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Samuel Bigger (March 20, 1802 – September 9, 1846) was the
seventh Seventh is the ordinal form of the number seven. Seventh may refer to: * Seventh Amendment to the United States Constitution * A fraction (mathematics), , equal to one of seven equal parts Film and television *"The Seventh", a second-season e ...
governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
of the U.S. state of
Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...
from December 9, 1840 to December 6, 1843. Bigger was nominated to run for governor because he had no connection to the failed public works program. The state had entered a severe financial crisis in his predecessor's term and the government became
insolvent In accounting, insolvency is the state of being unable to pay the debts, by a person or company (debtor), at maturity; those in a state of insolvency are said to be ''insolvent''. There are two forms: cash-flow insolvency and balance-sheet inso ...
during his first year in office. He oversaw the state's bankruptcy negotiations, but the bankruptcy he negotiated was only able to return the state to solvency briefly. By the time of his reelection campaign, the Whig Party had become the target of public blame for the debacle, and Bigger was defeated.


Early life


Family and background

Samuel Bigger was born in
Franklin, Ohio Franklin is a city in Warren County, Ohio, United States. The population was 11,771 at the 2010 census. The Great Miami River flows through Franklin. Ohio State Routes 73, 123 and 741 pass through Franklin, while Interstate 75 passes on the ...
, on March 20, 1802, the son of
John Bigger John Bigger was a politician in the early history of the U.S. state of Ohio. He served eight terms in the Ohio House of Representatives and thirteen in the Ohio State Senate, including one term as List of Speakers of the Ohio House of Representat ...
, a veteran of the
American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...
and an
Ohio House of Representatives The Ohio House of Representatives is the lower house of the Ohio General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Ohio; the other house of the bicameral legislature being the Ohio Senate. The House of Representatives first met in ...
Speaker of the House. Because of his father he regularly encountered many of the leading men of the frontier. He attended a log cabin school in Ohio. As a boy, Bigger enjoyed reading books. At age eighteen he contracted a severe cold from which he nearly died. Because of the sickness he was constantly in poor health and his father decided he was unfit for manual labor on the farm and sent him to school where he could learn a profession. Bigger was enrolled as a student at
Ohio University Ohio University is a Public university, public research university in Athens, Ohio. The first university chartered by an Act of Congress and the first to be chartered in Ohio, the university was chartered in 1787 by the Congress of the Confeder ...
in
Athens, Ohio Athens is a city and the county seat of Athens County, Ohio. The population was 23,849 at the 2020 census. Located along the Hocking River within Appalachian Ohio about southeast of Columbus, Athens is best known as the home of Ohio Universit ...
, in the 1820s where he studied law.Gugin, p. 89 Bigger moved to
Liberty, Indiana Liberty is a town in Center Township, Union County, Indiana, Center Township, Union County, Indiana, Union County, Indiana, United States of America. The population was 2,000 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. It is the county seat of ...
, in 1829 after completing school and entered a law practice. There he married Ellen Williamson; the couple never had children. He lived only a short time in Liberty before moving to Rushville where he began his public career. He was partnered in his law office with future
United States Senator The United States Senate is the Upper house, upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives being the Lower house, lower chamber. Together they compose the national Bica ...
Oliver H. Smith for a period of time, and later with
James Whitcomb James Whitcomb (December 1, 1795 – October 4, 1852) was a Democratic United States senator and the eighth governor of Indiana. As governor during the Mexican–American War, he oversaw the formation and deployment of the state's levies. He l ...
and
Joseph A. Wright Joseph Albert Wright (April 17, 1810 – May 11, 1867) was the tenth governor of the U.S. state of Indiana from December 5, 1849, to January 12, 1857, most noted for his opposition to banking. His positions created a rift between him and the I ...
.Memoirs of the Miami Valley, By John Calvin Hover, Pg 315


