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 II, Part 14

Author:
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Cincinnati, Ohio : Western Biographical Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 1006

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 II > Part 14

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"The nearly four thousand miles of railroad prop- erty in this state, of the value of not less than one hundred millions of dollars, is appraised and taxed at less than ten millions of dollars; three millions of dol- lars less than the railroads were appraised and taxed in 1854, when there were only one thousand three hundred and seventeen miles of roads within the state. The national banks have continued, from year to year, and from Legislature to Legislature, to be exempt from just municipal taxation ; and a host of powerful insurance and other corporations are annually carrying beyond our borders millions of our people's money, lessening to the same extent the state's taxables, and without con- tributing a single cent of revenue to the support of the state government."

It requires no effort to comprehend at once the fact that Mr. Shoemaker, in proposing reforms, struck the very root of existing wrongs. Discovering that prop- erty amounting to millions had escaped taxation, he proposed to subject it to its fair share of the burden of government; and the ascertainment of this fact made it apparent that assessment and taxation were not uniform and equal ; that some were too heavily burdened, while others had avoided their just share, and still others had escaped entirely. Such facts were known in a general way, but to change the situation, and bring about such an adjustment as would be fair to all in spite of oppo- sition, required not only a thorough acquaintance with all the facts, but an unbending will and an unyielding tenacity of purpose. It is not within the scope of this sketch to reproduce, from Mr. Shoemaker's report as

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Auditor of State, extended extracts indicating the mas- terly ability which is seen in every recommendation ; but in writing biographical history the demand for such facts and incidents as illustrate success is imperative, and can not, in justice to the subject of the sketch, be omitted. In proposing reforms relating to revenue, nothing directly or remotely belonging to the subject escaped Mr. Shoemaker's attention. The public debt, bonds, interest, sinking fund, and school fund all came under review, and resulted in giving the Legislature and the people clear views of these subjects. The time for assessing property was changed from January to April-a change embodying justice to all parties, par- ticularly the farming class, and injustice to none. As an evidence of clear insight upon a subject so long over- looked, and yet so important to the tax-payer, an ex- tract from Mr. Shoemaker's views is here given. He said :

"The great body of the people of the state are farmers, and to this important class the assessment on the Ist of January is an injustice. At that time a very large proportion of the farmers have not sold their crops, the results of the last year's earnings, while at the same time, in very many instances, they are indebted for and unable to pay their current expenses, grocers', merchants', smiths', and other bills; being compelled to list their entire produce on hand, while they are not permitted to make any reduction on account of these debts incurred as expense in producing; and at the same time, in many instances, they are making annual payments on indebtedness for their lands, on account of which no deductions can be made from their tax lists. Thus the farmer is obliged, upon the ist of January, to list a large amount of taxable property which, upon the Ist of April, the natural beginning of the year, will have been sold to cancel the debts of the past year's current expenses, taxes, and other obligations.

" While the present law, requiring assessments to be made on the Ist .of January, is thus shown to be so very unfair to the producers, it, on the other hand, especially favors the exchangers. Perhaps on no other day of the whole year is the latter class of tax-payers so poor in tangible property. About the Ist of Janu- ary the stock of the merchant is usually reduced to the lowest point. It is true the present law requires the merchant to give in the monthly average of the amount of his merchandise; but this he can not with any ac- curacy do. To give one class of tax-payers such an ad- vantage, that is denied to others, is of itself a wrong. It places almost entirely at the option of the merchant the amount of property with which he shall be assessed. This defect of the law is remedied by the proposed change, and the exchangers or merchants, like all other classes, are required to be assessed for what property they may have on hand the Ist of April."

