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 17

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 17

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TEELE, THEODORE, of Indianapolis, was born in Owen County, Indiana, on the IIth of Septem- ber, 1847. His father, Samuel W. Steele, died in 1862, leaving to his offspring only the legacy of a strong arm with which to do battle with the world. The subject of this sketch began his education in Mont- gomery County, Indiana, where he attended the Wave- land Collegiate Institute for five or six years. He then

John S. Spann.

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commenced the study of art, toward which his incli- nations had drifted from early boyhood. He first went to Cincinnati, Ohio, and received there instruction from Isaac Williams, with whom he remained but a short time, when he went to Chicago, Illinois, and placed 'himself under the tuition of Mrs. St. John, an artist of considerable celebrity in that city. But, as a matter of fact, be it said, to Mr. Steele's credit, he is the architect of his own success. His self-instruction outweighs in vast proportion all he may have received from others. He located in Indianapolis in the fall of 1873, while the disastrous effects of the terrible financial crisis, which shook the country from center to circumference, was prostrating the interests of the city; and, amid the wrecking of commercial houses heretofore considered the most substantial, and general loss and bankruptcy, he proceeded in a quiet and unobstrusive way with his painting, until he had won for himself an enviable po- sition among artists. Of him who has much, and makes of it a judicious disposition for his own advance- ment and well-being, we should speak highly, but of him who has nothing save his own determination, and yet aspires to an honorable standing in his community and before the world, too much can not be said in com- mendation ; and, when he has attained the object he seeks, his manly effort and merited success must com- mand our admiration. Hence we have, briefly, the ca- reer of Mr. Steele, and such, too, are the difficulties under which he labored. Mr. Steele has devoted him- self principally to portrait painting, for which he seems to have a peculiar talent. His heads are strong and vigorous in execution, harmonious in color, and im- pressed with the individuality of the subject to a re- markable degree. An insight into character, and the ability to transfer it to his canvas, have brought Mr. Steele a sure reward. He has painted many of the representative men of the state. In the state university he has a portrait of Doctor Richard Owen ; in Asbury University, portraits of Bishop Bowman and Professor Miles J. Fletcher ; at Wabash College and Butler Uni- versity he has other portraits. The studio of Mr. Steele is now room No. 30 in Fletcher & Sharpe's Block, a spacious apartment, well lighted, airy, and very desir- able in many other respects, while the walls are adorned with numberless portraits, many of eminent men of Indianapolis, together with sketches, and whatever else properly comes within the sphere of his craft. 'The writer of this brief sketch noticed, among the many excellent works there, the portraits of J. W. Riley, the poet ; Hon. J. W. Gordon, General T. A. Morris, Barry Sulgrove, Rev. William Wilson, and Calvin Fletcher and wife, but lately finished, and half lengths of his son and daughter, which latter are con- sidered by connoisseurs to be among his best works, and which he placed on exhibition at the Cincinnati Expo-

sition in the fall of 1879. Mr. Steele is a man of high status and consummate skill in his profession. His reputation as a painter is now securing him a liberal patronage from lovers of art.

PANN, JOHN S., of Indianapolis, was born May 24, 1823, in Jefferson County, Indiana. He is the third son of Hon. John L. and Sophia Spann, who came to Indiana about 1819, from Kentucky. General John L. Spann was a well-known farmer, who at different times served in both branches of the state Legislature, and in 1850 was a member of the Constitu- tional Convention. Being a member of the House of Representatives at the session of 1839-40, General Spann yielded to the solicitations of his son to accom- pany him to Indianapolis at the opening of that ses- sion. The boy had worked several years at Vernon, at the printing business, and, on coming to Indianapolis, sought earnestly for employment, and finally succeeded, his first situation being in a book and job office, kept by Stacy & Williams, He next worked as a compositor on the state work, for Cutler & Chamberlain ; and, after two or three years' further work as an apprentice and journeyman, tried his hand as an employer with Mr. E. Chamberlain for his first partner in a printing-office. Not being successful, he closed this connection in about a year. The qualities of industry, thrift, and order, in- herited from his New England mother (one of the ex- cellent of the earth), soon put him in a position of self- support and comparative independence. From his South Carolina father he inherited a taste for politics and affairs. He worked hard, lost no time, and saved his earnings ; so that in time he attracted the notice of newspaper men and politicians, and soon became iden- tified with the press, his partnerships being successively with Alex. F. Morrison, George A. and J. P. Chapman, Doctor E. W. II. Ellis, and John B. Norman, as here- inafter noted. His early educational advantages were scanty. The neighborhood school in Jefferson County, and for a time the town academy at Vernon, were about all, until he went into the printing-office, where he made the most of his opportunities. Having such men as those above named as associates, and being am- bitious, he acquired such skill and information as came in the range of his employments. In the printing of Blackford's reports and other works of like character, in the reading of the proofs, and from reading a few elementary law-books, some knowledge of legal princi- ples was acquired. On the 2d of June, 1847, at the age of twenty-four, Mr. Spann was married to Miss Hester A. Sharpe, youngest daughter of the late Ebenezer Sharpe, for many years agent of state for the town of Indianapolis, and well known as a man of intelligence,

