Claude Matthews ( December 14 , 1845 – August 28 , 1898 ) was the 23rd governor of the U.S. state of Indiana from 1893 to 1897 . A farmer , he was nominated to prevent the loss of voters to the Populist Party . The Panic of 1893 occurred just before he took office , leading to severe economic problems during his term . Republicans took the Indiana General Assembly in the 1894 mid-term election and repudiated many of the Democrats ' laws , leading to violence in the assembly . A popular party figure when he left office , he was a nominee to run for president at the 1896 Democratic National Convention , but lost his bid for the nomination to William Jennings Bryan
1896 Democratic National Convention
1896 Democratic National Convention
Claude Matthews