A biographical history of eminent and self-made men of the state of Indiana : with many portrait-illustrations on steel, engraved expressly for this work, Volume I, Part 118

Author:
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Cincinnati, Ohio : Western Biographical Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 1038

USA > Indiana > A biographical history of eminent and self-made men of the state of Indiana : with many portrait-illustrations on steel, engraved expressly for this work, Volume I > Part 118

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

as ever, and gives promise of his continued activity and usefulness. His private life has always been above re- proach. While he is no trimmer, but one of the most positive of men, he possesses a kind heart, strong social qualities, and a faculty of attaching himself to good men of all creeds and opinions. He has great tenacity of purpose; has strong convictions, and a disposition to battle for them to the end. He possesses strong domes- tic traits, and no home is happier than his. His first wife died in 1860, and three years later he was married to his present wife, a daughter of the Hon. Joshua R. Giddings, of Ohio, and a woman of rare qualities of mind and heart. In the fall of 1873, Mr. Julian re- moved from his old home, in Wayne County, to Irving- ton, a suburb of Indianapolis, where he now spends most of his time, in the companionship of his family and his books.

122

REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF INDIANA.

[7th Dist.

is also fond of newspapers, and was at one time a corre- spondent and newspaper reporter of the press. On leav- ing school, his first step was to enter his father's law office, where he applied himself assiduously to learn, not only the reasons and the precedents in jurispru- dence, but the practice of the courts. For the latter purpose his father's place offered excellent advantages, as he had at the time a large and varied business. Mr. Julian was admitted to the bar in 1862, and, with the exception of a couple of years during the war, when he was in the military service for a brief pe- riod, and also in the office of the quartermaster-gen- eral, and in the General Land Office, Washington, he has been constantly in practice ever since. He re- mained in Centreville until January, 1873, when he re- moved to Irvington, a suburb of Indianapolis, then just established, where he dwelt until 1879, then go- ing to Indianapolis, where he now resides, carrying on the practice of law with Judge Jacob B. Julian. He was closely identified with the progress of improvements at Irvington, and was one of the proprietors of Spring Garden, a beautiful suburban addition to the city of In- dianapolis. He has been a member of the Masonic Fraternity since August, 1867. He is not a member of any Church, but attends services at various places. Until seventeen years of age he went to the Methodist Church and Sunday-school. He voted at the last elec- tion for Tilden and Hendricks, whom he regards as the de jure President and Vice-president of the United States. He was married, October 31, 1878, to Mary Ingels, a lady every way worthy of his choice, the daughter of the late Colonel Joseph Ingels, the well- known inventor and manufacturer of agricultural imple- ments, whose "Hoosier grain drill" is to be seen all over the country. She is a graduate of the North-west- ern Christian University, of the class of 1876. Mr. Ju- lian is of fine appearance and majestic bearing, being fully six feet in height, and weighing one hundred and eighty pounds. He has rather a military carriage, and stands very erect. He is of fair complexion, with light hair and clear blue eyes. His studious habits and care- ful business traits will undoubtedly pave the way for future distinction.

NEFLER, GENERAL FRED., of Indianapolis, is a native of the kingdom of Hungary, where he was born April 12, 1834. His parents were Nathan and Helen Knefler. He received an ordinary education in his native land, and in 1850 emigrated to the United States, and settled in Indian- apolis. His first employment in Indianapolis was as an apprentice to the carpenter's trade, after which he was employed as deputy by W. B. Beach, clerk of the Supreme Court. In this office he began the study of

law, and afterwards in the office of the late Hugh O'Neal, and in 1856 was admitted to the bar. He was for several years a clerk in the office of John C. New, then clerk of Marion County. In April, 1861, he en- listed in the army, and was elected to a lieutenancy in the IIth Indiana Regiment, and subsequently promoted to captain. In 1862 he was appointed colonel of the 79th Regiment of Indiana Volunteers, and was after- wards promoted, for meritorious service, to brigadier- general by brevet, continuing in the service until after the close of the war, and was mustered out of the service in July, 1865. After the Rebellion ended, General Knefler formed a partnership in the practice of law with Hon. John Hanna, under the firm name of Hanna & Knefler, which continues up to the present time. The firm of Hanna & Knefler are widely known, and do a very extensive business in their profession. In 1877 General Knefler was appointed United States pension agent at Indianapolis, and still fills that posi- tion, with the highest satisfaction to all who do business with the office. He is an active member of the Repub- lican party, and, while not a candidate for official posi- tion himself, has a lively interest in the intricate details of local, state, and national politics. He is popular with all classes of citizens. During the railroad troubles of 1877 General Knefler took a very prominent part in assisting to adjust the difficulty, and his counsel did much towards preventing bloodshed, as he enjoyed the confidence both of the workmen and of the business community. In 1859 General Knefler married Miss Zerelda Collings, a native of Kentucky. They have three children. Few men in Indianapolis are better known than General Knefler, and none are more highly esteemed. His characteristic reticence prevents a more extensive sketch.

