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 58

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 58

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after, the father sold the homestead, and lent the pro- ceeds to parties whom he regarded as solvent ; but the panic of 1837-9 swept away the fortunes of the bor- rowers and their security, and left Mr. Cole compara- tively destitute, his health undermined, and a wife and eight children to support. Two farms were rented ; one of a distant relative, in Dearborn County, for two years, and one for one year in Hamilton County, Ohio. In the spring of 1840, when twenty years old, James W. Cole went to Iowa, and, having made the many arrrangements, returned, and removed with the family to Henry County, where, the year following, two hundred and fifty acres of land were purchased, mostly on time payments. One-half of this land was in the name of the parents, and one-half in the name of James W. Cole and his next younger brother, Robert S. Cole. They first turned their attention to making the family comfortable, building a house and fences, putting in crops; and, at the close of the third or fourth season, they concluded to leave the home- stead in charge of another brother, and devote their time to improving their share of the property. In a short time, however, for family reasons, and that the younger children might have the advantage of good schools, it was deemed advisable that the parents should remove to Mount Pleasant, while James W. and Robert assumed control of the farm, purchasing their parents' share and allowing them a generous price that secured them a support. As the years passed, the sons saw that their parents never needed such comforts as they desired, and also contributed liberally toward the education of the children, for by this time their father had become a confirmed invalid. At the age of twenty-six or twenty-seven, James W. Cole sold out to Robert-if that can be called a sale which was a mere verbal agreement to give and take. It is a fact worthy of note that these brothers were engaged in business nearly a quarter of a century before they came to a settlement. They had but one purse; their transac- tions ran up to tens of thousands of dollars ; their busi- ness was wide-spread and complicated, and had either died prior to 1864 no scratch of a pen was there to indi- cate the condition of their personal affairs. Nevertheless, a few hours more than sufficed for an amicable settlement ; and now the brothers transact their business with a rigid adherence to commercial rules that would meet the approval of an Astor or a Vanderbilt. James W. Cole, after selling to Robert, attended an academy in Mount Pleasant two years, and taught a year or more in Lee County. He then renewed business relations with his brother, opened up farms, traded in lands and stock, and in 1849 the brothers took the first step in a business which has since assumed vast proportions. Making a temporary loan of fifty dollars, they sent it by mail in payment of lightning-rods. The money was lost on the

way, but the rods came, and were soon, like Ajax, defying the thunderbolts. This business steadily increased until 1857, when came the financial crisis. The brothers did not yield to it, however, until 1859, and then but par- tially. Their business involved giving credit on. small amounts widely scattered. Their assets and bills receiv- able were not available, and they consequently were embarrassed. But their creditors had confidence in them; granted them full time to pay every dollar, and ten per cent additional ; and by 1862 the credit of the Cole Brothers was better than ever, and practically un- limited. Business integrity, square dealing, and steady purpose had conquered every difficulty. From 1860 to 1865, Mr. Throop, a former employé, had an interest with the brothers. In 1863 James Cole, in company with Mr. Brockway, another employé, came to Green- castle, and added the manufacture of pumps to that of lightning-rods. Mr. Brockway, however, had but a fifth interest in the former, and none in the latter. He re- tired from the firm at the close of the fiscal year 1874. In 1865 the four brothers, James W., Robert S., Will- iam R., and John J. Cole, organized a company incor- porated for a period of ten years, under the laws of Iowa, with headquarters at Mount Pleasant, with a paid- up capital of thirty thousand dollars, for the manufac- ture and sale of lightning-rods and pumps. They began to form limited partnerships, mostly with former em- ployés who had accumulated more or less money, and located agencies or depots at different points, disposing of their rods and pumps in Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Nebraska, and Indiana, until they had not less than fourteen branches in the territory designated. Their extensive operations required, in all departments, from one hundred and fifty to two hundred men, and from seventy-five to one hundred teams, and in some seasons more. In 1875 the time of the original organi- zation expired, and the brothers were enabled to reor- ganize with a paid-up capital of two hundred thousand dollars. Since 1875 it has been thought advisable to curtail the pump business somewhat, in consequence of the general depression, to reduce the number of branches, and modify the business generally ; but, after all the vicissitudes of these many years, and the frequent fluctuation of values, the company have continued to do an extensive trade, and now think of enlarging their business again, if the future outlook is as bright as it now promises to be. It is worthy of remark in this connection that, despite financial reverses and panics, and the almost universal lack of confidence, this com- pany has always been able to command all the funds it required from banks and private parties without security of any kind further than the indorsement of some one of the company, in compliance with the usages of banks. It is their inflexible rule to give no other security than their names. It should be remarked here

