Jehu Elliott

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Jehu Elliott
Justice of the Indiana Supreme Court
In office
January 3, 1865 – January 3, 1871
Preceded byAndrew Davison
Succeeded byAlexander Downey

Jehu Tindle Elliott (February 7, 1813 – February 12, 1876) was an

Central Indiana.[1][2]

Biography

Early life, education, and career

Elliott was born in

Quaker family from Guilford County, North Carolina. One of twelve children, Elliott grew up poor, having to make his own shoes as a child. In 1823, Elliott's family moved to New Castle in Henry County, building and living in their own log cabin. Elliott was intermittently educated at local country schools. He eventually became a school teacher, teaching for two years before going to Centerville to study law with Martin R. Ray, a prominent local lawyer. In 1833, at age twenty, he was admitted to the bar.[1][2][3]

Between 1834 and 1844, Elliott was elected to a variety of different offices. He served as Henry County

prosecutor for the Sixth Circuit (1839–1844, with the Sixth Circuit encompassing Henry, Delaware, Fayette, Grant, Randolph, Rush, Union, and Wayne counties). Additionally, Elliott served a single, three-year term in the Indiana Senate starting in 1839.[1][2]

Judicial service and railway leadership

Elliott was elected by the General Assembly to the position of Sixth Circuit judge twice, first in 1844 and then again in 1851.[1]

In 1851, Elliott resigned the office of Sixth Circuit judge to become President of the

New York to find businessmen willing to invest in the construction of a railroad that ran from Logansport through Kokomo, Elwood, Anderson, and New Castle before terminating in Richmond. New Yorkers largely viewed Indiana as a rural backwater in no need of rail transport, but Elliott was able to convince get funding for the project. According to a potentially apocryphal tale in Fred Cavinder's 1990 book, Amazing Tales from Indiana, Elliott charmed the eastern businessman by telling them a humorous story about how Hoosiers like to play an instrument called a "swinette", created by stuffing pigs into the compartments of a long box and played by plucking their tails to cause them to squeal. Later, when the Logansport-Richmond railroad was built, the first engine to travel across it was named Swinette and had a picture of Elliott carrying a pig under his arm painted on its side. Elliott left the railroad industry and returned to public service in 1855, when he was elected to the position of judge of the 10th Circuit (comprising Henry, Randolph, Wayne, and Jay counties).[1][2]

Elliott was elected to the

Indiana Constitution, which barred African Americans and multiracial individuals from settling in Indiana or entering into contracts in the state. After serving one term on the bench, Elliott left the court in 1871 and returned to his private law practice. He was succeeded by Justice Alexander Downey.[1][2][4]

According to the Indianapolis Journal, Elliott—at the time a Liberal Republican—sought the Democratic nomination for Lieutenant Governor in the 1872 election.[5]

Personal life and death

Elliott married Hanna Branson in 1833. Their son, William Henry Elliott (born 1844), was a lawyer, the owner of the newspaper, the Newcastle Courier, and a member of the

U.S. Navy who served in the Spanish–American War and helped organized the postal system of Puerto Rico after the conflict.[3]

Through his father, Abraham Elliott, Jehu Elliott is related to Byron Elliott, another Indiana Supreme Court justice.[3]

Elliott died in New Castle in 1876.[1][2]

References

  1. ^
    Indiana Law Review, Vol. 30, No. 1 (1997), section reproduced in Indiana Courts Justice Biographies page
    .
  2. ^
    ISBN 978-0871952882
    . Retrieved Feb 26, 2022.
  3. ^ a b c Elliott, Leon Dillon (1942). Genealogy of the Elliott family. Retrieved 28 Feb 2022.
  4. ISBN 978-0871952882
    . Retrieved Feb 26, 2022.
  5. ^ "Indianapolis Journal, Volume 1, Number 226, Indianapolis, Marion County, 11 June 1872". Indianapolis Journal. 11 Jun 1872. Retrieved 27 Feb 2022.
Political offices
Preceded by Justice of the Indiana Supreme Court
1865–1871 		Succeeded by
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