Indiana State Sentinel, May 30, 1883.
A Washington special to the Courier-Journal, which journal alludes to as a
tribute to an old friend, says: Horace Heffren, who died at Salem, Ind.,
Sunday, was an extraordinary man in many other respects than his size and
weight. He had a brain commensurate with his body, and in an intellectual
struggle was a hard man to down. He had the ability to make a great man in
law and politics and doubtless would have made a great man if he had been
possessed of will power enough to overthrow an appetite that has caused ruin
and disaster to so many of our ablest men. In the last session of the
Indiana legislature, Horace Heffren stood by himself and was by odds the
most able man in either branch of the assembly. He represented the people
of the state with honor and credit and won the respect and confidence of the
members of the House and Senate, irrespective of politics. He was a true
and good Democrat, ardently devoted to the great principles of his party
handed down by Jefferson and Jackson, the fathers of democracy. In private
life Horace Heffren was a man who would never turn his back on a friend. He
was as kind and gentle to those whom he loved as he was fierce and
unrelenting to those whom he hated. Like most large men, he was a pleasant
and agreeable companion, and he had friends all over the Hoosier State. In
his death the democracy of Indiana loses one of their best workers and
advisers.