William Hendricks (12 November 1782 – 16 May 1850) was a member of the US House of Representatives from Indiana's at-large district (DR) from 11 December 1816 to 25 July 1822 (interrupting Jonathan Jennings' terms), Governor of Indiana from 5 December 1822 to 12 February 1825 (succeeding Ratliff Boon and preceding James B. Ray), and a US Senator from 4 March 1825 to 3 March 1837 (succeeding Waller Taylor and preceding Oliver H. Smith).
Biography[]
William Hendricks was born in Ligonier Valley, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania in 1782, and he moved to Madison in the Indiana Territory in 1813, working as a lawyer. In 1816, he attended the state constitutional convention, and he advocated for a constitutional ban on slavery. From 1816 to 1822, he served in the US House of Representatives as a Democratic-Republican, and he then served as Governor from 1822 to 1825 and as a US Senator from 1825 to 1837. He oversaw the repairing of the state's finances to pay for public works, established the framework for the state's public school system, and transferred the capital from Corydon to Indianapolis. He died in 1850, having established a political dynasty that would include his nephew Thomas Andrews Hendricks, the future Vice President.