Legislator and judge

In 1833 Bigger was elected to the
Indiana House of Representatives The Indiana House of Representatives is the lower house of the Indiana General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Indiana. The House is composed of 100 members representing an equal number of constituent districts. House memb ...
. He served three terms until 1835. He was not a great orator, but became known for his simple and straightforward method of speaking. He was narrowly defeated by James Gregory in the election of the house speaker in 1835. The same year he was appointed as a judge on the Indiana Circuit Court where he served until his election as governor. During the time he was on the court, the state passed the
Mammoth Internal Improvement Act The Indiana Mammoth Internal Improvement Act was a law passed by the Indiana General Assembly and signed by Whig Governor Noah Noble in 1836 that greatly expanded the state's program of internal improvements. It added $10 million to spending and ...
to build canals, roads, and railroads across the state. Although the act met with celebration at first, the
Panic of 1837 The Panic of 1837 was a financial crisis in the United States that touched off a major depression, which lasted until the mid-1840s. Profits, prices, and wages went down, westward expansion was stalled, unemployment went up, and pessimism abound ...
devastated the economy just as the government had taken on a $10 million debt. The situation spiraled out of control as Governor David Wallace attempted to delay the collapse of the states finances and continue work on the projects, which led the debt to increase to $12 million. Along with other debts, the government owed more than $15 million. As the election approached, the Whig Party decided to abandon the governor and run a candidate who had no connection to the failure.


Governor


Internal improvements

In 1840 Bigger was nominated to become the Whig Party candidate for
Governor of Indiana The governor of Indiana is the head of government of the State of Indiana. The governor is elected to a four-year term and is responsible for overseeing the day-to-day management of the functions of many agencies of the Indiana state government ...
. He was opposed by Democratic candidate Congressman
Tilghman Howard Tilghman Ashurst Howard (November 14, 1797 – August 16, 1844) was an American lawyer, politician, and diplomat from Indiana. He was born near Easley, South Carolina. He moved to Knoxville, Tennessee, in 1816 and was admitted to the bar there in ...
. The state's financial status and the failed public works projects were the central debates of the campaign. Bigger claimed to have always opposed the projects and promised to try to get the state out of its dire situation. Howard had been in the assembly and voted for the projects and was branded as a supporter of the failure. Despite the situation of the state, the election was overshadowed by territorial governor
William Henry Harrison William Henry Harrison (February 9, 1773April 4, 1841) was an American military officer and politician who served as the ninth president of the United States. Harrison died just 31 days after his inauguration in 1841, and had the shortest pres ...
's campaign for United States President. Years had passed since the state had repudiated his actions as governor, and he had become a popular historical figure and a folk legend in the state. The support he brought to the Whig ticket was enough to return the state Whig Party to their final term of domination of state government. Whigs retained majorities in the General Assembly and Bigger defeated Howard, 62,932 to 54,274.Gugin, p. 90 As Bigger entered office, the interest on the state debt alone was over $500,000 annually while state income was closer to $250,000. The state's credit maxed out during his first year in office and the state defaulted on its debts in July, leading the debt to grow even more quickly. At first, Bigger recommended reforming the property tax system that provided the majority of the state's income. County boards were created to "equalize" property values used to set tax amounts. The result was a massive tax increase of as much as 300% in some areas. The public outcry was so great, and so many people refused to pay their taxes, that the system was repealed in the following year. The government's primary hope of escaping the situation was to complete the projects, which they believed would produce income to start to cover their costs. The projects were prioritized and it was decided that the most valuable project, the
Wabash and Erie Canal The Wabash and Erie Canal was a shipping canal that linked the Great Lakes to the Ohio River via an artificial waterway. The canal provided traders with access from the Great Lakes all the way to the Gulf of Mexico. Over 460 miles long, it was th ...
, should receive all the available funds. A negotiator was sent to London to negotiate with the state's creditors. The
Whitewater Canal The Whitewater Canal, which was built between and , spanned a distance of and stretched from Lawrenceburg, Indiana on the Ohio River to Hagerstown, Indiana near the West Fork of the White River. History Birth of a canal As with most transpor ...
, two other smaller canal projects, and the Madison and Indianapolis Railroad were transferred to the creditors in exchange for a 50% reduction in the debt they held, leaving the state owing a total debt of around $9 million. Despite the progress made, the debt was still more than the state could bear, but gained the state more time to try and deal with the problem.Gugin, p. 91 A commission was created, which Bigger oversaw, to investigate the failure of the
internal improvements Internal improvements is the term used historically in the United States for public works from the end of the American Revolution through much of the 19th century, mainly for the creation of a transportation infrastructure: roads, turnpikes, canal ...
program. The commission alleged corruption of many of the contractors who worked on the projects, claimed the state was misled in many different areas, and was the victim of "imposition and fraud." In its summary, the state had significantly underestimated the costs of the projects, the time they would take to complete, and its own ability to pay for the debt. To complicate matters, no routes had been surveyed for many of the canal projects, which turned out to be unfeasible in the first place.