The importance of statistical information was clearly pointed out and provided for. The complications re- sulting from the management of the sinking fund were shown, and a remedy suggested. The state debt was subjected to the severest analysis, and timely suggestions made for its better management. The interests of the state relating to insurance were thoroughly investi-

gated, and the suggestions made for increasing the revenues of the state thereby were such as to meet with unqualified approval. Upon this subject the views of Mr. Shoemaker are so eminently practical and just, so well calculated to promote the welfare of the state, and so thoroughly illustrative of his comprehension of finances, that they are entitled to a place in this sketch. He said :

" It may be argued that a tax imposed upon the premiums collected by insurance companies is calcu- lated to discourage and drive from our state companies whose protecting capital is indispensable to our business interests, or that the cost of insurance is to be increased thereby to our people. The actual results in the state of Pennsylvania disprove these propositions, for, al- though that state has required, for many years past, a tax of three per cent on premiums received, and an an- nual license fee of five hundred dollars in addition thereto, yet we do not see that this has driven any company away, but, upon the contrary, every company that does an agency business has gone into that state, paying the heavy taxes imposed, and to compete with strong and popular home companies, from which no such tax is required. Nor is the cost of insurance in- creased. The people there get life insurance from the same tables, at the same cost, as the people here do, where no taxation has been imposed, and the rates of fire insurance are even less than here, in consequence of the competition of well established and popular home companies. It does not matter whether a tax imposed upon premiums will increase the cost of insurance or not. It does not make any difference who has to pay the tax. It is just, and should be paid. Justice and sound policy certainly do not require that insurance companies of other states should be more favored than similar corporations of our own state, and, so long as they are permitted to do business here without the pay- ment of any taxes, this is surely the case."

Under the administration of Mr. Shoemaker the sub- ject of public printing was subjected to the most searching scrutiny, and, as a result, the most glaring defects were found. It would be difficult, without re- producing Mr. Shoemaker's entire report, to show the extent of the flagrant wrongs that had been practiced under former administrations. He said :

"I have been unable to find, either in this office or the office of the Secretary of State, any balance sheet, report, or exhibit of any kind, made by any of the pub- lic printers, showing in what books, documents, or in what manner, or for what purpose, the paper for which the state has paid, has been used; neither can there be found any original invoices or bills of purchase.

"This unbusiness-like and unsatisfactory usage seems to have obtained in 1863, and to have been continuously practiced from that time until May, 1871, since which time no bills for paper have been audited. As a result of this loose practice, wrongs (the exact extent of which can not be known) have been inflicted upon the public. This is the natural and legitimate result of the lack of proper legislation."

To correct such evils was no easy task, but they were corrected, Thousands of dollars were refunded to the state, and the possibility of subsequent peculations pre-

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vented. In writing biographical sketches of the dis- | and set himself about examining the best and most com- tinguished men of Indiana it is of supreme importance that such facts as bear directly upon the welfare of the state should be succinctly set forth. Few men have left a deeper impression than Mr. Shoemaker upon the statutes of Indiana. The bills that he drafted, the measures that he suggested and advocated, have resulted in saving thousands of dollars to the state, and as an evidence of their wisdom they still remain, with scarcely a change, as they came from his hands, an enduring monument of his sagacity, and fidelity to the welfare of the state. The press of the country was warm in its praise of Mr. Shoemaker's reports as Auditor of State. Space forbids the introduction of all the generous words of approval, but the opinions expressed by some of the leading journals of the country may be here in- troduced with eminent propriety. The Louisville Cour- ier-Journal, after examining the report, indulged in the following tribute of commendation :

" Indiana has a model officer for Auditor of State. He has not been during his term of office merely the auditor of public accounts, but it may be inferred from the admirable report to the General Assembly of Indiana that he has had very much to do with legislation. Be- ing charged with the duty of suggesting plans for the improvement of the revenue, he devoted himself atten- tively to the whole subject of state taxation and the proper assessment of property, and has produced a bill that was so perfect and comprehensive that it was adopted by the Legislature without amendment or dis- cussion. The previous legislation suffered a vast amount of property invested in corporate stocks and in other ways to escape taxation. This is all reached by the provisions of Mr. Shoemaker's bill, and over two hun- dred thousand dollars of increased revenue will be se- cured to the state. Again, this vigilant official, detecting the influence of insurance companies, that prevented wholesome legislation for the protection of the people against worthless and unsound companies, fully investi- gated the whole subject, and prepared a bill embracing all the safeguards requisite to drive out worthless com- panies and encourage sound ones, and provides, at the same time, that the state shall also derive a revenue from the extensive business, thus further increasing the revenues of the state. There has, indeed, been a gen- eral overhauling of the whole financial system of the state by this officer; and so proper and just have been his suggestions that they have met with general ap- proval, not only by the Legislature, but by the press of the state."

