His taxing recommendations to pay for the improvements were not fully enacted, and the project ultimately led the state to negotiate a partial bankruptcy only a few years later.

After his term as governor he was appointed to the Board of Internal Improvement where he unsuccessfully advocated a reorganization of the projects in an attempt to gain some benefit from them.

Together they operated a hotel in Brookville, became heavily involved in land speculation, and opened a water-powered weaving mill with a wool carding machine.

Before he could open the new business, his friends in the Indiana General Assembly appointed him to a commission that was responsible for laying out the Michigan Road.

His opponent made a similar charge against Noble, who still held his position as a federal commissioner working on the Michigan Road.

Noble campaigned heavily on the internal improvement platform and won the election by a plurality of 23,518 votes to Read's 21,002, with independent Milton Stapp taking 6,894.

[4] After becoming governor he purchased several lots on the eastern edge of the capitol, planting an orchard and vineyard and building a large brick home.

He brought some of his father's emancipated slaves with him to work in his household, one of whom was supposedly the model for Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom.

Noble's predecessor had begun the framework for the large-scale internal improvements that were to come, but had significantly delayed the start of the canal projects.

Noble set to work immediately and within a few months he completed surveying the route of the Wabash and Erie Canal and made several recommendations regarding its construction.

Noble was opposed to railroads, which he viewed as monopolies since only the rail company could transport goods on the line, whereas canals were open to anyone had a boat.

Most of the measures were not accepted, but the expansion of the Indiana College was approved, and township schools were granted considerably more power over their own operations.

Noble called out the militia in parts of the state when it was threatened during the Black Hawk War, a Native American uprising to the west of Indiana.

With the legislature closely divided on the issue, additional projects were proposed for the southern areas of the state to gain the support of their representatives.

[10] The Panic of 1837 hit the following year, causing a sharp decrease in tax revenues, even as the state budget was already faced a large deficit because of the interest on the debt.

The change would save the state a significant amount in administrative and collection costs, and make more land subject to taxation.

By the time Noble left office, the state's financial situation was bleak, but it was not yet fully apparent that far more had been borrowed than could be paid back.

In the meantime, the debacle became apparent to the public during his successor's term and led to the gradual collapse of the state's Whig party, which never regained power in Indiana.