OERNER, CHARLES C., of Indianapolis, was born in Waynesville, Ohio, August 10, 1848. He is of German lineage, his father having been born at Nuremberg, Bavaria, in 1819, coming to America with his parents at an early age, that he might escape the rigors of the service in the national army. His mother, Anna, came from Munich. Her father served under Napoleon ; in his long and disastrous Rus- sian campaign, the sad story of which the inscriptions of Coblentz speak, many a brave soldier died. In the fierce siege of Moscow, and in many another battle, none stood more firmly than he; and by his posterity and kindred of distant date will his fidelity and man- hood be ever held in grateful remembrance. For his efficient services he was awarded the iron cross, a badge of honor most difficult of attainment. He was one of Cincinnati's pioneers. Many years ago he went there, and, with assistance, started the Moerlein Brewery ; he

123

7th Dist.]

REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF INDIANA.

it was, also, who first planted those splendid vineyards | pression, and rapid in speech and motion. He is a around Cincinnati-a friend and co-worker of Nicholas very agreeable companion and a thorough gentleman. Of his institution we give the following testimonial, signed by every member of the Indiana Senate and House of Representatives : Longworth. Charles Koerner's father's father was the contractor who laid out the streets of North Cincinnati. From Waynesville, Ohio, the family removed to Leb- anon, Ohio; to Newtown, Ohio; Cincinnati, and thence " We have examined the course of study, as used by the Indianapolis Bryant & Stratton Business College. We can recommend the college as an institution where young men can be thoroughly prepared for 'mercantile "We would further recommend young men to at- tend the Indianapolis Business College, a home insti- tution, the only reliable business college in the state of Indiana, and having no superior, in our opinion, in the West." life.' to Harveysburg, Ohio, where his father yet lives, upon a hard-earned competency, in quiet retirement. While in Cincinnati he had been a merchant, but, in accord- ance with the mutable character of things, had failed, whereby Charles had been thrown upon his own re- sources for education and support while scarcely beyond his merest boyhood. His education was commenced at Newtown, Ohio, where he attended the common schools, and at Harveysburg, where he studied at an He is a member of the Protestant Episcopal Church, as were his parents. In his political views he is very liberal. In February, 1872, he was married to Miss Antonia Lietz, whose father, a resident of Indianapolis, was a portrait painter. To Mr. and Mrs. Koerner have been born two sons. Some idea of the influence ex- erted by an institution such as that represented by Mr. Koerner may be obtained from a knowledge of the fact that not less than thirteen thousand young men have gone forth from under his instruction to take their places in the business world. The lives of such men as are the proprietors of this flourishing institution of com- mercial learning-men who are almost entirely self- taught and possessing untiring energy and will-power- wield a large influence in molding the character of our most successful business men, and are always emi- nently worthy of emulation. academy. Subsequently, he graduated at the Hughes High School, Cincinnati, where he demonstrated his ability by completing a course of five years in three. He at once entered the Bryant & Stratton Business Col- lege of that city, where he attained a degree of pro- ficiency far above the ordinary. It was his father's design that he should study medicine, and he was to attend lectures at Ann Arbor, Michigan, but, having taken a preliminary course of six months, he abandoned the project. His own inclinations always were toward mercantile pursuits, hence, when his business education had been completed, he engaged himself to various estab- lishments as accountant. Having thus spent a season in his native state, he came to Indianapolis. He had given evidence of no little tact and executive ability, and in his coming he had it in mind to establish a busi- ness college equal to the best of that kind in the country. When he arrived here he found two institutions already in existence, similar to the one he was intending to establish. But, by dint of hard work and close appli- AMME, EDWIN HALE, attorney-at-law, Indian- apolis, was born in Clarke County, Ohio, March 26, 1845. Both his parents, William A. and Anne E. Lamme, were natives of the same county. His father was a farmer, and the subject of this sketch had in his early days the usual experience of farmers' sons, assisting in the work on the farm in the summer months and attending the common schools the rest of the year. His early education was supplemented by a course of study at the Ohio Wesleyan University, at Delaware, Ohio. He commenced the reading of law at Spring- field, Ohio, in the office of Hon. T. J. Pringle, a dis- tinguished lawyer of that state, and now a member of the Ohio Senate. He afterward entered the Law School of the Michigan University, at Ann Arbor, where he completed his legal course. In 1870 he came to In- dianapolis, and was admitted to the Indiana bar June 25th of that year. When the War of the Rebellion broke out, Mr. Lamme enlisted in the II0th Ohio Vol- unteers in the spring of 1862, and with his regiment cation, the new college was begun in 1868. Of the others, one was soon forced to discontinue, while in 1872 the other and Mr. Koerner's school were consoli- dated, under the name of Southard & Koerner, now being known as the Indianapolis Bryant & Stratton Business College. In 1876 Mr. Southard disposed of his interest to his partner, who now became sole pro- prietor of the new school, and who afterward associated with him Mr. Goodier, a member of the firm at present. Mr. Koerner is considered a skillful account- ant, and to him are brought many exceptionally difficult cases. He is a member of the Koerner Lodge, Knights of Pythias, of which latter organization he became a member in 1871. He has had all the advantages to be derived from extensive travel, as he is in the habit of combining business with pleasure in visiting, during six or eight weeks of each year, the various points of in- terest in the United States, thus adding to his fund of knowledge and enlarging his scope of observation. He is a man of slight build, dark complexion, pleasing ex-, was attached to the Army of the Potomac, participating

