Indiana Historical Society - Manuscripts & Archives
User Information
Biographical sketch
Scope and content
Cataloguing information
Processed by
Charles Latham
October 1990
VOLUME OF COLLECTION: 1 manuscript box
COLLECTION DATES: ca. 1890-1915
PROVENANCE: Purchased from a dealer
RESTRICTIONS: None
REPRODUCTION RIGHTS: Permission to reproduce or publish material in this collection must be obtained in writing from the Indiana Historical Society
ALTERNATE FORMATS: None
OTHER FINDING AIDS: None
RELATED HOLDINGS:
ACCESSION NUMBER: 91.0049X
NOTES:
Henry Clay Fox (1836-1920) was born near West Elkton, Preble County, Ohio, the son of Levi and Rebecca Inman Fox. The family moved to Wayne County, Indiana, where Fox attended county schools and then Whitewater College in Centerville. He next read law in the office of George W. Julian, and was admitted to the bar in 1861. In that same year he married Helen S. Linsley and enlisted in the 57th Indiana Volunteer Infantry.
After the Civil War, Fox took up a law practice in Richmond. In 1892 he was appointed judge of appellate court but was not reelected that November. In 1896 he was appointed county judge.
According to Bench and Bar of Indiana (1895), "In Wayne County, and in the vicinity, he has considerable reputation as a lawyer and as a wit; and in eastern Indiana and western Ohio has some notoriety as a writer of humorous literature." His reply to a questionnaire from the above book gives a sample of his style: "I was born in...Ohio; the time and place of my death have not yet been fixed. The public can have no possible interest in what I have been doing in the world. I am entirely satisfied with many things that I have done, while there are others I would like to forget."
Fox's published works include Adventures of a philosopher, a dun mule, and a brindle dog (1888), Uncle Zeke and Aunt Liza-- a tale of episodes (1905), and Memories of Wayne County and the City of Richmond (1912)
Sources:
Charles W. Taylor, Bench and Bar of Indiana (1895)
Richard E. Banta, Indiana Authors and their Books, 1816-1916
This collection, filling one manuscript box, consists of three calf-bound typescripts of books by Fox. The first is entitled "Jones-- the Philosopher and His Friends", and is a preliminary, and quite different, version of the published Adventures of a Philosopher. The other two are different versions of "The Story of Zebulon Jones", with more episodes concerning the same fictional character.
Comparison of the two versions of each book gives a good idea both of Fox's style and of the amount of re-working he did to produce an informal, easy-flowing tale.
MAIN ENTRY: Fox, Henry Clay, 1836-1920
SUBJECT ENTRIES: Authors, American--Indiana--Wayne County
Lawyers--Indiana--Wayne County
Wit and humor
Humorous stories, American--Indiana
Lawyers' writings.
Humorists, American--Indiana--Wayne County
Indiana--Humor
Richmond (Ind.)
END