Bartholomew County IN Archives Biographies.....Hord, Francis T. 1835 - living in 1904
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Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com May 27, 2005, 3:56 am

Author: B. F. Bowen

p.159-164

HON. FRANCIS T. HORD.

   Among Indiana's prominent lawyers and jurists none have been more closely
identified with the growth and best interests of the state than has Francis T.
Hord, who has made his home within its borders for nearly half a century.
Throughout this long period he has been known for his sterling qualities, his
fearless loyalty to his honest convictions, his sturdy support of the sound
principles that underlie true Democracy, and his discrimination, discretion and
tact as manager and leader. His career at the bar has been one of the greatest
honor, and he has given some of the best efforts of his life to the purification
and elevation of all connected with jurisprudence. An eminent lawyer and a son
of a distinguished jurist, he has not only maintained the high standard of his
name, but has added to it a new luster. To determine which is cause and which is
effect in many cases is as much a matter of serious difficulty as to discern the
boundary between what is hereditary and what is suggested to us from
circumstances of our early life. Many a man has no doubt taken up a course of
life from mere outward suggestions during the period of his youth, while others
have naturally gravitated to a certain course from the mere force of inherited
tastes and mental tendencies. Sometimes, without doubt, these two combine to
influence certain careers, and it would be difficult to determine whether to
credit it to the one or the other influence, or to both. Such seems to be the
case in the life of the well known representative of the Indiana bar, Francis T.
Hord. His father, Francis Triplett Hord, was born in Mason county, Kentucky, on
the 19th of September, 1797, his parents having moved thither from Virginia. The
original American ancestors were of English birth and probably settled in the
Old Dominion in the latter part of the seventeenth century. Francis T. Hord,
Sr., was a man of forceful individuality, and became one of the leading members
of the bar of Kentucky, retaining his residence at Maysville, that state, until
his death. May 25, 1869. Passing away at a venerable age, he left a reputation
for distinguished legal ability and for absolute honor in all the relations of
life. In his native county he was married to Elizabeth Scott Moss, daughter of
Kendall Moss, Esq., of Fleming county, Kentucky, and a relative of General
Winfield Scott, of the United States army. She was born in Virginia, whence, as
a girl, she accompanied her parents upon their removal to Kentucky.

   Francis T. Hord, the immediate subject of this review, was born in Maysville,
Kentucky, on the 24th of November, 1835, being the fifth son of his parents, and
one of four to attain distinguished honors in professional life. To his three
brothers brief but specific attention will be directed in appending paragraphs.
Mr. Hord obtained a liberal education in the excellent seminary of Rand and
Richeson, of Maysville, and after this fortifying discipline was completed he
began the work of preparing himself for that profession for which he seemed to
have a natural predilection and inherent aptitude. He began the study of the law
in the office and under the direction of his father, applying himself to his
technical studies with such diligence and discernment as to enable him to secure
admission to the bar in 1856. His preparation had been such that practically
nothing was needed save experience to make him -a skilled and able lawyer. His
mind is analytical and fond of investigation and research, and his
discrimination has ever been sure and exact.     In 1857, the .year after his
admission to the bar, he located in Columbus, Indiana, where he has ever since
made his home. His comprehensive mental force and his ability as an exponent of
the law were early manifested and soon gained for him a representative
clientage, while his learning, ability and eloquence soon attracted public
attention and naturally gained for him official preferment. In 1858 he was
elected prosecuting attorney in his judicial district, comprising three
counties. At the expiration of his term, in 1860, he was renominated for the
office, in which he had proved an able and vigorous incumbent, but he declined
re-nomination, believing it expedient to devote his attention to the regular
practice of his profession. He, however, accepted the appointment as attorney
for Bartholomew county, and by continued re-appointment held that office for
twenty consecutive years. He also served as city attorney of Columbus for four
years. In 1882 he was elected to the responsible position of  attorney-general
of the state of Indiana, and was chosen as his own successor in 1884, holding
the office for the constitutional limit. All of these official positions were in
the line of his tastes and training, and the discharge of their duties implied
scope for and utilization of his fine learning in the law. His election to the
circuit bench of the ninth judicial circuit occurred in November, 1892, and he
soon afterward entered upon the discharge of duties for which he had been
peculiarly fitted by nature, training and experience, and was re-elected circuit
judge in November, 1898. He fully sustains the dignity of the law, has a mind
particularly free from judicial bias, and no man ever presided in a court with
more respect for his environment and obligations than does Judge Hord. As a
judge his rulings and decisions are strong, and of full breadth, accuracy and
force. In sound judgment, in patient industry, in clear conception of the scope
of jurisprudence, and in intuitive perception of the right, he ranks high in the
esteem and confidence of the bench, the bar and the public. Lawyers testify that
his work, either as lawyer or judge, is performed with the utmost sincerity, is
never syncopated or hastened, and that into it he puts the best of himself, his
best thought, his acute observation, his close knowledge of the law and of human
nature.

