Thomas A. Hendricks, a Hoosier statesman, patriot, and staunch defender of constitutional government, moved with the Hendrick family to Shelby County in 1822, attended local schools, graduated from Hanover College in 1841, was admitted to the bar in 1843, and practiced law in Shelbyville. He served two terms as a state legislator, was a U.S. Representative from 1851 to 1855, a U.S. Senator from 1863 to 1869, Governor of Indiana from 1873 to 1877, the Democratic vice-presidential candidate in 1876, and was elected Vice-President with Cleveland in 1884 before dying in office in 1885.