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HISTORY OF
INDIANAPOLIS & MARION CO.,
INDIANA
By
B. R. SULGROVE -
ILLUSTRATED.
PHILADELPHIA
L. H. EVERTS & CO.
1884
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HON. JOHN D. DEFREES was born at Sparta,
Tenn., Nov. 8, 1810, and was eight years old when his father
moved to Piqua, Ohio. In his fourteenth year he was
apprenticed to the printer's trade. After serving his
time he studied law in the office of Tom. Corwin, at
Lebanon, Ohio, and in 1831 removed to South Bend, where with
his younger brother he began the publication of a newspaper.
He became prominent in politics as a Whig, and was several
times elected to the Legislature. In 1844 he sold his
South Bend newspaper to Schuyler Colfax, whom he had
given a start in life, and removing to Indianapolis, the
next year bought the Indiana State Journal, which he
for ten years edited. In 1861 he was appointed by
President Lincoln government printer, and held the
office until President Johnson, angered at some
criticism of his, removed him. Congress made it a
Senate office, and he was reappointed in thirty days.
He held it until 1869, when his opposition to Gen. Grant
and enmity to the late Senator Morton afforded them
an occasion which they improved by turning him out. At
the coming in of President Hayes he was appointed
again to the same place, which he held until declining
health compelled his resignation. This framework of a
life seems plain enough, but as every one's skeleton is the
same, the difference in appearance being the filling in of
the flesh, so in this life there was a side which to those
who knew him best and saw most of it became an inspiration.
He was a natural political student and had the gift of
political management, and the associates of his early days
speak of his rare sagacity and his untiring energy. He
was chairman of the State committee, and always the adviser
and general conductor of affairs. He could unite two
or three antagonisms into a common purpose, and when there
were factional or personal differences Mr. Defrees
was called on to restore good feeling. He had the
keenest sense of humor, which his pluck and ceaseless
activity were ever ready to carry into anecdote or practical
joke. His energy from his earliest to his latest days
was remarkable. His newspaper at South Bend was the
first one in northern Indiana, and at every turn of affairs
he was seeking some new improvement. "Progress" seemed
to be his watchword. He was the first man in the State
to use steam to drive a printing-press, the first to use a
caloric engine for the same purpose, the first to see the
value of the Bullock printing-press and encourage the
inventor, the first to use the metallic stretching machine
for binding, and the first to use the Edison electric light,
except the inventor. At every step he looked still
ahead, and never seemed to doubt the ability or genius of
man. This faith, stronger than one meets in a lifetime
almost, and utterly free from sordid motives, often made him
the victim of designing or deluded men. This faith in
progress and faith in human kind, and this restless energy
which halted at nothing, permeated and colored his whole
life. It supplied for himself the deficiencies of
early systematic training. What the experience of the
printer's trade and the acquisitions of a young law student
might give in the way of knowledge were, it may be imagined,
of themselves barren enough. But to him these were the
keys with which he might unlock learning's storehouse.
Books were his delight. He overcame the lack of a
classical education by a thorough study of translations, and
the lore of Greece and Rome were his familiar acquaintance.
He was especially fond of history, and there were few
classical works in this line, ancient or modern, he did not
know. He was a deep political student, and particularly
knew the political history of his own country
Source: History of Indianapolis & Marion County,
Indiana - Published by B. R. Sulgrove - Philadelphia:
L. H. Everts & Co.
1884 ~ Page 239 |
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