124

REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF INDIANA.

[7th Dist.

in all its campaigns until Lee's surrender at Appomattox Court House, in 1865. After his admission to the bar he immediately began the practice of his profession at Indianapolis, where he has since continued to reside and do business. On the 10th of May, 1876, he was mar- ried to Miss Emma A., daughter of Judge Addison L. Roache, of Indianapolis. In January, 1877, he formed a law partnership with Judge Roache, under the firm name of Roache & Lamme, and this connection still continues. The firm is one of the best known in the state of Indiana and commands an extensive practice. A sketch of Judge Roache's career will be found in this work. Personally, Mr. Lamme is known as a pains- taking, industrious, and able lawyer, whose energy and activity ably second the riper experience of the senior member of the firm. Always a Republican in politics, and never seeking office for himself, he carries into the councils of his party the weight of a well balanced judgment and a keen insight into the political status. Possessed of robust health and an active temperament, popular among his fellow members of the bar and in society, happy in his domestic relations, a bright and honorable future, commensurate with his past record, is in store for him.

ANDERS, FRANKLIN, of Indianapolis, is among the most notable of the self-made men of Indiana. He is a native of the state, having been born in Morgan County, March 22, 1825. His father, the late William Landers, was one of the pioneers of Cen- tral Indiana, having located in Morgan County, some twelve miles from Indianapolis, in 1820. The subject of this sketch grew to manhood on his father's farm. He followed the plow in the spring and summer, as- sisted in gathering the crops in the autumn, and in the winter attended the country school. When he reached his majority he became a teacher. During the winter months he imparted to the youths of his neighborhood something of the knowledge he had gained himself, and the remainder of the year he worked as a farm hand for hire. In this manner he accumulated a few hundred dollars, which he invested in merchandise, and, in con- nection with his brother Washington, opened a country store at Waverly, a town situated near where he was born. For four years the Landers Brothers sold goods to their neighbors. At the end of this time Washing- ton retired from the firm. The remaining partner con- tinued the business for a while, and then bought a sec- tion of land and laid out the town of Brooklyn. He removed his stock from Waverly to Brooklyn, and for several years conducted a profitable business there. But selling goods was not his only employment, for he was largely engaged in farming and stock-raising, His store made him money, his farm added to his estate,

