Indiana Historical Society - Manuscripts & Archives
User information
Biographical sketch
Scope and Content note
Cataloguing information
Processed by
Charles Latham
24 March 1994
VOLUME OF COLLECTION: 5 items, 1 oversize
COLLECTION DATES: 1852-1901
PROVENANCE: Mrs. C. D. Herron (Eloise Milligan, granddaughter), Bethesda, Maryland, 1966
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: None
ACCESSION NUMBER: 66.0025
William Pinkney Fishback (1831-1901) was born in Batavia, Ohio, about twenty miles east of Cincinnati. He first attended Miami University in Oxford, but when its president moved to Farmers' College, Fishback followed him there and graduated in 1853. After being admitted to the bar in Ohio, he moved to Indianapolis in 1857. In 1858 and 1860 he was elected prosecuting attorney for Marion and six surrounding counties.
Fishback first practiced law in partnership with A. Hamilton Conner. In 1860 he formed a partnership with Benjamin Harrison; they were shortly joined by Albert G. Porter (later Governor). From 1870 to 1874 Fishback had a brief career in journalism, as editor first of the Indianapolis Journal and then of the St. Louis Democrat.
Returning to Indianapolis and the law in 1874, Fishback resumed his partnership with Porter. He was elected Clerk of the United States Courts and Master in Chancery in 1877. He resigned the Clerkship after two years, but remained Master in Chancery until his death. He made a considerable reputation by working for honest elections in the 1880s and 1890s.
Sources: Materials in collection
J. P. Dunn, Indiana and Indianans, Vol. 2
This collection contains five items, one oversize, dating 1852-1901. In Folder 1 are an 185[2?] letter from Fishback in Batavia, Ohio, to his sister Mary in Hillsborough (he hopes to be well enough for the log-cabin raising, has news about Miss Blanchard's school, and has seventeen rabbits); an 1853 certificate from Farmers' College; and the typed copy of a 1901 obituary poem.
In Folder 2 is a clothbound volume with typed contents, "Proceedings of the Indianapolis Bar Association in memory of William Pinkney Fishback." It has statements by Benjamin Harrison, W. H. H. Miller, Augustus L. Mason, John W. Kern, and others, and is signed by Harrison (tipped in), Edward Daniels, Noble C. Butler, and Byron K. Elliott.
OM 314 contains one item, a certificate of Fishback's election as Prosecuting Attorney in 1858.
MAIN ENTRY: Fishback, William P. (Willian Pinckney)
SUBJECT ENTRIES: Fishback, William P. (William Pinckney)
Indianapolis Bar Association
Lawyers--Indiana--Indianapolis
Obituaries--Indiana--Indianapolis
Batavia (Ohio)
END