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learning, and moral worth. To his excellent wife, Mr. | Mr. Spann was thirty years old. He had been, as boy Spann attributes much of the success they have achieved in their home and social life. In February, 1842, dur- ing the early ministry of Henry Ward Beecher, Mr. Spann became a member of the Second Presbyterian Church of Indianapolis, and has remained firmly at- tached to it, a zealous laborer in all its enterprises. In January, 1856, he was first elected a member of its board of trustees, and still is a member, having been re-elected at periods of three years. He has also been since 1867 a ruling elder. When this beautiful church edifice was erected, he served on the building commit- tee, and for most of the time as its chairman, His first newspaper venture was the Indiana Democrat, his partner being the late Alex. F. Morrison, the firm being Morrison & Spann. The first number was issued No- vember 7, 1845. The paper had been going only about a year when the Mexican War broke out, and Mr. Mor- rison went with the Indiana troops as quartermaster, leaving Mr. Spann (then only twenty-two years old) with all the responsibilities of a political paper engaged in a bitter personal and political quarrel with the Chap- mans and their well established and powerful paper, the Sentinel, on his hands, to manage as best he could. Mr. Morrison had not made any arrangements for any one to supply his place, and, the fight with the Chapmans being his own, Mr. Spann discontinued the Democrat, and formed a partnership with the Chapmans, under the firm name of Chapmans & Spann. This occurred in the fall of 1846. This new arrangement gave Mr. Spann a large field and a better opportunity to push his fortunes. He became acquainted with and made friends of many gentlemen who came to the capital as members of the Legislature, the courts, and the various orders, and many of these friendships have continued through a busy life. This association with the Chapmans con- tinued until the fall of 1850, when the Sentinel was sold to Austin H. Brown; and the state printing-office, or contract, which the Sentinel held in the name of J. P. Chapman, was sold to Mr. Spann and Doctor E. W. H. Ellis, who was just then entering upon his office of Auditor of State. In April, 1850, he was elected city treasurer ; but the demands of the printing-office be- came so pressing that he resigned the office of treasurer in the fall of the same year. The firm of Ellis & Spann began the publication of the Indiana Statesman on the 4th of September, 1850. The Statesman was a Democratic paper with Free-soil tendencies, representing the views of Doctor Ellis, its chief editor. Though the paper made some money and was popular, its career was short. In consequence of certain business engagements of its own- ers it was discontinued at the end of the second year. It was as a member of this firm of Ellis & Spann that Mr. Spann met with his first considerable financial suc- cess. At the end of this partnership with Doctor Ellis,

and man, about seventeen years in printing-offices, from roller boy and sweep through all grades up to the pro- prietorship. He tried to do every thing himself as far as possible-was first at the office and last to leave --- so that at this time it seemed that his health was perma- nently impaired; and he settled up and sold out, with the belief that he had only a few years to wait for the end. But cessation from labor for a time proved that his trouble was overwork, and, finding himself fit for business again, in December, 1855, he re-purchased the Sentinel office, in connection with the late John B. Nor- man. A partnership with his old friend Norman was especially attractive, and for many personal reasons they both desired its continuance; but reasons of another kind soon developed which were of controlling impor- tance, and as a result the firm of Spann & Norman was dissolved, January 24, 1856, when the Sentinel was sold to Larrabee & Cottom, and Mr. Norman returned to the New Albany Ledger. This closed Mr. Spann's connec- tion with newspapers and the printing business. In 1860 Mr. Spann went into the real estate business as agent and dealer. The first office opened was in Hub- bard's Block, corner of Meridian and Washington Streets. In 1862 he formed a partnership with Francis Smith, and removed to No. 50 East Washington Street. The firm of Spann & Smith was a prosperous one, con- tinuing four or five years, since which time Mr. Spann and his associates have done business under the firm name of John S. Spann & Co. His present partners are his two sons, Thomas H. and John M. Spann, both skilled in their line of business, having been carefully educated and prepared by liberal culture at home and abroad in the best schools of the country. They are both young men of high character, and enjoy first-class business reputation. The credit of the business firms of which Mr. Spann has been a member was always first-class. It is believed that no note or payment fixed for a day certain ever passed its maturity. About the year 1855 Mr. Spann became interested, with Judge A. I .. Roache and others, in the effort to construct the Indiana and Illinois Central Railroad, from Indianapolis to Decatur, Illinois. He was in this enterprise as secre- tary and treasurer for several years; but the road lin- gered so long in an unfinished state that Mr. Spann abandoned all hope of it, and went into other business. In March, 1853, Mr. Spann was elected by the Legis- lature one of the trustees of the Deaf and Dumb Asylum, and served in that board until April, 1861. In 1864 he was elected a member of the board of trustees of the Indiana Institution for the Education of the Blind by the three boards of the state institutions acting jointly, as the law then was, to fill a vacancy. He was after- wards elected by the Legislature, on the 26th of Janu- ary, 1865, to fill out that term; and on the 15th of

