1836. He served in the Senate from March 4, 1825, to March 3, 1837 after having lost the election in 1836 to Whig Oliver H. Smith. Hendricks also served as a trustee on the Indiana University Board from 1829 to 1840. Later life Having served in public office for twenty-nine years continually, Hendricks returned to private life in Madison in 1839. During his life he had gathered a large estate which he returned to manage and to also practice law. Being a large landholder in the Madison area, he built many homes and leased them to individuals. In his later years he was criticized for not wanting to sell them, and was accused of behaving in an aristocratic fashion in that regard. On May 16, 1850, while he was overseeing the construction of his family vault, he suddenly became ill. He died the same day and was buried in the Fairmount Cemetery. In his obituary the Indiana Gazetteer said: "Governor Hendricks was for many years by far the most popular man in the State. He had been its sole representative in Congress for six years, elected on each occasion by large majorities, and no member of that body, probably, was more attentive to the interests of the State he represented, or more industrious in arranging all the private or local business entrusted to him. He left no letter unanswered, no public office or document did he fail to visit or examine on request; with personal manners very engaging, he long retained his popularity." See also List of governors of Indiana References Notes Bibliography External links Indiana Historical Bureau: Biography of William Hendricks Biographical Directory of the United States Congress: William Hendricks Western Eagle listing in the Library of Congress William Hendricks at Findagrave Governors of Indiana 1782 births 1850 deaths Members of the United States House of Representatives from Indiana Washington & Jefferson College alumni United States senators from Indiana People from Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania Members of the Indiana Territorial Legislature Indiana Territory officials United States Attorneys for the District of Indiana People from Jefferson County, Indiana Indiana Democratic-Republicans Indiana Whigs Delegates to the 1816 Indiana constitutional convention Indiana National Republicans National Republican Party United States senators Democratic-Republican Party state governors of the United States Democratic-Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives 19th-century American politicians