A member of the Hanover class of 1841, Thomas A. Hendricks represented Indiana in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1851 to 1855 and in the U.S. Senate from 1863 to 1869. He was Governor of Indiana from 1873 to 1876, and at the time of his death was Vice-President of the United States. His widow gave this building as a library from 1903 to 1952 in memory of her husband.