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that, in addition to the investment of the brothers, the | tainly worthy of confidence. The citizens of Mount limited partnerships at the different depots will reach a large additional sum. James W. Cole has been presi-

dent of the company since its organization. The by-laws require him to have supervision of the entire business, and in addition to this he has sole charge of the manufacturing department, as well as of his private affairs, which have occupied much time and attention. Mr. Cole is not so thoroughly devoted to his own imme- diate business, however, that he can not find time to give to matters of public interest. From a mass of pub- lished matter furnished to his biographer, it is found that he has been a liberal contributor to the press upon the subject of finances, which he seems to look at from a purely business stand-point, and in its relations to the wants of society. He denies the existence or possibility of such a thing as a "world's money," a universal legal tender. The power of money does not depend so much on the material of which it is com- posed as upon its legal endowment by the government. It is impracticable for any nation to regulate its mone- tary system in union with the monetary system of all others. Mr. Cole sees and acknowledges the difficulty of fixing the quantity of money required by a state or nation; but, that quantity once fixed, any great increase or diminution of the circulation, without a correspond- ing increase or diminution of the aggregate business, is unjust and impolitic. He takes ground that the value of money depends largely on the rate of interest it will uniformly bring, and from this shows the injustice of frequent changes by law of the rate of interest. The Cole Brothers have managed their large business with sound judgment and commendable skill, and if there is any one thing which more than an- other commends them and their work, it is that their best field of labor is where they are best known. To be a "lightning-rod man" is regarded in many communities as a reproach ; but for nearly a third of a century, year after year, their employés and their teams have traversed the same states and counties, add- ing new territory to old, and making the rod put up in previous years the best argument for putting up one on a neighboring farm. During all these years, though the Cole Brothers have erected hundreds of thousands of lightning-rods, no one has been killed or even injured in a building protected by them ; and in the single case where a rod has failed to protect it is reasonable to suppose that it was owing to some accidental injury to the rod, rather than to any defect in its manufacture. Where they canvassed twenty-five years ago their sales- man still goes his annual round ; the Franklin rod, that has protected his neighbors' homes for a quarter of a century, is good enough for the new-comer; and a firm who never have been guilty of the trickery and sharp practice, of late too common in the business, are cer-

Pleasant, Iowa, are justly proud of this house, which has its headquarters there, and no names stand higher for business integrity and commercial worth than those of the Cole Brothers. The same excellency character- izes their pumps. These are sold in vast numbers over a large extent of territory, and have the merit of stability, efficiency, and simplicity. They are made of only the best materials, and have attained a wide-spread popu- larity throughout the West. Of Mr. Cole, president of the company, we have spoken at length. John J. Cole, St. Louis, Missouri, is a public-spirited citizen, a man of intelligence, of sound business habits, and is devoted to his family and friends. Robert S. Cole, for so many years associated with his brother prior to the incorpora- tion of the company, is a respected business man of Mount Pleasant, a devout and zealous Baptist, and still has the same industry that he possessed nearly forty years ago. The remaining member of the firm of Cole Brothers is Rev. William R. Cole, of Mount Pleasant, who is unselfishly engaged in promoting any good work in the way of inculcating the principles of temperance and religion. We say unselfishly, because he asks no salary, and accepts none, for his ministrations. The history of these four brothers is full of instruction. They have weathered one financial storm after another, losing largely at times; but they now stand with credit unimpaired, with a business whose ramifications embrace whole states and territories, and with a reputation for integrity unsurpassed by any firm in the West. They have won success by deserving it. In 1872 and 1873 James Cole erected, on East Washington Street, Green- castle, the handsomest residence in Putnam County, at a cost of about twenty-five thousand dollars. It is built substantially of brick, is furnished in excellent taste, with no attempt at display, and here Mr. Cole and his wife dispense a generous hospitality to their circle of friends. Mr. Cole is a Knight Templar, an Odd-fellow, a Republican, and inclines to Universalism in theology. Mrs. Cole is attached to the Methodist Episcopal Church. They were married at Mount Pleasant, Iowa, December 22, 1853. Mrs. Cole's maiden name was Susan O. Mathers, and she is the daughter of Thomas Mathers, formerly of Newville, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, but at the time of the marriage of Mount Pleasant, Iowa. They have no living children.

