31 Facts About Noah Noble

Noah Noble was the fifth governor of the US state of Indiana from 1831 to 1837.

Noah Noble's taxing recommendations to pay for the improvements were not fully enacted, and the project ultimately led the state to negotiate a partial bankruptcy only a few years later.

Noah Noble purchased produce from area farmers and shipped it to New Orleans to be sold.

Noah Noble entered politics in 1820, winning an election to become Franklin County's sheriff.

Noah Noble was commissioned a lieutenant colonel in the 7th Regiment of the Indiana militia in 1817, and a colonel in 1820.

Noah Noble was reelected again the following year but resigned following the death of his brother Lazarus.

Noah Noble remained on the commission until 1831, at which time he announced his candidacy for governor of Indiana as a Whig candidate, and secured the Whig nomination.

Noah Noble's opponent made a similar charge against Noble, who still held his position as a federal commissioner working on the Michigan Road.

Noah 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.

Noah Noble 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's Uncle Tom.

Noah Noble visited Noble's home on more than one occasion.

Noah 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.

Noah Noble set to work immediately and within a few months he completed surveying the route of the Wabash and Erie Canal and made several recommendations regarding its construction.

Noah 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.

Noah Noble proposed the state borrow money to speed the construction process, but the legislature rejected his proposal.

Noah Noble 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.

Noah Noble had a census conducted and recommended that the legislature reapportion representation to grant more seats to the central counties.

Noah Noble made several recommendations for the reform of public schools.

Noah Noble had not taken a position on the bill, but signed it into law.

Noah Noble oversaw the creation of plans to build Indiana's third statehouse in 1831.

Noah Noble ultimately won the election, 27,767 to 19,994 votes.

Noah Noble called out the militia in parts of the state when it was threatened during the Black Hawk War, a Native American uprising to the west of Indiana.

The act caused a great deal of celebration in the state and Noah Noble considered the act his greatest achievement at the time.

Property taxes were the state's primary regular income, and to increase the revenue Noah Noble proposed that the tax be levied ad valorem.

Noah Noble proposed the projects be prioritized, and work halted on the less important ones to conserve funds, but the plan was rejected.

In both 1834 and 1836, Noah 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 Noah Noble's disappointment.

Noah Noble argued that he had proposed tax increases to fund the project, and it was the fault of the General Assembly for not enacting them.

Noah 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 Noah Noble to have a serious chance of winning public office again.

Noah Noble died at the age of 50 in Indianapolis two years later, on February 8,1844, and was buried next to his wife, Catharine, in Greenlawn Cemetery.

Noah Noble's body was moved to Crown Hill Cemetery in Indianapolis on July 14,1874.