Not doing research on Ralston, but my mother worked for him at the
Govenor's Mansion. Saved this to put in her info. There was more to this
article, but can't remember where I got it. Bob
Hon. Samuel M. Ralston
The rise of a man from farmer boy, ox driver, coal miner, country school
teacher, to the highest office within the gift of the people of a sovereign
state, is an evidence of greatness--greatness of energy, of ability, of
perseverance, of heart qualitities and of character. Such is the life story
of the subject of this sketch.
Samuel Moffett Ralston, governor of Indiana, was born on a farm near New
Cumberland, Tuscarawas county, Ohio, December 1, 1857. His father, John
Ralston, was a native of Virginia, and his mother, Sarah Ralston, nee
Scott, was born in Pennsylvania. His great-grandfather, Andrew Ralston, was
born in Scotland February 25, 1753, and came to this country with his
parents when but a small boy. With the exception of Andrew and a sister,
the entire Ralston family was massacred by the Indians in Pennsylvania.
Grown to manhood, Andrew served for seven years in the Revolutionary war as
a member of the Pennsylvania Rifle Regiment and was taken prisoner on Long
Island August 27, 1776. When the war was over he married Sophia Waltemeyer,
of Irish descent, and moved to Ohio, where they reared a family. Andrew
Ralston lies buried by the side of his wife in Beech Spring cemetery,
Harrison county, Ohio.
Governor Ralston came to this state with his parents in the spring of 1865,
when they moved to Owen county, Indiana, where his father purchased and
operated a large stock farm. In his early youth Mr. Ralston did not have an
opportunity to secure an education, but early in his young manhood he
realized that if he was to achieve the position in life that his ambitions
sought for that he must have an education, so he applied himself until he
was able to secure a license to teach school. For seven years he taught
school during the winter months and attended summer school during the
summer. During all this time a portion of his earnings went to the support
of his parents, his father having failed financially in the panic of 1873.
He attended the Northern Indiana School at Valparaiso and the Central
Indiana Normal School at Danville, Indiana, graduating from the latter
institution in the scientific course in August, 1884.
He studied law in the office of Robinson & Fowler at Spencer, Indiana, and
was admitted to the bar January 1, 1886, and located in Lebanon, Indiana,
in June of that year, for the practice of his profession. He is a lawyer of
distinction, having taken part in the trials of some of the most important
cases of the state. He has few equals as a cross-examiner of witnesses and
is especially strong in cases involving the rules of equity or the
constitutionality of statutes. In the prosecution of cases he is vigorous
and is regarded by many as one of the foremost defensive criminal lawyers
of the state.
He was nominated by his party for governor of Indiana in 1912, by
acclamation. He is the only governor of this state since Thomas A.
Hendricks to have been so honored by a political party. In the election of
1912 he carried eighty-three of the ninety-two counties and received a
plurality of one hundred and nine thousand two hundred and thirty-three.
He was president of the Lebanon school board, August 1, 1908, to July 31,
1911. He was also presidential elector in 1892-3. Other than the above, he
never held public office until he was inaugurated governor of Indiana on
the 13th day of January, 1913.
At 12:41 PM 02/23/2000 -0500, you wrote:
Hi, I am a new subscriber so this is my first message. I am working
on
the names Perkins and Ralston who at one time lived in Boone Co., Ind.
Would love to chat with anyone who has information on these names.
Carolyn
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