OOPER, GEORGE W., A. B., B. L., mayor of Columbus, Indiana, was born May 21, 1851, and is a son of Moses O. and Mary E. (Ogilvie) Cooper. His father was a merchant of Columbus, Indiana. Mr. Cooper acquired the rudiments of his education at the common schools of Columbus, and fitted himself

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for college under Amos Burns, his present law partner. He entered the State University at Bloomington, Indi- ana, September 16, 1868, and graduated in June, 1872. During his term at college his means were limited, and he studied in advance of his class; thus by hard night- work he was enabled to graduate from the departments of literature and law at the same time. On leaving college he returned to Columbus, Indiana, and that fall was elected prosecutor for the Court of Common Pleas for the counties of Bartholomew, Jackson, Jennings, and Lawrence. The winter. following, the Common Pleas Court having been abolished by the Legislature, he was appointed prosecutor for the Circuit Court for the coun- ties of Bartholomew and Brown, which position he filled until the fall of 1874, when he resumed his practice at . Columbus. This he followed until May, 1877, when, by the largest majority ever received by any candidate for the same position, he was elected to the office of mayor of the city. November 28, 1872, he married Sina E. Green, one of his classmates at college, the daughter of Solomon Green, of Monroe County, Indi- ana. They have had four children. He was reared a Methodist, and is now a member of that Church. In politics he is a Democrat, is an acknowledged leader of the party, and is regarded as a man of great promise by the Democracy of this district. In 1878 he was selected by the state central committee to canvass the state in the interests of the party, and was chairman of the con- vention that nominated Hon. George A. Bicknell for Congress. During the canvass the Indianapolis Sentinel contained the following :

"The speech delivered here on the 2d by Hon. G. W. Cooper did a vast amount of good, and the seed sown on the 2d will be gleaned on the 8th. That part of his speech referring to the infamous gerrymander, in which he showed up the disfranchisement of so many citizens of the state, had a telling effect. Mr. Cooper handled the finance question like an old 'wheel horse.' Though a young man, he seems to be a veteran in pol- itics, and handles all his subjects to the best advantage. We predict for him a glorious future."

UNNING, PARIS C., attorney-at-law, of Bloom- ington, Indiana, was born near Greensboro, the county seat of Guilford County, North Carolina, on the 15th of March, 1806. He was educated at an excellent academy at Greensboro, where he was pre- paring to enter the State University at Chapel Hill. It was the desire of his father that he should, after receiv- ing an education, enter the office of Judge Ruffin as a student of law, but this was prevented by the early death of his father, and the removal of his mother and older brother and himself to Indiana. On the 14th of February, 1823, they located at Bloomington, in that

state, then only a village with perl.aps three hundred inhabitants, where he has resided ever since, except when engaged in public duties. He read law with Gov- ernor Whitcomb, General T. A. Howard, and Judge Craven P. Hester, all of whom treated him with the utmost kindness, and did all in their power to instruct him in his chosen profession. He was licensed to prac- tice law by Circuit Judges Kinney and Porter, after ex- amination by a committee of the bar, as was then required by law, and began in his profession at Bloom- ington. In 1833 he was elected to represent Monroe County in the state Legislature, and was re-elected three years successively ; and in 1836 was elected to the state Senate, representing the district composed of Monroe and Brown Counties, as the successor of Governor Whit- comb, who had been appointed register of the general land office at Washington City. He remained in the Senate until 1840, and then voluntarily retired. In 1844 he was, by the action of the Democratic convention, placed on the ticket as a presidential elector, a position to which he was chosen, and voted for Polk and Dallas. During this memorable campaign he made one hundred and forty-seven speeches, many times having for an op- ponent the lamented Hon. George G. Dunn, often speaking twice and three times each day. In the year 1846 he was nominated by the Democracy as their can- didate for Lieutenant-governor, on the ticket with Mr. Whitcomb for Governor, and was elected; and when Governor Whitcomb was elected to the United States Senate succeeded him as Governor. In 1850 he re- turned home to his profession, continuing its practice until 1854 or 1856, when he was, without solicita- tion, from a strong Democratic district, nominated for Congress, but declined the nomination for reasons unsat- isfactory to his friends. He continued the practice of law, and occasionally attended conventions of his party, and in 1860 attended the Democratic state convention, taking an active and decided stand for Stephen A. Douglas, and against the administration of James Buchanan on the Kansas question, and was appointed a delegate to the Charleston convention. In that body he was a member of the committee on resolutions, voting on every ballot for Douglas; and, on the reassem- bling of the convention at Baltimore, voted for him there until he was nominated, and after his nomination advocated his election in the state, taking an active part in the campaign. In 1861, on the breaking out of the Rebellion, without one moment's hesitation, the Governor declared himself in favor of the Union and the suppression of secession, by force of arms if neces- sary ; and he delivered many speeches in various coun- ties of the state, and by so doing rendered material aid in the raising of the quota of troops allotted to be raised by Indiana. In 1861 he was, without distinction of party, elected to the state Senate, but was not required