The Cincinnati Enquirer was not less candid in its approval of Mr. Shoemaker's work, nor less appreciative of his abilities. It said :

"The record is a proud one for Mr. Shoemaker and the Democracy. He had no sooner entered upon the duties of his office than he was found overhauling minutely the condition of the various funds under the management of that office, and providing methods of consolidation that would greatly simplify the accounts of the state. He recognized the duty, imposed by law, of making suggestions to the Legislature touching the ' revenue, hitherto generally ignored by his predecessors,

prehensive systems in the United States. His labors re- sulted in suggestions, and actual drafts of laws, which were adopted by a Legislature opposed to him in polit- ical sentiment, and which have already proved of vast benefit to the state. The general and supplemental rev- enue bills prepared by Mr. Shoemaker have secured a large revenue from a vast amount of property in this state that has hitherto escaped taxation. Those whole- some provisions for the more general distribution of the burdens of taxation were conceived by Mr. Shoemaker, and their enactment secured chiefly by his personal efforts with legislative committees, at a time when cor- porate associations and money rings had far too much influence in shaping legislation, and generally organized defeat whenever such legislation was attempted as se- cured the proper listing of their stocks, at a time when the present warfare against monopolies was not heard of. He studied economy in the administration of the finances of the state, as well as in the general expense. He advised the abolition of the office of agent of state at New York, and it was done. He wound up the sinking fund of his office, saving the state the expense of another salary. He set forth in a clear and perspicuous manner the frauds committed on the state by reason of the defective laws relating to the state printing, and a change was made that no doubt saved annually thousands of dollars to the treasury. By the enactment of laws suggested by Mr. Shoemaker, the general revenue of the state is increased by the tax now laid on the corporate associations. Add together the income from express companies, telegraph companies, fast freight lines, Pullman cars, and other corporate stock associations, and we have a large amount to lighten the burden of general taxation. Then add to the amount secured to cities and towns in the local taxation of national banks-amounting to hundreds of thousands-and we may arrive at some- thing like an estimate of the work which Mr. Shoe- maker did for the state. The meager report of docket fees, that item in the treasury account that for years has suggested extreme carelessness, if not dishonesty, all over the state, will be also augmented. Another credit for Mr. Shoemaker. But we can not pretend to enumer- ate all the labors of Mr. Shoemaker. His last annual re- port shows for itself that he thoroughly understood the business of his office and the needs of the state, and he fearlessly did his work, against the influences of money rings and interested corporations."

Other journals were equally emphatic in their indorse- ments, all going to show that the people of Indiana, in making Mr. Shoemaker Auditor of State, had conferred a lasting blessing upon Indiana. Retiring from the office of Auditor of State, in the year 1873, Mr. Shoe- maker became prominently identified in business affairs in the city of Indianapolis. In connection with a num- ber of capitalists he founded the Franklin Fire Insurance Company, and was for some years the president of the company. He contributed his means to establish the Udell Woodenware Company, with which he is still connected, and which is now in successful operation, giving employment to a large number of laborers. In the year 1874 Mr. Shoemaker became connected with the Indianapolis Sentinel Company and became its president, but did not give the business his personal