Hi H. English.

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March, 1867, was again elected for a full term by the Legislature, serving till April, 1871. In his early man- hood Mr. Spann became a member of the Independent Order of Odd-fellows, his lodge being Philoxenian, No. 44, Indianapolis. Like every thing else he did, he devoted himself to this with zeal and energy. He attained to the highest offices of his lodge, and through them to membership in the Grand Lodge of the State. But, as Church and family and business duties increased, the order lost its hold upon him, and he has not been for many years a participant in its privileges or honors. None of these offices, though most honorable, were specially sought for, though he has in every case given to their responsible duties his best attention. He has not been an office-seeker deliberately, preferring the comforts and independence of home life to the possible honors to be won in more conspicuous places.

NGLISH, WILLIAM H., of Indianapolis. The writer of this sketch a long time ago resided for several years in Greene County, Illinois, and re- members well the town of Carrollton, the county seat, with all its pleasant surroundings. In the cemetery of that thriving but rather quiet town, there is, or was some years ago, an unpretentious monument standing by two graves, bearing the following inscriptions:

"In memory of ELISHA ENGLISH, born March 2, 1768, near Laurel, Sussex County, Delaware. Married Sarah Wharton, December 10, 1788. Removed to Ken- tucky in 1790, and to Greene County, Illinois, in 1830. Died at Louisville, Kentucky, March 7, 1857. He was a faithful husband, a kind father, and an honest man.

" In memory of SARAH WHARTON, wife of Elisha English. Died November 27, 1849, in the eighty-second year of her age. She was kind to her neighbors, de- voted to her family, and a noble woman in all the rela- tions of life.

"MY FATHER AND MY MOTHER. They lived lovingly together as husband and wife over sixty years, and, be- fore the tie was broken, could number two hundred living descendants. Their fourteen children all married and had children before a death occurred in the family. This monument is erected to their memory by Elisha G. English, of Indiana."

These are the grand-parents, on the father's side, of the subject of this sketch, the Hon. William H. English, and the facts disclosed by these inscriptions embody the most that is known of their history. On the mother's side his grand-parents "sleep their last sleep" in the Riker's Ridge (or Hillis) burying-ground, a romantic spot near the Ohio River, a few miles north-east of Madison, Indiana; and again recourse is had to a mon- ument which marks their graves, as containing an epit- ome of the most that is known of their history :

"In memory of PHILIP EASTIN, a lieutenant in the Fourth Virginia Regiment in the War of the American C-14

Revolution, who was buried in this secluded spot in the year 1817, leaving his widow and a large family of chil- dren to mourn his loss. 'He sleeps his last sleep, he has fought his last battle.' Honor his memory, for he was one of the brave and true men whose gallant deeds gave freedom and independence to our country.

" In memory of SARAH SMITH EASTIN, who died near this place, and was buried here in the year 1843. She was married to Lieutenant Philip Eastin at Winchester, Virginia, in 1782, near which place she was born, be- ing a descendant of the Hite family, who first settled that valley. The prosperity of early life gave place in her old age to poverty, and the hardships of rearing a large family in a new country ; but she acted her part well under all circumstances, and died with the respect and love of all who knew her. Now that the joys and sor- rows of a long and eventful life are over, they sleep well. May they rest in peace. This monument is erected to their memory by their grandson, William H. English."