and his stock dealings were profitable, and before he reached middle life he was one of the wealthiest men in his county. He did not hug his money to his breast like a miser, nor use it solely for the gratification of his tastes and desires, but he employed it in paying labor- ers for their work, in building school-houses and churches, like a philanthropist and a Christian. He established no less than five Churches of different de- nominations upon his lands, and then contributed largely to their support. During the late war he was noted for his benevolence to soldiers and their fam- ilies. He was active in procuring substitutes for such of his neighbors as were drafted and were unable to leave their homes, and he gave liberally of his means to render comfortable the wives and children of those who shouldered the musket and marched to the tented field. In 1860 Mr. Landers was nominated by the Democracy of his district for the state Senate. His competitor was Hon. Samuel P. Oyler, of Johnson County, whom he defeated by a majority of three hun -. dred and seventy-four votes. In the Senate he occupied a leading position, and this will be considered no mean compliment when it is remembered that among his asso- ciates were Martin M. Ray and John R. Cravens, men well known in the political history of Indiana. It was while he was in the Senate that the country was con- vulsed by the great Civil War. He favored all legiti- mate measures that were introduced to uphold the authority of the Federal government and suppress the Rebellion, but he opposed all propositions to override the civil law and render insecure the liberty of the citi- zen. He believed military law proper and right in dis- tricts and states where the civil law was overthrown ; but he opposed its establishment in Indiana, where the courts were open for redress of grievances, and where no rebellion against the authority of the Federal govern- ment existed. In 1864 Mr. Landers removed to In- dianapolis, and in connection with several other gentle- men established a wholesale dry-goods house. He has continued in the dry-goods business to the present time, being now a member of the well-known firm of Hib- ben, Pattison & Co. Several years ago he commenced the killing and packing of hogs, and he is at this time the head of the pork and commission house of Landers & Co. With the care of these great estab- lishments on his hands, he still finds time to manage and conduct his farms. From these he annually sends to market hundreds of mules, hundreds of cattle, and thousands of hogs. Thus, with his dry-goods house, his pork-house, and his farms, it would seem that he has enough to do, but these large interests do not employ all his time. A portion of it is devoted to the study of finance and political economy, and it is questionable if there is in Indiana a man so well versed in these ab- struse subjects as he is. In 1864 Mr. Landers was on

Franklin Landers

7th Dist.]

REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF INDIANA.

125

the Democratic electoral ticket, and canvassed his dis- trict for McClellan. In 1874 he was the Democratic candidate for Congress in the capital district, and, although his party was in a minority of over two thou- sand, he was elected. His opponent was General John Coburn, a man of much popularity and large experience in public affairs, but Mr. Landers, after making a thor- ough canvass, defeated him by a large majority. In Congress Mr. Landers took high rank. There never has been a man in Congress from Indiana, with proba- bly the exception of the late Judge Hughes, who be- came so prominent in so short a time. He was noted for the persistency with which he advocated the making of the greenback a full legal tender for all public dues, and for the remonetization of silver, He has given the money question much thought, and his speeches, both in Congress and upon the hustings, are among the ablest disquisitions upon the financial problem ever made in this country. His course in Congress was such as to draw to his support the National or Greenback party, and when that organization was in state convention, in the winter of 1875-76, it nominated him for Governor. Soon after this the Democratic State Convention met, and the name of Mr. Landers was submitted to it for the gubernatorial nomination. His friends and those of Mr. Holman, who was also a candidate, became so warmly enlisted for their respective favorites that it was feared the party could not harmonize on either of them, so they were both withdrawn, and Mr. Williams nomi- nated without opposition. Mr. Landers did not desire a re-election to Congress in 1876. His private interests had suffered by his absence from home, and he made up his mind to accept no public office that would take him from them. But his political friends demanded that he again make the race. They met in- convention at Greencastle, and unanimously nominated him. He could not withstand the pressure thus brought to bear, so he accepted the honor and made the race. Although he was defeated, he ran over eight hundred votes ahead of his party's ticket. It was conceded at the time that Mr. Landers's candidacy for Congress in 1876 added one ' thousand votes to the Democratic state ticket, thus aid- ** ing materially the election of Governor Williams and the carrying of Indiana for Tilden and Hendricks. And here it may be proper to say that Mr. Landers never made a race for office without exceeding his party's strength. No better evidence than this can be offered of his popularity as a man and his ability as a can- vasser. Mr. Landers has been twice married. His first wife's maiden name was Mary Shuffleberger. She died in 1864, and in 1865 he married Mrs. Martha Conduitt, who is now living. He has two children living by his first wife, and four by his present one. Mr. Landers is six feet one inch high, and weighs about two hundred pounds. His face is smoothly shaven, and his complex-

ion is florid. He has dark auburn hair and hazel eyes. He is in robust health, and is both physically and men- tally a strong man. His past success in life gives as- surance of something yet to come; and, if "coming events cast their shadows before," he is destined at an early day to occupy a more elevated position than any he has yet attained. On the ninth day of June, 1880, he was nominated by the Democratic State Convention as the Democratic candidate for Governor of Indiana, and since that time has been actively engaged in the work. He is making a very efficient canvass, with the best of prospects for success.