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to act, and in 1862, at the regular election for Senator for the full term, was nominated by the Democracy at their convention ; and the Union men on the assembling of their convention indorsed his selection. He re- ceived at the election a full and flattering vote from both parties, and in January, 1863, on the assembling of the Legislature, was elected president of the Senate. At the next regular session of the Senate, Lieutenant- governor Baker, who had been elected on the ticket with Governor Morton, was inaugurated, and presided one session ; and when Governor Morton went to Europe Mr. Baker assumed the office of Governor, and Gov- ernor Dunning, still a member of the Senate, was elected president of that body, and served until the expiration of his term. He was renominated for the same position, but declined, and was subsequently chosen by the primary vote of the people for Repre- sentative, but declined the nomination. During the Governor's last senatorial term, he served by appoint- ment for three years as chairman of the State Military Auditing Committee. He was married to Sarah, daugh- ter of James and Sarah Alexander, who resided in the immediate vicinity of Bloomington, on the sixth day of July, 1826. Governor Dunning's father, James Dunning, and his mother, Rachel (North) Dunning, were natives of the state of Delaware, and emigrated to North Carolina soon after their marriage and located at Guilford, where they raised a family of six sons, of whom the Governor was the youngest, and where they continued to live until the death of the husband and father. On the nineteenth day of May, 1863, in the city of Bloomington, his wife died, and on the twenty- seventh day of September, 1865, in the city of Evans- ville, he was united in marriage to Mrs. Ellen D. Ashford, daughter of Doctor Daniel S. Lane, surgeon of the 2d Regiment of Mexican Volunteers, and a first cousin of the Hon. Henry S. Lane, formerly Governor of the state. To this marriage one son has been born, Smith Lane Dunning, who is with his parents, and is attending school at Bloomington. Governor Dunning has been closely identified with the growth and pros- perity of the state of Indiana from its infancy, and has filled the many and various positions of honor and trust conferred upon him by the people of the state with great credit to himself and to the entire satisfaction of the citizens of Indiana. He is regarded as one of the leading attorneys of the state, and is still engaged in the practice of law in Bloomington, and it can be truly said that the Governor is one of the eminent and self- made men of the state of Indiana. Governor Dun- ning was a member of the board of trustees of the Indiana State College at one time, and also a charter member of the board of trustees of the Indiana State University, in both of which bodies he held the posi- tion of president.

