Gov. Oliver Morton

NARRATOR: This Indiana Bicentennial minute is made possible by the Indiana Historical Society and the law firm of Krieg DeVault.

Statue of Governor Oliver Morton is shown.

PAULEY: If ever an Indiana needed a strong Governor it was Oliver Morton. Sworn in three months before the Civil War Morton called for bipartisan support of the Union.

Images of union soldiers posing with their unit are shown.

PAULEY: Though some favored the south, the majority of Hoosiers followed Morton’s lead as he raised troops, money and supplies for the Union. He sent Union soldiers to chase the Confederate Morgan’s raid out of Southern Indiana.

Paintings and sketches of the Civil War are shown.

PAULEY: Forted an uprising for Northwest Confederacy, imprisoning some of its leaders and perhaps overstepped his legal powers but overwhelmingly re-elected governor in 1864. Oliver Morton died in Indianapolis at the age of 54 but is remembered today as Indiana’s tireless Civil War Governor. I’m Jane Pauley with this Indiana Bicentennial Minute.

NARRATOR: Made possible by the Indiana Historical Society and the law firm of Krieg DeVault.