Jan 66 min read

200 Years of Indianapolis as the Seat of Government for Indiana

When the Indiana General Assembly begins its 2025 session on Wednesday, January 8, the event will be a momentous occasion, but not for the legislation being proposed or the issues, or non-issues, being addressed and/or ignored. Instead, this session is momentous because it will mark 200 years that the General Assembly has been meeting at Indianapolis.

Indiana became a state in 1816, and the state’s General Assembly met at the first statehouse in Corydon, Indiana from that year, until 1824. However, under Indiana’s constitution, a new seat of government was to be established by 1825. With Indiana generally being settled by Euro-Americans from south to north, a more central location for the seat of government would be needed. Corydon’s position near the Ohio River did not fit this bill, and in 1820, a Commission was established to select a site of a new state capitol. This Commission, and its efforts along the White River in central Indiana, is detailed in this post, which explores the founding of Indianapolis.

Indiana Palladium (Lawrenceburg) January 7, 1825

In November of 1824, Samuel Merrill, the treasurer for the state, loaded up a convoy of four wagons and along with his family and several others, started a nearly two-week journey north from Corydon with the state’s documents, furniture, printing press, and treasury. Their departure was not announced in any early newspapers at the time, presumably since the treasury was being carried by the party. Arriving in Indianapolis a few weeks later, Merrill and his family moved into a home on Washington Street in the still sparsely populated future city and preparations were made for the for the arrival of the legislators in January.

The session of the General Assembly began on January 10 (see article from the Palladium above). No statehouse existed in Indianapolis yet. Construction of the original, purpose-built statehouse would not commence for another decade. For the time being, the General Assembly would meet in the Marion County courthouse. Constructed on the Courthouse Square (where the City County building is today) the courthouse was to front Washington Street and be constructed of brick on a stone foundation. Bids were solicited and a winning plan was selected in 1822, with a requirement that work would begin by April 1, 1823, with the building to be completed within three years. Three years weren’t needed, and on January 7, 1825, the county commissioners toured the building, which aside from painting and other minor work, was essentially complete. Three days later, the Indiana General Assembly arrived at the courthouse to commence the first session in the new seat of government. I have not run across any photos of the original courthouse, but the two images below are drawings of the courthouse. The first appears on an aerial map of the city, while the second is a sketch by Christian Schrader. The note on the top edge of Schrader's drawing says "Where the Legislature first met."

The first day was spent on administrative matters, including a roll call, which showed 44 members of the House of Representatives, and 14 in the Senate. John Conner, brother of William Conner of Conner’s Prairie fame, was the representative for Marion, Madison, Hamilton, and Johnson Counties. A James Gregory was the senator for Marion County, along with Hamilton, Madison, Henry, Shelby, Decatur, Rush and Johnson. Other opening duties included the election of leadership in both branches of the General Assembly and then awaiting the Governor’s message. The Indiana Spectator from Lawrenceburg, reported on the first day's events, albeit, nearly two weeks after they occurred,

On Tuesday, January 11, the members of the senate moved to the chamber hosting the House of Representatives where the personal secretary of Governor William Hendricks, read a message from his “Excellency” the governor. Hendricks began by noting that the message weas part of his duty to “give to the General Assembly information of the affairs of the state.” He began by noting that the population of the state was increasing thanks to immigration from other states. While the state’s fortunes were improving, Hendricks noted a lack of markets for products, primarily crops at this time, being produced in the state. “[W]e cannot pass by without notice, the scarcity of a circulating medium; the want of a market for our surplus produce, or what is generally termed the hardness of the times.” This was a bit of foreshadowing to the internal improvement discussions which would grow within the state over the course of the next several years. Indeed, Hendricks referenced the expansion of roads and “great highways” to the available markets.

Portrait of Gov. William Hendricks, Indiana Historical Society

Hendricks also addressed what he described as the “melancholy occurrence of the murder of some Indians on the frontier settlements of the state…”. This was a reference to the murder of nine Native Americans along Fall Creek in Madison County in March of 1824. The perpetrators were white settlers, most of whom were arrested and prosecuted for their crimes. Four were convicted following several long trial delays, and a few escape attempts, and sentenced to death. Three of four were executed (the fourth was pardoned) in the summer of 1825. The cases were notable since it was one of the few instances where white settlers were charged and convicted for murdering Native Americans. Hendricks pointed to this case as a reason for the construction of jails with which to hold prisoners.

Numerous other topics were also covered by Hendricks, including the construction of a canal at the Fall of the Ohio, navigability of the Wabash River, and the construction of the National Road, the latter of which was gradually working its way westward. On the financial front, Hendricks reported tax receipts of $39,294.86, while state debt amounted to $27,044.19, and with increased land sales around the state, additional funds were expected, weighed against the increase costs to pay representatives of these areas. Hendricks also addressed the need to construct a residence for the governor, and he recommended that the public buildings planned for Indianapolis on the Circle and the Statehouse Square should be commenced as soon as possible. Lastly, Hendricks advocated for a State Library. “Many valuable boos already belong to the State, and if some regulations for their use and preservation should be made with only moderate annual allowance for their increase, they would soon constitute a respectable collection.”

For those outside of Indianapolis, reports of the proceedings of the General Assembly took some time to arrive, owing to the isolated location of Indianapolis, and the lack of infrastructure linking the seat of government with the outside world. Newspapers, all from the southern third of the state, reported on the session, on a delay. The Western Sun & General Advertiser, in Vincennes, noted on January 8 that it expected to receive Governor Hendrick's opening speech within two weeks.

Western Sun & General Advertiser, January 8, 1825

The Palladium lamented the long delay in receiving information from the state capitol, noting that information from the national capitol in Washington took 11 days to arrive, despite the latter location being a much greater distance. The Palladium also suggested that the legislators wanted to operate from such a remote location "where they might vote as they pleased, and no person no any thing about it...".

Lawrenceburgh Palladium, January 14, 1825

The General Assembly’s session was a short one by today’s standards, and concluded on Saturday, February 12. Numerous bills were passed ranging from legislation on various state roads, to boundary adjustments between counties, and even legislation addressing individual grievances and a few estate issues. Also passed was an act establishing the Indiana State Library. Of course there were no images of the first session, just accounts published in newspapers and other written works. Three documents were produced from the session: two journals of the Senate and the House of Representatives, basically the record of proceedings for both of these bodies, and a book of Laws from the session, or legislation which was passed. The covers of those documents are shown below, and all three, as well as records for subsequent sessions, are available online.