   Judge Hord has ever been found an active supporter of the Democratic party
and its generic principles, and although he has never sought office he has been
called to public service in lines less closely touching his profession than
those already noted. In 1862 he was elected to the senate of the state, and
after four years' service declined to become a candidate for re-election, in
1866. He is a popular campaign orator, exhibiting a clear, forcible and logical
style of presenting, facts and arguments, and being reinforced by an impassioned
delivery that arrests attention and moves an assembly. He was a delegate to the
Democratic national convention in 1876 when Tilden and Hendricks were nominated,
and in 1880 he was placed on the electoral ticket of Hancock and English, for
the fifth congressional district, in which he made a very thorough and effective
canvass for his party. Though in a measure recapitulatory, we cannot, perhaps,
give a more concise summing up of the character and work of Judge Hord than by
quoting from a review of his life appearing in a recently published volume upon
the "Bench and Bar of Indiana:"

   "In 1862 he was elected to the Indiana senate, and his ability gave him a
conspicuous position in that body. He was the author of many important bills and
participated in the discussion of all important measures. He held this position
for four years; was renominated in 1866, and declined the renomination that he
might give his whole attention to his profession. His business in the practice
of law was extensive, and no lawyer in Indiana has caused the supreme court to
settle more important questions than has Mr. Hord. In 1876 he was a delegate to
the Democratic national convention, held at St. Louis, that nominated Samuel J.
Tilden for president and Thomas A. Hendricks for vice-president. In 1880 he was
made temporary chairman of the Democratic state convention, held at
Indianapolis, and as such chairman he delivered one of his characteristic
speeches, replete with splendid eloquence. Such was the effect of it that the
vast audience, several times during its delivery, rose to its feet and cheered
for several minutes at a time. The same convention nominated him as a candidate
for presidential elector; for the fifth congressional district, Hancock and
English being the candidates for president and vice-president. In 1882 he was
elected attorney-general of the state of Indiana, and was re-elected to the same
position in 1884. While attorney-general he attended to much state litigation of
public interest. In the case of the state of Indiana against the Portsmouth Bank
(106 Ind., 436), in which an action was instituted by the state to recover
Beaver lake, embracing about twenty-five thousand acres, which had been drained
and appropriated by individuals, he settled the question of the right of the
state to the lake beds of Indiana. As attorney-general he wrote a volume of
opinions on important state questions, which was published by the state for the
use of its officers. His opinions as to the constitutionality and construction
of statutes are of a high order. The general assembly of Indiana for fifty years
had been in the habit of making hasty appropriations out of the treasury by
joint resolutions. An appropriation was made to Mrs. Edwin May for ten thousand
dollars. By the request of the auditor of state, as to the validity of the
appropriation, Mr. Hord gave an opinion that under the constitution of Indiana
an appropriation could be made only by law, and the laws should be enacted by
bill and that money could not be appropriated by joint resolution; that the
auditor could not issue a warrant for money so appropriated. Mrs. May, by her
attorney, Hon. T. A.; Hendricks, brought suit to compel the auditor to issue his
war-lant. The case went to the supreme court and that tribunal sustained the
constitutional construction given by the attorney-general in 91 Ind., 546. This
decision corrected an unconstitutional practice of the general assembly."