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attention until the fall of 1876. From that time to the present, with the exception of about four months, Mr. Shoemaker has given his undivided attention to the business. The history of the Sentinel had been, until Mr. Shoemaker became its publisher, a continuous struggle against disaster. Men of large newspaper ex- perience invested their means, and assumed the manage- ment of its affairs, only to see their investments disappear, and to find themselves financial wrecks; and thus, with ceaseless mutations, things proceeded until the fall of 1876, when a new company was formed, and Mr. Shoe- maker took the helm. From that time to the present the Sentinel's star has been in the ascendant. Out of chaos came order. Extravagance gave way to econ- omy, and success took the place of disaster. The paper was at once placed in harmony with the Democratic party of the state, and its friends came flocking to its suppport by thousands. The debts of the company were steadily reduced, and have now almost entirely disappeared. From little or no credit at all, it now has the confidence of the soundest moneyed institutions of the state, and can borrow without indorsement, and it may be doubted if there is a business enterprise in the state upon a sounder financial basis. It will be seen, therefore, that the same practical common sense dis- played by Mr. Shoemaker while. Auditor of State has been exercised in the management of the Sentinel's affairs; and that, having secured success where so many others had failed, the future of the Sentinel is assured, and a property for so many years regarded of doubtful value is now, for the investment it represents, as sub- stantial as any in the state. In the foregoing sketch the character of John Chapman Shoemaker is briefly outlined. A youth of moderate advantages, dependent almost entirely for advancement upon himself, rises by steady gradations from obscurity to the mos: command- ing positions in the gift of his fellow-citizens, impresses himself upon the mind and thought and laws of a great and growing commonwealth, and secures for himself an enviable position among the distinguished men of his time.

INKER, ALFRED T., of Indianapolis, iron man- ufacturer, was born in Hawarden-on-the-Dee, North Wales, May 11, 1846. He is a son of Edward T. and Sarah Sinker, the former a native of Wales, the latter of England. His father was a machinist and civil engineer by profession, and attained considerable reputation in that calling. He was one of the su- perintendents in the construction of the celebrated Menai tubular bridge over the Menai Frith, in North Wales, considered one of the greatest triumphs of mod- ern engineering skill, and for some time superintended the iron works in the construction of steamers at Liver-

pool. In 1849 he emigrated to America, and in No- vember of the same year settled in Indianapolis, where he resided until his death, which occurred April 5, 1871. From small beginnings he had steadily advanced, until at his death he was at the head of the Western Machine Works, one of the largest manufacturing establishments in the West. He was a man of earnest purpose, untir- ing industry, and an example of the purest integrity in his business and social relations, while his generosity of character was limited only by his ability to give. Such a man, in brief, was the father of the subject of this sketch. Alfred T. Sinker received his early educa- tion in the public and private schools of Indianapolis. He spent some time at the North-western Christian University, and subsequently at Liber College, in Jay County, Indiana. He was studying at the North-western University when the war broke out, after which he served for a short time under General Fremont, in the 5th Ohio Battery, commanded by Captain Hicken- looper, now Lieutenant-governor of Ohio. Upon his return home from Missouri, to which state they had been ordered, he entered Liber College for a short time, and in the fall of 1863 entered the service again, join- ing the Army of the Cumberland as assistant quarter- master. He remained in this branch of the service until May 1, 1864, when he resigned and came home, intending to go again to the field, but was prevented from doing so by a violent attack of sickness. Upon recovering from this he went to Poughkeepsie, New York, where he attended the Commercial College, ac- quiring a knowledge of banking, higher mathematics, commercial law, and general business principles, which are of no little importance in the training of a thorough business man. In November, 1865, he came home and took charge of the Western Machine Works, in which his father owned a controlling interest. Here he remained until August 18, 1867, when he established the Amer- ican Saw Works, and started in business for himself. On September 2, 1867, he was united in marriage to his present worthy companion, who was Miss Rebecca Coates, daughter of Isaac Coates, Esq., a prominent citizen of Mansfield, Ohio. They have a family of two children, a son and daughter, Edward C. and Clare Sinker. After the establishment of his saw works, Mr. Sinker put his whole energy into building up his busi- ness, and soon secured an enviable reputation for the excellence of his manufactures, which found a ready sale from New York to the Rocky Mountains. Having bought out his partner in 1868, Mr. Sinker found him- self, when only twenty-two years of age, with a debt of thirty thousand dollars; but, with the indomitable pluck and energy characteristic of his father and inher- ited by him, in four years he succeeded in wiping out the entire indebtedness, and had considerable left. On the death of his father, in 1871, he sold out his saw

