the courage, the forethought, the fertility of
resource, the unfaltering purpose and will that characterize the
planters of colonies and founders of cities. He was a fine
type of many of the unlearned, but nevertheless wise and able men
who were the pioneers of the north-west. With high elements of
statesmanship in his nature, he was not altogether adapted for
legislative or even administrative statesmanship. He had
rarely sought for or held political office. He was not a
politician, he moved in a higher sphere of life. It has been
said of Manasseh Cutler, one of the pioneers of Ohio, 'He was
more than a statesman, he was the founder of a State. In the
covered wagon in which he left his village home in Massachusetts to
found Marietta, the imperial State of Ohio was wrapped up.'
The same sentiment may be applied to Judge Hanna. He was more
than a statesman, for he had in him the elements and powers of the
men who build cities and found States.
With all his mental strength, and public usefulness, it was
perhaps in his domestic life and social relations that Judge Hanna
appeared to the best advantage. I have never heard a whisper
against the purity of his private morals. He was a temperate,
well controlled man. He was the idol of his family. He
was of a genial, social nature, full at times of a quaint, homely,
simple humor that had about it the freshness of childhood. He
loved his children and his grandchildren, and children and young
folks generally. He was pleased to have them with him and
around him. In the gallery of our accomplished young artist,
Mr. J. A. Schoaff, I have lately seen the stereoscopic views of
Judge Hanna's homestead, himself and his household. They will
remain as vivid pictures, not only of the person, but of the habits
and character of the man. Among the pleasing mementoes that
will remain of him, none can be more pleasing than these miniature
scenes, portraying Judge Hanna, the strong and earnest worker
through a life of public care, as a pleased spectator and actor in
the scenes of his own home.
When such men as Judge Hanna die, not only the public heart is
filled with sadness and an abiding sense of loss, but there is
within the sanctuary of his own household a depth of sorrow that
cannot be fathomed."
Judge Hanna accepted the Presidency of the Grand Rapids and
Indiana Railroad Company, to which Mr. Edgerton alludes in the
foregoing passages, with extreme reluctance. He seemed to have
a foreboding that his life's work was drawing to a close. The
position had been strongly urged upon him, but he had steadily
declined it. When he was about leaving home to attend a
meeting of the directors at Grand Rapids, less than two months
before his decease, the remark was made to him that he would return
President of the Company. He replied, "No, that cannot be,"
and added with a mournful cadence, "the responsibility is too great,
I cannot accept it." The result showed, that although a man
may be a ruler among men, he cannot always govern his own actions.
He returned President of the Company. His desire for the
success of the road, and the benefits of its construction would
confer upon a city whose interests he had cherished and fostered for
a life-time, overcame any objections he had entertained to accept
the laborious and responsible position. Judge Hanna's efforts
for the improvement of both town and country, were not confined to
those of a public nature, but his means were always freely advanced
for the promotion and encouragement of private and individual
enterprise. The Woolen Factory of French, Hanna & Co., the
extensive Foundry and Machine Shops of Bass & Hanna, and the large
Hub, Spoke and Bending Factory of Olds, Hanna & Co., may be cited as
the later instances of the kind, and attest to his liberality in
this regard. They were all essentially aided in their earlier
stages, by the use of his capital.
With the utmost charity and goodwill towards all Christian
denominations, Judge Hanna's "religious training was in the faith
and spirit of the Presbyterian Church, of which his father was an
elder for some fifty years." The organization of the first
Presbyterian Church at Fort Wayne, in 1831, had his cordial
cooperation and support, although he did not become a member until
1843; soon after which he was chosen a Ruling Elder, a position
which he retained during the remainder of his life.
Upon the announcement of his death, in addition to the meeting of
condolence, before alluded to, and other manifestations of public
grief and sorrow, the Common Council of the City convened and
unanimously adopted an appropriate preamble, and the following
resolutions, as expressive of the universal bereavement that
pervaded the whole community:
Resolved, That the Mayor and Common Council of the city of
Fort Wayne have received, with the deepest sensibility, the
announcement of the death of our great and good fellow-citizen, Hon.
Samuel Hanna.
Resolved, That, as a mark of our respect and esteem to the
memory of him we mourn, the Mayor, Common Council and officers of
the city attend in a body the funeral obsequies, and that the
municipal offices be closed for business during the funeral.
Resolved, That to the widow and family now borne down by
the weight of this affliction, we tender our heartfelt sympathies
and condolence, together with the assurance that we share with them
their sorrow and their tears.