   Isaac P. Gray, as governor of Indiana, submitted to him, as attorney-general,
this question: "In case of a vacancy in the office of lieutenant-governor,
should there be an election to fill such vacancy at the next succeeding
election?" Mr. Hord gave an able and elaborate opinion in response to the
question, in which he held that a vacancy in the office of the
lieutenant-governor should be filled at the next election. The state officers,
the bar of the state, and the different political parties acquiesced in the
opinion, and the different political parties in the state nominated candidates
for lieutenant-governor in 1886. The Republican candidate for
lieutenant-governor was elected and the opposite party forcibly held possession
of the senate and refused to allow the lieutenant-governor elect to perform his
functions as presiding officer of the senate, which produced a feeling and
excitement in the state hitherto unparalleled. Judge Roberts, the representative
from Dearborn county, a former judge and able lawyer, in addressing the general
assembly in 1887, said: "When General Manson's acceptance of the office of
collector was known, the governor of this state solicited the opinion of Hon.
Francis T. Hord, then attorney-general, who, after careful consideration, gave
it as his opinion that a vacancy had occurred in the office of
lieutenant-governor, and that it was right and proper that it should be filled
by the people at the ensuing November election. Of the eminent ability of the
attorney-general, I need not speak, for it is recognized by all. Not a voice
from any quarter was raised adverse to the able opinion of the attorney-general.
Men of all parties acquiesced in it. The Democratic state convention met in
Tomlinson Hall, in this city, made up of such distinguished Democratic jurists
as McDonald, Holman, Voorhees, Coffroth, the Hords and many others, and without
even questioning the right of the people to fill the vacancy by a proper
eletcion, according to the law, and as a result Col. John C. Nelson was placed
in nomination for lieutenant-governor. The Republicans followed with their state
convention which placed in nomination for the office Col. Robert S. Robertson.
No question was raised by the Republican convention as to the right of the
people to elect a competent person to that office. The National Labor and
Prohibition parties did likewise. The canvass was spirited and up to. the
election, November 2, 1886, no one anywhere doubted the right of the people to
elect. I did all I could to elect Colonel Nelson and the entire Democratic
ticket. The people believed, and I believed with them, that they had a right to
elect a lieutenant-governor. I never cast a vote in better faith in my life. I
believed I had the same lawful right to vote for Nelson that I had to vote, two
years before, for Cleveland, for president. Sir, the people have spoken in this
matter. They have said, at a free and "untrammeled election, held according to
law, that Robert S. Robertson is their choice for lieutenant-governor, and as
much as I regret the results, and as anxious as I was for the election of
Colonel Nelson, yet I bow with becoming reverence to the sovereign will of the
people. We must submit to the will of the majority lawfully expressed, for in
this way only can we maintain popular liberty and free institutions."

   In 1892, Judge Hord was elected circuit judge for the ninth judicial circuit,
and he has brought his fine legal attainments to the performance of the duties
of this office. He possesses a strong sense of justice, is a strong, rapid
thinker, and is prompt in his decisions. He was always a great student and is a
profound lawyer, an eloquent speaker and a gentleman of the old school. Judge
Hord is a man of broad scholarship and wide general information, is fond of
study and devotes no little attention to the pursuit of literature. His library
is extensive and some of his most pleasant hours are passed in the companionship
of his favorite authors.

   In conclusion we will revert briefly to the brothers of the honored subject
of this review. Oscar B. Hord was born in Mason county, Kentucky, on the 3ist of
August, 1829, and his death occurred at Indianapolis, Indiana, January 15, 1888.
He married Mary, a daughter of Judge Samuel E. Perkins, chief justice of the
supreme court of Indiana. Mr. Hord was a law partner of Thomas A. Hendricks,
late vice-president of the United States. He was a presidential elector on the
Democratic ticket in 1876 and again in 1884. From 1862 to 1864 he served as
attorney-general of Indiana, and as a man and a lawyer he upheld the fair fame
of the name which he bore. At a meeting of the Indianapolis bar after his death,
ex-President Benjamin Harrison said: "One of the greatest law firms that ever
existed is now extinct. I knew and loved Oscar B. Hord. He was always a
courteous adversary and a true friend."

   William Tallaferro Hord, another brother of the subject, has attained high
distinction for his service in the United States navy. He was born in Mason
county, Kentucky, March 3, 1832, and after graduating in the medical department
of the University of Pennsylvania, entered the navy, on November 1, 1854. He was
a volunteer aid on the staff of General William Nelson, before Corinth,
Mississippi. In 1862 he was attached to the "Pawnee" and was injured by
explosion of a torpedo, off Charleston, in 1863, having participated in the
operation against Charleston, South Carolina. He was wrecked on board the
"Monongahela" in an earthquake at Santa Cruz. West Indies, November 18, 1876. He
is still in the service of the United States navy, being medical director in the
army. Mr. Hord married Eleanor, daughter of Arnold Harris, of the United States
army, and granddaughter of General Robert Armstrong, of Nashville, Tennessee.
General Armstrong was distinguished in the Creek war and Florida war, having
commanded the artillery in the battle of New Orleans, January 8, 1815. To him
General Jackson bequeathed his sword. He was consul-general to Liverpool,
England, from 1845 to 1852.

    Kendall M. Hord, of Shelbyville, Indiana, was born in Mason county,
Kentucky, October 20, 1840, and, like his father ,and brothers, has attained
distinct precedence in the profession, of law. He was district prosecuting
atorney, 1863-5; prosecuting attorney of circuit court, 1866, and circuit judge,
1876-88. He is a stanch supporter of the Democratic party, and is recognized as
a man of marked ability and honor.—(From Illustrated American Biography.)


Additional Comments:
Extracted from

BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD OF BARTHOLOMEW COUNTY
INDIANA

INCLUDING BIOGRAPHIES OF THE GOVERNORS AND OTHER REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS OF INDIANA

ILLUSTRATED

1904

B. F. Bowen
PUBLISHER


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