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works, and became interested in the Western Machine Works, of which his father had been principal owner. On June 7, 1871, a joint-stock company was organized, under the name of Sinker, Davis & Co., and Mr. Sinker became secretary of the corporation. Their business was the manufacturing of portable and stationary steam- engines, boilers, circular saw-mills, and general ma- chinery. Mr. Sinker severed his connection with this company on the Ist of January, 1879, and established himself in his present location on South Pennsylvania Street, being himself the manager and sole proprietor. Mr. Sinker has been a member of the Masonic Frater- nity since 1873. He is a strict member of the Plymouth Congregational Church, of Indianapolis. In politics, he is a devoted adherent of the Republican party, while preserving an independence of action and thought which commits him to the advocacy of principles rather than men. He expresses a warm dissent from the financial policy of which John Sherman is the exponent. As a business man, Mr. Sinker's record is of the most enviable character. Now in the prime of life, he is to all appearance on the high road to success; and while in his path, as in that of all business men, he may ex- pect to find obstacles, there is that in his past record which gives the assurance that all impediments will be surmounted by energy, perseverance, and that unceasing industry and attention to business which are his charac- teristics. His constitution is robust, his character un- blemished, his credit good; and with all these qualities in his favor, although still a young man, he can be safely classed as one of the representative business men of the Hoosier State.

schools as they had in those primitive days during the ! in 1821. They have no children.

LEETH, JAMES M., a prominent citizen of Shel- byville, was born in Clarksburg, Harrison County, Virginia, March 24, 1817. At a very early day his mother died, and his father removed, in the year 1824, to Shelbyville, Indiana, which then consisted of a few wooden buildings. James attended such winter months, and worked at farming during the spring and summer. By applying himself diligently to his books he became very proficient in reading, writ- ing, spelling, and arithmetic. With this meager outfit he set out to make his own way through the world. Having a taste for mercantile pursuits, he engaged in the capacity of clerk in a country store, but soon aban- doned that for the reading of law. He applied him- self to this task with all his faculties, and with such earnestness that, in 1842, he passed a most rigid ex- amination and was licensed to practice in all the courts of Indiana. After three years spent in the pursuit of his profession he was elected, in 1845, to the Legisla- ture, and so faithfully did he perform his duty that he

received the nomination the second time, and was re- elected in 1847. In 1848 Governor Whitcomb chose him as his private secretary, which devolved upon him the duty of being executive messenger to both houses of the Legislature. One year later he was nominated and elected state Senator, and served one long term of three sessions. He was chosen for the second time in 1851. In the last named year he made a speech which was spoken of in very high terms. We extract the following from a letter of Hon. T. A. Hendricks, written to Mr. Sleeth soon thereafter :

" I read your speech upon the resolution about the trophies taken in Mexico with much pleasure. I was glad you made the speech. Representing in the Senate a county that always sustained the war by "word and deed," and a county that is proud of its position in re- lation to that war, it was highly becoming in you to make just the speech you did, and you will allow me to say that I think you did yourself much credit, and the sub- ject more justice than any other whose speech I read."

In 1853 he was elected Judge of the Court of Com- mon Pleas, which position he creditably filled for eight years. In 1869 he was again sent to the Legislature, to represent the counties of Bartholomew and Shelby. A still higher mark of confidence was shown in his elec- tion, by the people of Shelby County, as their county treasurer, and his re-election to the same position in 1873. The Judge is not a member of any religious or- ganization, but attends service with his wife, who is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. The Judge ranks among the earliest settlers of Shelby County, and is a man whose personal qualities and acts have helped to shape the character of the place, and whose influence has always been good. In business matters he is prompt and thorough, and a distinguishing characteristic with him is his practical opposition to the credit system. Though almost entirely self-educated, he gained, while in practice, high rank among the law- yers of his adopted county. He was married, June 13, 1839, to Miss Almyra Goodrich, daughter of William and Catharine Goodrich, who settled in Shelby County

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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 II, Part 14

Author: Publication date: 1880 Publisher: Cincinnati, Ohio : Western Biographical Publishing Co. Number of Pages: 1006

Author:
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Cincinnati, Ohio : Western Biographical Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 1006