Alvin Peterson Hovey

Alvin Peterson Hovey (September 6, 1821 – November 23, 1891) was a Union general during the American Civil War, an Indiana Supreme Court justice, congressman, and the 21st Governor of Indiana from 1889 to 1891. During the war he played an important role in the Western theatre, earning high approval from Grant, and uncovered a secret plot for an uprising in Indiana. As governor, he launched several legal challenges to the Indiana General Assembly's removal of his powers, but was mostly unsuccessful. He successfully advocated election reform before he died in office.

Early life

Family and background

Alvin Peterson Hovey was born in Mount Vernon, Indiana on September 6, 1821 to Abiel and Francis Hovey. His mother died while he was a young boy, and his father died when he was fifteen leaving him orphaned. His youth was spent in poverty, and after being sent to an orphanage following his father's death, he received a basic education before being turned out at age eighteen. Hovey wanted to become a lawyer, and went work as a bricklayer by day, and studied law at night in the office of John Pitcher, a Mount Vernon attorney in 1840. After over three years of study in the office, he was admitted to bar in 1843 and opened his own law office.