ISK, REV. EZRA WILLIAMS, D. D., president of the Female College of Indiana, Greencastle, was born in Wilmington, Windham County, Vermont, May 29, 1820. Of his ancestry, there are many well authenticated facts, some of which are worthy of note. His paternal grandfather was the youngest of seven sons, and his six brothers were soldiers in the Revo- lution. One, Ebenezer, was with Ethan Allen at the capture of Ticonderoga; two others, Levi and John, were in the battle of Bennington; and four of the broth- ers were present at the surrender of Burgoyne. Mr. Fisk's paternal grandmother was a Whitcomb, and was a cousin of Major-general Warren. Her brother, Peter Whitcomb, was killed at Bunker Hill with Warren ; Ebenezer, another brother, went through the entire war, was away from home eight years, and died at the ex- treme age of one hundred and thirteen years, at his residence near Boston. Mr. Fisk's mother was Susanna Williams, who was a great-great-granddaughter of the celebrated Roger Williams-the companion of John Mil- ton, the friend of Oliver Cromwell and John Hampden- founder of the colony of Rhode Island. Her father was Rev. Henry Williams, of Leverett, Massachusetts. Jon- athan Fisk, father of Ezra Fisk, moved from Vermont to Goshen, New York, when the latter was not quite five years old. After remaining there nine years he re- moved to Coshocton, Ohio, where he resided fourteen years. In Goshen he was compelled to sacrifice his property to pay security debts; and when legally ad- vised that by a quibble he might save his fortune his reply was: "This world does not hold enough to in- duce me to lie !" A younger brother of Ezra Fisk, Jonathan by name, a bachelor of some means, served in the Mexican War, and in the late war for the Union persistently refused promotion, even while it was thrust upon him. In spite of his modesty he was always placed in command, and his colonel once exclaimed to a group of his fellow officers: "Gentlemen, here is a man who passed through the war, never missed a battle, never swore an oath, never told a lie, never took a drink of whisky, and never shirked a duty." He died April 6, 1879. Henry, another brother, is a Presbyte- rian minister, near Rock Island, Illinois. The father re- moved from Ohio to Terre Haute, Indiana, in 1850, and died there in 1853. Ezra Fisk, after attaining his ma- jority, engaged in miscellaneous pursuits for several years, and by energy and perseverance acquired the means necessary to prosecute a college course. By thorough preparation he was enabled to enter the sopho- more class towards the middle of the college year, at Princeton, New Jersey, and graduated in 1849. At the completion of his studies for the ministry, he was stricken down by disease, and for three years was prostrated, passing two entire years in bed. After his recovery he came West to visit his father and friends, and preached

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occasionally, on one occasion filling an appointment for a friend at Greencastle as a personal favor. This re- sulted in a permanent settlement, and in his assuming the pastorate of the Presbyterian Church, which he re- tained for eighteen years. During this time he saw the Old and New School Churches united, the once separated congregations bowing at the same altar, and his own Church increased in membership from eighteen to two hundred and eighty-eight. In 1872 he resigned this pastorate to accept the position of president of the Fe- male College of Indiana, which trust he still fills, de- voting, however, much time to preaching in the neigh- boring towns, and building up and strengthening the feeble Churches, in which field his labors have been signally blessed. Mr. Fisk is a portly gentleman, weigh- ing over two hundred and twenty pounds, five feet nine and a half inches in height, brimful of vitality, physically and mentally. He is a splendid conversationalist, his mind being a storehouse of anecdotes and reminiscences, and all aglow with vivid pictures of life and history. His familiar talks about Presidents Harrison, Adams, and Jackson, Lewis Cass and T. H. Benton, Tom Corwin, and others, are of intense interest, and are but a tithe of the intellectual feast to which his intimate friends and as- sociates are often invited. He is an earnest man, and yet pre-eminently social, and in general companionship de- lights to seek temporary relief from the severity of study. Such is the versatility of his talent, the extent of his information, and the retentive power of his memory, that on hearing him speak upon a given subject the listener is led to believe that particular subject to have been the study of Doctor Fisk's life. He once surprised a dealer in horses by crowding into a half-hour's talk a fund of knowledge on this subject that flowed as from an inex- haustible source. The same is true of him in regard to other kinds of stock, and with the multiplied and ex- tended interests of agriculture his familiarity is equally great. To hear him discourse on the philology of the sacred Scriptures, one would think he had had no time to study aught else. The treasures of history are so completely at his command that he draws from them as occasion requires, to enrich his conversation by way of illustration. It is not to be wondered at that he has been consulted with a view to his occupation of the presidency of five leading collegiate institutes in Indiana and other states. His intellectual status at Greencastle is best exemplified by the fact that the citizens uni- formly refer to Doctor Fisk as the leading mind of the city, and one of the foremost in the West. His sermons are models of English undefiled ; sufficiently ornate to make them attractive to the general public; sound in argument, and invariably based on the teachings of God's word. On his first public appearance in Greencastle, he noticed, sitting nearly in front of him and intently listen- ing, an elderly lady, arrayed in antique costume severely

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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 58

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