Paris C. Dunning: Difference between revisions
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==External links== |
==External links== |
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*[http://www.statelib.lib.in.us/www/ihb/govportraits/dunning.html Biography and Portrait from Indiana State Library] |
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20050404153017/http://www.statelib.lib.in.us/www/ihb/govportraits/dunning.html Biography and Portrait from Indiana State Library] |
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*[http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/dunnagan-dunwell.html#RF20VU5MY Political Graveyard] |
*[http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/dunnagan-dunwell.html#RF20VU5MY Political Graveyard] |
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Revision as of 00:40, 1 January 2018
Paris C. Dunning | |
---|---|
James H. Lane | |
9th Governor of Indiana | |
In office December 26, 1848 – December 5, 1849 | |
Lieutenant | Vacant |
Preceded by | James Whitcomb |
Succeeded by | Joseph A. Wright |
Personal details | |
Born | March 15, 1806 Greensboro, North Carolina |
Died | May 9, 1884 Bloomington, Indiana | (aged 78)
Political party | Democrat Independent |
Spouse(s) | Sarah Alexander Mrs. Allen Ashford |
Paris Chipman Dunning (March 15, 1806 – May 9, 1884) was a
Early life
Family and background
Dunning was born in 1806 in Greensboro, Guilford County, North Carolina the youngest of the six sons of James and Rachel North Dunning. He attended the nearby Greensboro Academy and graduated at age seventeen. Upon graduation he enrolled in the state university at Chapel Hill to study medicine. After the death of his father, he, his mother, and one older brother moved to Bloomington, Indiana where Dunning briefly taught school. There he met Sarah Alexander; the couple married on July 6, 1826 and had four children.[1]
He and his wife moved to
Public office
Legislator
Dunning was elected to represent
In 1846 Whitcomb ran for his second term as governor of Indiana. Whitcomb choose Dunning to run as his Lieutenant Governor, and their ticket won. Dunning served in the position until Whitcomb was elected to the United States Senate in December 1848. Whitcomb resigned from office and Dunning was elevated to his seat.[2]
Governor
Dunning served a brief term, but it was time of several momentous events in the state. Indiana had just emerged from a period of bankruptcy, and Dunning oversaw the final phase of the process, ensuring the public works were turned over to the state's creditors and that the debt reduction deal was fully carried out. Congress was debating the extension of slavery in the western territories during his term, leading to bitter hostilities between northern and southern leaders. Dunning delivered a speech to the General Assembly in which he condemned the expansion of slavery and called for its gradual elimination. He was the first outspoken anti-slavery governor since William Hendricks, and he recommended the assembly pass a resolution for him to forward to Congress. In response, the assembly passed a strong resolution requesting Indiana's congressional delegation to oppose the expansion of slavery.[3]
Governor Whitcomb had already started a movement in the legislature to call a constitutional convention, and Dunning continued to support the effort to have a ballot initiative to replace the constitution. Dunning left office in 1849 and returned to his law practice.[3]
Later life
Constitutional convention
In 1850, voters approved a ballot to authorize the formation of a constitutional convention to replace the
His position on public schools was also added to article 8 of the constitution. The state's literacy rate had dropped from 90% in 1840, to 80% in 1850, and having served on the board of Indiana College between 1841 and 1868, he became aware of the poor condition of public education in the state. His proposals guaranteed equal opportunity for women in public education, something unknown in most of the nation. He also strengthened the free common school cause by requiring the state to fund the public school system, while allowing local school boards to maintain control of their districts' curriculum, hiring, and school arrangements.[4]
Final years
Dunning was nominated by the Democratic party to run for Congress in 1856, but he declined primarily due to the fractured nature of the party at that time. He, along with a large part of the party, was at odds with its state leadership who were sympathetic to the south. In 1860 he did accept a nomination to be a delegate to the party's convention in
In 1861, he left the Democratic party, and was reelected to the state senate as an Independent and supported the Republican governor throughout the war. Governor Oliver P. Morton had a stroke in 1865, and traveled to Europe for treatment and Conrad Baker became acting governor. Dunning was then elected president pro tempore of the senate to fill Baker's place. Dunning's wife died in 1863 and Dunning remarried to the widow of Allen Ashford on September 17, 1865. When his term in the Senate ended in 1867, he was nominated to run again, but declined. He declined a second offer to run for Congress in 1868, preferring to remain in his law practice. Dunning gained a national reputation as a lawyer, and was committed to criminal law. His reputation was such that his clients were "assured of success when he was on the case."[5]
Dunning continued to be active in public affairs, despite refusing to take public office. He continued to be active in his law practice, hearing cases until a week before his death. Dunning died while attempting to ford a river on May 9, 1884, aged 78, in Bloomington, Indiana, and is buried there in Rose Hill Cemetery.[6]
See also
- List of Governors of Indiana
References
Notes
Bibliography
- Dunn, Jacob Piatt (1919). Indiana and Indianans. American Historical Society.
- Gugin, Linda C.; St. Clair, James E, eds. (2006). The Governors of Indiana. Indianapolis, Indiana: Indiana Historical Society Press. ISBN 0-87195-196-7.
- Woollen, William Wesley (1975). Biographical and Historical Sketches of Early Indiana. Ayer Publishing. ISBN 0-405-06896-4.