Resolved, That these proceedings be spread upon the
minutes of the Common Council; that a copy of the same be furnished
the daily papers of the city for publication, and the City Clerk be
directed to transmit to the bereaved family a certified copy
thereof, and that the citizens, in accordance with the proclamation
of the Mayor be requested to close all places of business between
the hours of two and four o'clock on tomorrow afternoon.
Resolved, That, as a further mark of respect to the memory
of the lamented dead, the Council do now adjourn for one week.
The last illness of Judge Hanna was of brief duration. He
was taken ill on Wednesday, June 6th 1866; on Thursday his case was
regarded as dangerous; on Friday he was partially relieved, and on
Saturday he was decidedly better, so much so that he was up a
portion of the day and walked about the house. But during
Saturday night he was seized with a violent relapse, soon succeeded
by unconsciousness which continued until Monday A.M., the 11th, when
the community was startled and shocked by the intelligence, which
flashed over the city with electric rapidity, that Judge Hanna was
dead. No other event has caused so universal a gloom and
sadness. Everyone had lost a friend, and every one was in
mourning.
The funeral took place on Wednesday, June 13th. The
arrangements were under the charge and direction of the Masonic
Fraternity, of which Judge Hanna had long been a consistent and
honored member. A discourse was pronounced by the Rev. Mr.
Wilson, of Warsaw. The attendance was undoubtedly, by far the
largest ever witnessed, on a funeral occasion in Northern Indiana.
It was, in fact, a spontaneous outpouring of the whole people.
The procession extended from the Court House to the Cemetery, a
distance of nearly two miles, while the street for almost the whole
distance was lined with thousands of spectators. The bells of
all the city churches tolled their sad notes simultaneously.
All business was suspended in accordance with the resolution of the
Common Council. Many houses were draped in mourning, and a
deep sorrow pervaded the minds of the whole people. The
Railroad shops and buildings, if not, literally, the works of his
hands, the emanation of his fertile mind and effective purpose, were
gracefully festooned with evergreens, wreathed into ingenious and
tasteful devices, among which were inwrought, in large evergreen
letters,
Samuel Hanna, The Working-Man's Friend.
Every man in and about those shops and buildings knew him as a
friend and loved him as a father.
In contemplating the many estimable qualities of Judge Hanna,
integrity and industry appear as prominent characteristics - an
integrity that no personal or other consideration could swerve, and
an industry that knew no rest while anything remained undone.
When a given task was accomplished, he would throw off his whole
nature - or he would retire to his home and devote himself to
domestic and social enjoyments, for which he had the keenest zest
and relish. His temper was calm and equable, seldom aroused,
even under severe provocation, but when it was aroused, it was swift
and terrible. His manners were emphatically, those of the old
school gentlemen - plain, simple, dignified - despising sham and
pretense of all kinds. Passing the early part of his life on
the frontiers, and his whole life in the rough experience of a new
country, he possessed none of the sycophancy and false polish of the
courtier. His devotion to every duty was intense, while his
perception of truth and worth was almost intuitive. In his
estimate of these he was seldom mistaken. His opinions were
positive and strong; but he was always open to conviction, and when
satisfied that they were erroneous, his concessions were graceful
and unqualified.
Judge Hanna's mental endowments and reasoning powers were of a
high order, and he had cultivated them through many years of close
observation and intense thought. His farseeing sagacity and
prescience in the solution of great financial problems were
remarkable. His experience in such questions had been
extensive and he profited by it to the utmost. He stood among
the great railroad managers of the country, and the great financiers
of Wall street, the acknowledged peer of the ablest, and he was
always listened to with deference.
Judge Hanna was a life-long student. His love of nature and
of books, and his thirst for knowledge were ardent. His mind
was wonderfully retentive, and he had accumulated a fund of
information on all the current topics of the day that was rarely
surpassed. Particularly in agriculture, horticulture and
pomology, which for years, he had made a specialty, his knowledge
was varied, extensive, and exact as the many who have listened, with
delight, to his discourses on these subjects will remember.
Though approaching the limit allotted to human life, his capacity
for labor was undiminished; his mental acuteness, undimmed; his
vigorous manhood, unabated. He was just entering upon a new
and arduous field of labor and responsibility, when he was suddenly
called from all earthly cares to a final account. Like one of
America's greatest statesmen, he may be said, literally, to have
"died in the harness."
Such is a brief and imperfect outline of the life and services of
one of the pioneers of Fort Wayne; a bright exemplar, worthy the
imitation of our young men, and whose fitting epitaph would be: "A
Noble, Honorable Christian Gentleman."