Legal reforms

In 1841, at the request of the state legislature, Bigger completely rewrote the state's code of laws with the help of
Indiana State Treasurer The Indiana Treasurer of State is a constitutional and elected office in the executive branch of the government of Indiana. The treasurer is responsible for managing the finances of the U.S. state of Indiana. The position was filled by appointment ...
George H. Dunn. Bigger was well qualified for the job with his background as a lawyer. His new
code of laws A code of law, also called a law code or legal code, is a systematic collection of statutes. It is a type of legislation that purports to exhaustively cover a complete system of laws or a particular area of law as it existed at the time the cod ...
was passed almost immediately and overwhelmingly by the legislature in 1842.Woollen, p. 78 In 1834, leaders of the
Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...
church requested that Governor Bigger appoint Methodists to the board of
Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. *Indiana Universit ...
, which was dominated by
Presbyterians Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...
. Bigger himself was a Presbyterian and refused their request. During a legislative debate on the matter, Bigger said that there was "not a Methodist in America with sufficient learning to fill a professor's chair." He also said the Methodist Church did not require educated preachers, but rather uneducated preachers better suited its members. The quote was printed in state newspapers, and Bigger became the subject of fiery sermons in Methodist churches across the state. Methodists outnumbered Presbyterians four to one in the state at that time, hurting Bigger's popularity. In his reelection campaign again Methodist
James Whitcomb James Whitcomb (December 1, 1795 – October 4, 1852) was a Democratic United States senator and the eighth governor of Indiana. As governor during the Mexican–American War, he oversaw the formation and deployment of the state's levies. He l ...
, the church, led mainly by Bishop Ames, campaigned heavily on behalf of Whitcomb. Ames was quoted as saying, "it is with the amen corner of the Methodist Church that defeated Governor Bigger, and I had a hand in that". Coupled with the blame the public placed on the Whigs for the state's financial situation, Bigger was overwhelming defeated by Whitcomb.


Later life

After leaving office, Bigger moved to
Fort Wayne Fort Wayne is a city in and the county seat of Allen County, Indiana, United States. Located in northeastern Indiana, the city is west of the Ohio border and south of the Michigan border. The city's population was 263,886 as of the 2020 Censu ...
where he formed a new law practice with Joseph K. Edgerton. The Whig party attempted to nominate Bigger to run for governor again in the 1846 race for governor, but he declined the offer without giving an explanation. He suddenly became ill and died in his Fort Wayne home on September 9, 1846, aged 43, and was buried in that city's McCulloch Park. The U.S. 27 (Lafayette Street) bridge over the St. Marys River in downtown Fort Wayne was renamed the Governor Samuel Bigger Memorial Bridge by a Resolution of the Indiana General Assembly authored by State Representative Mitchell Harper. Historian
Gayle Thornbrough Gayle Thornbrough (October 29, 1914 – November 8, 1999) was born in Hendricks County, Indiana, and grew up in Indianapolis. She joined the Indiana Historical Society in 1937 and served as its director of publications and library, an editor o ...
noted that Bigger was among the governors who had the least impact on the events of the day, largely because of the state financial situation.Gugin, p. 88


See also

*
List of governors of Indiana The governor of Indiana is the head of government of the U.S. state of Indiana. The Governor (United States), governor is the head of the executive branch of Government of Indiana, Indiana's state government and is charged with enforcing state law ...


References

Notes Bibliography * * *


External links


Biography and Portrait from Indiana State Library''Biographical and Historical Sketches of Early Indiana'', By William Wesley Woollen''Memoirs of the Miami Valley'', By John Calvin HoverSamuel Bigger at Findagrave
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bigger, Samuel 1802 births 1846 deaths Governors of Indiana Indiana state court judges Indiana lawyers Members of the Indiana House of Representatives Ohio University alumni Politicians from Fort Wayne, Indiana People from Franklin, Ohio American Presbyterians Indiana Whigs Whig Party state governors of the United States 19th-century American politicians 19th-century American judges 19th-century American lawyers