Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1889, volume 6).djvu/147

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TIPTON
TLALHUICOLE

gregation in Madison, Ohio, for four years, and then of one in Westfield, N. Y., till his death. See "Sermons by Rev. Reuben Tinker, Missionary at the Sandwich Islands; with a Biographical Sketch" (Buffalo, 1856).


TIPTON, John, senator, b. in Sevier county, Tenn., 14 Aug., 1786; d. in Logansport, Ind., 5 April, 1830. His father, Joshua, removed from Maryland to eastern Tennessee, where he was murdered by Indians on 18 April, 1793. The duty of supporting the family was thus thrown on John's shoulders at an age when he should have been at school. At the same time he began to be known as an Indian fighter, believing that to avenge his father's murder was a sacred duty. In 1807 he removed with his family to Indiana, settling on a farm of fifty acres on Brinley's Perry, Harrison co., which he paid for out of money that he earned by splitting rails at fifty cents a hundred. The district was infested by counterfeiters and horse-thieves, but Tipton inspired them with such fear that they abandoned the neighborhood. In 1809 he joined the "Yellow Jackets," a military company commanded by Capt. Spier Spencer, and soon afterward became ensign, serving through the campaign that terminated with the battle of Tippecanoe, 7 Nov., 1811. He kept a journal of his campaign of seventy-four days, which, notwithstanding its singular method of spelling, is said to be the fullest and most vivid narrative of those operations. The "Yellow Jackets" lost their captain and their two lieutenants at Tippecanoe, and Tipton took command of the company. After this he reached the rank of brigadier-general of militia. In 1815 he was elected sheriff of Harrison county, and held this office by re-election until 1819, when he was sent to the legislature. He was one of the commissioners that were appointed by that body in 1820 to select a site for a new capital for Indiana, and it was on his motion that Fall Creek was chosen. He wrote a journal describing minutely his trips to different points in search of a suitable locality, and it shows a marked advance in spelling and style over the one in which he relates Harrison's campaign. He was re-elected in 1821. and soon afterward appointed a commissioner to determine with another commissioner from Illinois the boundary-line between the two states. He was appointed U. S. Indian agent for the Pottawattamie and Miami tribes in March, 1823, and in 1826 made arrangements with them by which valuable public lands were thrown open to settlers. In 1831 he was elected U. S. senator, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Gen. James Noble, and he was re-elected for a full term in 1833. Although his political opinions were, on the whole, similar to those of Gen. Jackson, he was his strenuous opponent on the U. S. bank question. He was specially interested in the progress of Indiana, organized the Eel river seminary society at Logansport, raised money for teachers, built school-houses, and constructed mills. He made extensive purchases of land in Bartholomew county, sixty acres of which he gave for the erection of public buildings. The city of Columbus was built on this property, and for a time was called Tiptonia in his honor. It received its present name when his political opponents were elected to office in the county. Gen. Tipton held high office in the Masonic fraternity, becoming finally grand-master.


TIPTON, Thomas W., senator, b. in Cadiz, Ohio, 5 Aug., 1817. He was graduated at Madison college, Pa., became a lawyer, and was elected to the legislature of Ohio in 1845, but, after some time, settled in Nebraska. He was elected a delegate to the Constitutional convention there, and became in 1860 a member of the territorial council. Subsequently he studied for the ministry, was appointed chaplain in the National army, and served during the civil war. He was U. S. senator from Nebraska from 4 March, 1867. till 3 March, 1875.


TITCOMB, Jonathan, soldier, b. in Newburv, Mass., in 1728 ; d. there in 1817. He was a mem- ber of the committee of safety and the Provincial congress in 1774-'5, colonel of a regiment in the Rhode Island expedition in 1778, and a member of the State convention in 1780. Some time afterward he was appointed brigadier-general of militia. He was naval officer of the port of Newburyport, Mass., from 1789 till 1812.


TIZOC, Mexican king, d. in 1482. He succeeded his brother Axayacatl on the throne in 1477, having been general of his predecessor's armies. According to the historical paintings of his time, he conquered during his brief reign fourteen cities, some in the valley of Toluca, and assisted King Netzahualpitl, of Texcoco, to subdue the revolution of his brothers allied with the republic of Huexotzingo. Tizoc began the magnificent temple in honor of Huitzilopochtli, the god of war, but before its conclusion was poisoned by instigation of Techotlalla, cacique of Ixtapalapan, who was afterward executed in the public square of Mexico in presence of the allied kings.


TLALHUICOLE (tlal-we-co'-lay), Tlaxcaltec warrior, d. in 1518. He was regarded as the most formidable hero of his country, and commanded the Tlaxcaltec forces in the civil war in 1516 between the partisans of Cacamatzin and Ixtlilxochitl. He was taken prisoner by stratagem by Tlaxpanquizqui and brought to the city of Mexico; but his bravery and character had made such an impression on Montezuma that he ordered the captive's release, an act that had no precedent in Mexican history. But Tlalhuicole refused to profit by the monarch's generosity. He said to Montezuma that it would be infamous for him to return to his country after being conquered, and insisted on undergoing the fate of the other prisoners. Montezuma, wishing, at any cost, to save his life, offered him the command of an army about to be sent to drive back the Tarascos, who had invaded his frontiers. Tlalhuicole accepted, hoping to meet a glorious death in the ensuing battle. He advanced at the head of the Mexican troops to the city, Tangimoroa, called by the Mexicans Tlaximaloyan, cut through the Tarascan army, which made a desperate resistance, and defeated them several times. He returned to Mexico, laden with spoils and accompanied by a long train of captives. Montezuma lavished fresh honors on him, but failed to persuade him to accept the perpetual office of commander-in-chief or to return to his native country. He refused constantly, alleging that to do the first would be treason to his country, and to do the second would be a stain on his glory. At last Montezuma consented to satisfy the desire of his general, and ordered him to be tied to the stone of the gladiators. He was armed in the usual fashion, and Montezuma, with all his court, was present at the spectacle. Eight famous warriors of Anahuac attacked him one after the other, and were all disabled: the ninth, however, stunned him with a blow, and he was then put to death, with the customary ceremonies. See “Histoire des nations civilisées du Mexique et de l'Amérique Centrale durant les siècles antérieurs à Christophe Colomb,” by the Abbé Brasseur de Bourbourg (4 vols., Paris, 1859), and “Monarquía Indiana,” by Juan de Torquemada (Seville, 1615).