Noah Noble (January 15, 1794 – February 8, 1844) was the fifth

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 In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

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 ...

from 1831 to 1837. His two terms focused largely on

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 ...

, culminating in the passage of the Mammoth Internal Improvement Act, which was viewed at the time as his crowning achievement. His taxing recommendations to pay for the improvements were not fully enacted, and the project ultimately led the state to negotiate a partial

bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debto ...

only a few years later. The debacle led to a gradual collapse of the state Whig party, which never regained control of the government, and led to a period of Democratic control that lasted until the middle of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and t ...

. After his term as governor he was appointed to the Board of Internal Improvement where he unsuccessfully advocated a reorganization of the projects in an attempt to gain some benefit from them.

Early life

Family and background

Noah Noble was born in

Berryville, Virginia Berryville is an incorporated town in and the county seat of Clarke County, Virginia, United States. The population was 4,185 at the 2010 census, up from 2,963 at the 2000 census. History Berryville was founded at the intersection of the Winch ...

, on January 15, 1794, one of fourteen children of Dr. Thomas Noble and Elizabeth Clair Sedgwick Noble. Around 1800, his family moved to the frontier where his father opened a medical practice in

Campbell County, Kentucky Campbell County is a county located in the northern part of the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of the 2020 census, the population was 93,076. Its county seats are Alexandria and Newport.Boone County where his father acquired a plantation which was operated by slave labor. Noble moved to

Brookville, Indiana Brookville is a town in Brookville Township, Franklin County, Indiana, United States. The population was 2,596 at the 2010 census. The town is the county seat of and the largest community entirely within Franklin County. History Brookville was ...

, around 1811 at age seventeen, following his brother James Noble, who had moved there some time earlier. James was a prominent lawyer and later

United States Senator The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and po ...

. In Indiana he made several business ventures with his partner Enoch D. John. Together they operated a hotel in Brookville, became heavily involved in

land speculation In finance, speculation is the purchase of an asset (a commodity, goods, or real estate) with the hope that it will become more valuable shortly. (It can also refer to short sales in which the speculator hopes for a decline in value.) Many ...

, and opened a water-powered weaving mill with a wool carding machine. Noble also opened a trading company called N. Noble & Company. The company purchased produce from area farmers and shipped it to

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

to be sold. In 1819 a boating accident destroyed one of his shipments and left him with a large debt that took several years to repay. Later that year he married his cousin, Catherin Stull van Swearingen. The two shared the same great-grandfather. They had three children, but only one survived into adulthood; two died as infants.Gugin, p. 71

Entry into politics

Noble entered politics in 1820, winning an election to become Franklin County's sheriff. By the time of his 1822 reelection bid he had become very popular in the county, and he won reelection 1,186 to 9 votes. He was commissioned a lieutenant colonel in the 7th Regiment of the Indiana militia in 1817, and a colonel in 1820. When his term as sheriff expired, he ran to represent the county in 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 me ...

, winning overwhelmingly. He was reelected again the following year but resigned following the death of his brother Lazarus. Lazarus had been the Receiver of Public Moneys of the Indianapolis Land Office, and his death left a vacancy. His brother, Senator James Noble, used his influence to secure the post for Noble, who remained in the position until 1829. The job took him to

Indianapolis Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...

, where he was responsible for collecting revenue for the federal government. The position brought him into contact with many of the leading men in the state and he was quick to create good relationships with them. Following the election of President

Andrew Jackson Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was an American lawyer, planter, general, and statesman who served as the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before being elected to the presidency, he gained fame as ...

and the employment of the

spoils system In politics and government, a spoils system (also known as a patronage system) is a practice in which a political party, after winning an election, gives government jobs to its supporters, friends (cronyism), and relatives (nepotism) as a reward ...

, Noble was removed from the position.Woollen, p. 65 Finding himself without a job, Noble launched another business venture. Before he could open the new business, his friends in the

Indiana General Assembly The Indiana General Assembly is the state legislature, or legislative branch, of the state of Indiana. It is a bicameral legislature that consists of a lower house, the Indiana House of Representatives, and an upper house, the Indiana Senate. Th ...

appointed him to a commission that was responsible for laying out the

Michigan Road The Michigan Road was one of the earliest roads in Indiana. Roads in early Indiana were often roads in name only. In actuality they were sometimes little more than crude paths following old animal and Native American trails and filled with sinkhol ...

