lvin P. Hovey. -- This gentleman, who was elected governor of Indiana in 1888, has had a notable career, both civil and military. He was both civil and military. He was born in 1821, in Posey County, Indiana, where he was spent his whole life. After a common school education, he studied law and was admitted to the Mt. Vernon bar in 1843, where he has practiced with success. The civil positions he held previous to the war were: delegate to the constitutional convention of 1850; judge of the third judicial circuit of Indiana from 1851 to 1854, and judge of the Supreme Court of Indiana. From 1856 to 1858, he served as United States district attorney for the state. During the civil war, he entered the national service as Colonel of the Twenty-fourth Indiana Volunteers, in July 1861. He was promoted brigadier-general of volunteers on April 28, 1862, and brevetted major general for meritorious and distinguished service in July 1864. He was in command of the eastern district of Arkansas in 1863, and of the district of Indiana in 1864-1865. General Grant, in his official reports, awards to General Hovey the honor of the key battle of the Vicksburg campaign, that of Champion's Hill. This is no small praise; also, it is remembered that military critics, in view of the vast consequences that flowed therefrom, have ranked Champion's Hill as on of the five decisive battles of the civil war, and second in importance to Gettysburg alone. General Hovey resigned his commission on October 18, 1865, and was appointed minister to Peru, which office he held until 1870. In 1886, he was nominated for congress by the Republicans in the Evansville district, which theretofore had steadily given a large Democratic majority. General Hovey's personal popularity and military prestige overcame this, and he was elected by a small majority. In congress, he attracted attention by his earnestness in advocating more liberal pension laws, and every measure for the benefit of the ex-Union soldiers. Largely to this fact was due his nomination for the governorship of Indiana, by the Republican Party in 1888, the soldier element of the state being a very important factor in securing his nomination, and his subsequent election. In his social relations, Governor Hovey has always been very popular, and his family circle is one of the happiest in the state. Though a strong partisan, he is never abusive or vindictive, and at every trial of strength at the polls, he has received strong support from many personal friends in the ranks of the opposite party.