File:Valparaiso, Indiana, April 13, circa 1883 - Postal Cover.jpg

English: Postal Date: April 13, circa 1883, Valparaiso, Indiana

Scott Catalog Number of Postage Stamp: 207 Collection: Steven R. Shook

SENDER: CRUMPACKER & GILLETT Attorneys-at-Law, VALPARAISO, - INDIANA.

RECIPIENT: Alexander Long Atty at Law 15 W. Third St. Cincinnati Ohio

REMARK: The recipient, Alexander Long, was born on December 24, 1816, in Greenville, Greenville County, Pennsylvania, and died November 28, 1886. In 1845, Long was admitted to the Ohio State Bar. Elected to the Ohio State Legislature in 1848, Long was a close associate of Salmon P. Chase, and assisted Chase toward election as a United States Senator.

In 1862, Alexander Long ran for Representative in the United States Congress as an anti-war Democrat. He served in the 38th Congress from March 4, 1863, until March 3, 1865. Long made a notable (an historial) speech on the floor of the House of Representatives on April 8, 1864, expressing his anti-war views and championing states rights. After the speech, newspapers throughout the country labeled Long as a "Copperhead," or Southern Sympathizer.

Indiana Congressman and Speaker of the House Schuyler Colfax attempted to have Long expelled from the House of Representatives. Colfax could not muster enough votes, so instead on April 9, 1864, a vote was taken whereby Long was censured by the House of Representatives in a 80 to 69 vote for "treasonable utterances."

Pro-peace Democrats attempted to nominate Long for president in 1864, but Long declined the candidacy. In 1868, Long was a primary element in reorganizing the Democratic Party after its tremendous fragmentation during the Civil War. He urged Salmon P. Chase to run for president based on a "hard money" platform; both Chase and Long were against the Union's use of a "Greenback" policy that was used to fund the war.

The law firm of Crumpacker and Gillett was named after Edgar D. Crumpacker and John H. Gillett.

Edgar Dean Crumpacker was born May 27, 1851,in Westville, LaPorte County, Indiana, and died May 19, 1920, in Valparaiso. Crumpacker was admitted to the Indiana State Bar in 1876 and soonafter began practicing law in Valparaiso. He was the prosecuting attorney for the 31st judicial district from 1884 to 1888. He then served as an appellate judge from March 1891 to January 1893, after being appointed by Governor Alvin P. Hovey. Crumpacker was then elected to the United State House of Representatives as a Republican and served in this capacity from March 4, 1897, to March 3, 1913. While serving in Congress, he chaired the Committee on the Census for four years.

John Henry Gillett was born in Medina, Orleans County, New York, on September 18, 1860, and died March 16, 1920, in Hammond, Lake County, Indiana. Gillett was admitted to the Indiana State Bar in 1881. He then formed a law partnership with E. D. Crumpacker. In 1885, Gillett was appointed the City Attorney for Valparaiso, and soon after was appointed the Assistant Attorney General for the State of Indiana in 1886, a positioned he served until 1890. Gillett then moved to Hammond, Indiana, and began a law firm with Peter Crumpacker, which dissolved in 1892 when Gillett was appointed judge of the 31st Indiana Circuit Court. After serving on the circuit court for ten years, Gillett was appointed to the Indiana Supreme Court in 1902 and served in this capacity until 1909.

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