. He remained on the commission until 1831, at which time he announced his candidacy 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 governmen ...

as a Whig candidate, and secured the Whig nomination.Gugin, p. 72

Governor

During the campaign, he accused his Democratic opponent James G. Read of being ineligible to run because he was a Federal Receiver. The state constitution forbade state officials from holding both federal and state positions simultaneously. His opponent made a similar charge against Noble, who still held his position as a federal commissioner working on the Michigan Road. Noble campaigned heavily on the internal improvement platform and won the election by a plurality of 23,518 votes to Read's 21,002, with independent Milton Stapp taking 6,894. After becoming governor he purchased several lots on the eastern edge of the capitol, planting an orchard and vineyard and building a large brick home. He brought some of his father's emancipated slaves with him to work in his household, one of whom was supposedly the model for

Harriet Beecher Stowe Harriet Elisabeth Beecher Stowe (; June 14, 1811 – July 1, 1896) was an American author and abolitionist. She came from the religious Beecher family and became best known for her novel '' Uncle Tom's Cabin'' (1852), which depicts the har ...

Uncle Tom Uncle Tom is the title character of Harriet Beecher Stowe's 1852 novel, '' Uncle Tom's Cabin''. The character was seen by many readers as a ground-breaking humanistic portrayal of a slave, one who uses nonresistance and gives his life to prot ...

. She visited Noble's home on more than one occasion.Gugin, p. 73

First term

Indiana was continuing to experience a period of prosperity as a large influx of settlers purchased land, thereby providing a large income for the government. Noble's predecessor had begun the framework for the large-scale internal improvements that were to come, but had significantly delayed the start of the canal projects. Noble set to work immediately and within a few months he completed surveying the route of 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 ...

and made several recommendations regarding its construction. Noble was opposed to railroads, which he viewed as monopolies since only the rail company could transport goods on the line, whereas canals were open to anyone had a boat. Construction on the canal began in earnest in 1832. Construction on state roads was progressing slowly because of a lack of funding. Noble proposed the state borrow money to speed the construction process, but the legislature rejected his proposal. He also recommended the creation of an Internal Improvement Board to coordinate the projects and possibly reduce costs through better organization and purchase of supplies in bulk, but again the General Assembly rejected the proposal, and instead kept the projects operating under several different project boards. His first term passed with little advancement on the internal improvement front because the representatives from southern part of the state blocked any large-scale plans on the grounds that such projects would have little value for their constituents since most of the projects would be in the central part of the state. Noble had a census conducted and recommended that the legislature reapportion representation to grant more seats to the central counties. The legislature approved the plan, and expanded the Senate and House of Representatives to their present sizes of 50 and 100 seats, respectively. The change gave the central and northern parts of the state more representatives than the south for the first time, despite the fact that the south was still significantly more populous. Noble made several recommendations for the reform of public schools. Most of the measures were not accepted, but the expansion of the Indiana College was approved, and township schools were granted considerably more power over their own operations.Gugin, p. 76 The

Second Bank of the United States The Second Bank of the United States was the second federally authorized Hamiltonian national bank in the United States. Located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the bank was chartered from February 1816 to January 1836.. The Bank's formal name, ...

was closed during Noble's first term, leaving the state without a bank to hold government deposits or to supply paper money. There had been no banks operating in Indiana for a decade, so with no alternative to the situation the General Assembly passed a bill to create the

Bank of Indiana The state Bank of Indiana was a government chartered banking institution established in 1833 in response to the state's shortage of capital caused by the closure of the Second Bank of the United States by the administration of President Andrew Jac ...

. Noble had not taken a position on the bill, but signed it into law. The bank eventually turned out to be very profitable and one of the most important acts of his time in office. Noble also oversaw the creation of plans to build Indiana's third statehouse in 1831. The building was completed in 1835, and he also oversaw the move of the government's offices.

Second Term

Noble was re-elected in 1834, campaigning against James G. Read for a second time. During the campaign, Noble sold a Kentucky slave that belonged to his father. The account was widely published, and turned the anti-slavery elements in the state against him, demonstrating by his receiving only 28 votes from the Quaker-dominated eastern counties of the state. He ultimately won the election, 27,767 to 19,994 votes. Noble called out the militia in parts of the state when it was threatened during the

Black Hawk War The Black Hawk War was a conflict between the United States and Native Americans led by Black Hawk, a Sauk leader. The war erupted after Black Hawk and a group of Sauks, Meskwakis (Fox), and Kickapoos, known as the "British Band", cross ...

, a Native American uprising to the west of Indiana. 150 men were sent to

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rock ...