OCKRIDGE, JOHN EWING, A. M., M. D., of Indianapolis, a distinguished scholar and physi- cian, was born near Staunton, Augusta County, Virginia, on the 24th of May, 1830. He is of Scotch-Irish descent, and the character of that race is still plainly shown in him. The life of a physician and scholar, although filled with sacrifices and drudgeries, furnishes no startling incidents for the pen of a biog- rapher. The lives of Sir William Hunter and Sir Astley Cooper, the most noted surgeons that Great Britain has yet produced, and those of other illustrious men of letters and science, show the correctness of this hypothesis. Doctor Lockridge received a thorough English, classical, and mathematical education in the "Old Dominion," Virginia, and was noted for his close and persevering application, as well as for his faculty of clearly retaining what he had learned. After completing his course as a pupil, he was for two years a professor of ancient and modern literature and mathematics; and at the same time " burned the midnight oil" in acquiring a knowl- edge of medicine, for which he possessed a strong pre- dilection. His study of it and its collateral sciences was pursued under the tutorage of the late Doctor William R. Blair, one of the most cultured and noted of Virginia's eminent physicians. He attended his first lectures at the Medical College of Virginia, at Rich- mond, during the session of 1856-7, after which he im- mediately entered upon practice with his distinguished preceptor. The latter soon afterwards suddenly died, leaving an extensive and remunerative business in the hands of the young Æsculapian, in addition to his own patients; hence, Doctor Lockridge was unable to at- tend, at this period, another course of medical lectures, but he continued his studies and scientific investigations with a zeal and thoroughness that far overbalanced the loss, while at the same time he was acquiring a ripe and invaluable practical experience. He determined, however, after some six or seven years, to attend the medical lectures of 1862 and 1863 within the walls of his cherished Alma Mater, and arranged for the required

I26

REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF INDIANA.

[7th Dist.

period of absence. In the month of March, 1863, he graduated from this institution-the Virginia Medical College-with honors, and the coveted prize of fifty dollars, which had been offered for "the best thesis on diphtheria," though it was contested for by an unusually large number of students, many of whom were subse- quently distinguished in the profession. Such were the literary excellence and medical soundness of the Doctor's essay, that not only the faculty, but even the disap- pointed students, eulogized the performance and con- gratulated its author. This essay placed Doctor Lock- ridge at once in the foremost ranks of the most profound thinkers and scholarly writers in the med- ical profession in America, and professorships in several of our medical colleges having a national and European reputation were tendered him, all of which, however, he declined, so imbued was he with a love for practice. Doctor Lockridge is a brilliant and profound writer on medical subjects, and at times finds occasion to wield a sharp, pungent, and piquant pen in other departments of literature, always adding embellishment to whatever he touches. For several years he was associate editor of the Georgia Medical Companion and Southern Medical Record, published at Atlanta. He was, whilst in Vir- ginia, a member of the Augusta County Academy of Medicine and of the Virginia Medical Society, and was appointed by the latter as delegate to the American Medical Society, which met at Detroit, Michigan, in 1874. For a decade or more he has contributed to several Western and Southern medical journals. These articles have covered a wide range of subjects, though surgery and obstetrics have received the larger share of attention. He is numbered among the most valued contributors to the American Practitioner, of Indian- apolis, considered the ablest medical journal in the West. Doctor Lockridge is a man of calm courage, and always handles the surgeon's knife with a steady nerve and an intrepid coolness that enables him to go through the most difficult operations without discom- posure and with delicate accuracy-a matter of no little consequence to the patient. In addition to an exten- sive practice in Indianapolis, in which city he has re- sided since 1876, his first and only change of residence, his duties comprise those of physician of the Deaf and Dumb Asylum of Indiana, an institution containing more than four hundred inmates, who, not being able to express themselves with the certainty of people not deprived of their vocal organs, require the closest atten- tion in sickness, with most unerring accuracy of diagno- sis. Doctor Lockridge was married, the 19th of Au- gust, 1854, to Miss Lydia Margarita Coyner, a beautiful and accomplished daughter of Captain Addison Hyde Coyner, of Augusta County, Virginia. In his early manhood Mr. Coyner was a merchant, but after becom- ing the possessor of the old homestead, by inheritance,

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

A biographical history of eminent and self-made men of the state of Indiana : with many portrait-illustrations on steel, engraved expressly for this work, Volume I, Part 118

Author: Publication date: 1880 Publisher: Cincinnati, Ohio : Western Biographical Publishing Co. Number of Pages: 1038

Author:
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Cincinnati, Ohio : Western Biographical Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 1038