, where they skirmished with the native uprising. The scare was only brief, and the focus soon returned to the internal improvements. With the legislature closely divided on the issue, additional projects were proposed for the southern areas of the state to gain the support of their representatives. All the projects were bundled into one bill and passed as the Mammoth Internal Improvement Act in 1836. The act caused a great deal of celebration in the state and Noble considered the act his greatest achievement at the time. To pay for the act, which was projected to cost $10 million, Noble had also recommended a 50% increase in all state taxes. However, the legislature failed to pass that measure.Gugin, p. 74 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 ...

hit the following year, causing a sharp decrease in tax revenues, even as the state budget was already faced a large deficit because of the interest on the debt. Property taxes were the state's primary regular income, and to increase the revenue Noble proposed that the tax be levied

ad valorem An ''ad valorem'' tax (Latin for "according to value") is a tax whose amount is based on the value of a transaction or of property. It is typically imposed at the time of a transaction, as in the case of a sales tax or value-added tax (VAT). An ...

. The change would save the state a significant amount in administrative and collection costs, and make more land subject to taxation. The tax was approved and led to a 25% increase in revenue the following year, but it was still not enough to cover the deficit. Noble proposed the projects be prioritized, and work halted on the less important ones to conserve funds, but the plan was rejected. By the time Noble left office, the state's financial situation was bleak, but it was not yet fully apparent that far more had been borrowed than could be paid back. Despite the dire situation, Noble left office in 1837 as a popular political figure and was able to use his prestige to help elect David Wallace, his lieutenant governor, as governor. In both 1834 and 1836, Noble had his name entered as a candidate for the United States Senate, but in both years the legislature decided to send someone else to Congress, much to Noble's disappointment.Gugin, p. 78

Later life

State bankruptcy

After leaving office Noble became a member of the Board of Internal Improvements which was tasked with overseeing the ongoing internal improvements in the state. In 1840, the state ended all funding for the projects. By early 1841 it was clear that the state would not be able to pay even the interest on its debt, and paying it off was out of the question. The board approved the sending of

James Lanier James Franklin Doughty Lanier (November 22, 1800 – August 27, 1881) was an entrepreneur who lived in Madison, Indiana prior to the outbreak of the American Civil War (1861–1865). Lanier became a wealthy banker with interests in pork packing, ...

to negotiate a bankruptcy with the state's creditors, and all the internal improvement projects, except the separately funded

, were turned over to the creditors in exchange for a 50% reduction in the state's debt.

Death and legacy

Even before Noble had left office, many of his opponents began to blame him for the state's financial situation. He argued that he had proposed tax increases to fund the project, and it was the fault of the General Assembly for not enacting them. Although the short term situation was devastating to the state and many of the projects were never completed, the groundwork laid by the projects led to rapid development after the financial situation was resolved. In the meantime, the debacle became apparent to the public during his successor's term and led to the gradual collapse of the state's Whig party, which never regained power in Indiana. In the immediate years thereafter the Democrats came to power and disposed of all the projects. The situation ultimately led to language in the 1851 constitution prohibiting the state from assuming debt. Noble returned to private life following the dissolution of the Internal Improvement Board in 1841. The situation was too dire, and opinion too anti-Whig for Noble to have a serious chance of winning public office again. He died at the age of 50 in Indianapolis two years later, on February 8, 1844, and was buried next to his wife, Catherin, in Greenlawn Cemetery. His body was moved to

Crown Hill Cemetery Crown Hill Cemetery is a historic rural cemetery located at 700 West 38th Street in Indianapolis, Marion County, Indiana. The privately owned cemetery was established in 1863 at Strawberry Hill, whose summit was renamed "The Crown", a high point ...

in Indianapolis in 1979.Woollen, p. 66

Noble County, Indiana Noble County is a county in the U.S. state of Indiana. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 47,457. The county seat is Albion. The county is divided into 13 townships which provide local services. Noble County comprises the K ...

is named in his honor, as is Noble Township in Cass County.

References

Notes Bibliography * *

External links

Biography from Indiana State Library
*
Noble and Davidson family papers, Rare Books and Manuscripts, Indiana State LibraryNoah Noble collection, Rare Books and Manuscripts, Indiana State Library
{{DEFAULTSORT:Noble, Noah 1794 births 1844 deaths Burials at Crown Hill Cemetery People from Berryville, Virginia People from Brookville, Indiana Members of the Indiana House of Representatives Politicians from Indianapolis Governors of Indiana Indiana Whigs Whig Party state governors of the United States 19th-century American politicians