Of the seventeen children born to this pair, Mahala, the mother of our subject, first saw the light in Fayette County, Kentucky, and now resides with her distin- guished son, and only surviving child, at Indianapolis, in the eighty-second year of her age, retaining in a re- markable degree her health and all her faculties. As an element of character, and one which all good per- sons recognize as essential to greatness, not one can be named so well calculated to inspire respect as a pro- found veneration for ancestors, and especially when its development draws the child even more to parents as the weight of years increases. This trait of character was never more beautifully exhibited than in Mr. English's devotion to his parents. His honors and his prosperity only vitalized his affections for them, and in his elegant home, with all the refinements, comforts, and luxuries wealth could command, he demonstrated the goodness of his heart, the warmth of his affections, and the nobility of . his character; and Indiana, in all of her happy homes, presents no more beautiful picture of a son's devotion than is to be found in Mr. English's, where his mother, now over fourscore years of age, is enjoying all the fruitions that affection can bestow. Her husband, Major Elisha G. English, who was one of the fourteen children referred to in the first inscrip- tion, died at his son's residence, in Indianapolis, No- vember 14, 1874, full of years and full of honors, and is buried in Crown Hill Cemetery. He was, however, a citizen of Scott County, Indiana, at the time of his death, as he had been for over a half century, having emigrated to that county, in 1818, from Kentucky, in which state he was born. As one of the pioneers of Indiana, he enjoyed, in the highest degree, the respect and confidence of the people; was several times sheriff of his county; for about twenty years a member of the Indiana House of Representatives or Senate, and for some time United States marshal for Indiana. When he first settled in the state, the great val- ley of the Mississippi, which is now an empire

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within itself in wealth and population, was, com- paratively speaking, a wilderness, the home of wild and savage beasts, and roving bands of scarcely less savage men. Indiana, one of the galaxy of states, near the center of the great valley, which have sprung into existence almost as if by enchantment-now the home of more than two millions of inhabitants, teeming with every luxury and blessing-then had just been born into the sisterhood of states, and the stealthy tread of the red man had scarcely ceased to be heard, as he prowled around the cabin of the adventurous and hardy pioneer on his errand of savage cruelty and death. In fact, only a few years before this period a fearful massacre of men, women, and children by Indians oc- curred in this very county, which is known in history as "the Pigeon Roost massacre." Surrounded by such scenes of hardy adventure and of reckless daring, so familiar to the pioneers of the West, William H. English was born, August 27, 1822, at the village of Lexington, Scott County, Indiana; and he has literally grown with his native state, and strengthened with her strength, until he has become thoroughly identified with her interests and prosperity. Both are now in their full meridian, and he bears the reputation of being one . among the most far-seeing and energetic business men of the country. This is the more strange when it is considered that he had previously reached great distinc- tion in public life-having entered that field in his early career, but voluntarily retired from it. The student of biography, especially the biographies of Americans who had been distinguished in war, pol- itics, literature, and science, has been impressed with the fact that those who in youth were subjected to the severest struggles have gained the proudest eminence in after life ; and Indiana has furnished a long list of names demonstrating the truth of the proposition, and the early life of Mr. English conspicuously illustrates it. Born at a time when school-houses were few and far between, he mastered the rudiments at an early age, and took a position in public affairs when others more favorably situated were dallying in the problems he had solved. This youthful heroism furnishes the key to his future success; the indomitableness of the boy fore- shadowing the man of affairs, who, learning the value of persistency in youth, would carry it into all the enterprises of manhood; an example worthy of profound study by other youth of the country. His education was such as could be acquired at the common schools of the neighborhood, and a course of three years' study at the South Hanover College. He studied law, and was admitted to practice in the Circuit Court at the early age of eighteen years. He was sub- sequently admitted to the Supreme Court of his state, and in the twenty-third year of his age to the highest judicial tribunal in the country, the Supreme Court of

the United States. His first license was granted by John H. Thompson, president of the then Second Judi- cial Circuit of Indiana, and Miles C. Eggleston, pres- ident-judge of the Third Judicial Circuit. This was under the old system, when examinations were very thorough; and the latter Judge was particularly the terror of applicants, by reason of his rigid examina- tions. Nor was license in the inferior courts in that day sufficient to entitle one to admission to practice in the Supreme Court of the state. Isaac Blackford, Charles Dewey, and Jeremiah Sullivan adorned the state Supreme Bench when Mr. English was admitted. The method of examination then was by written ques- tions, required to be answered by the applicant in writing, in the presence of the examining Judge, within a given time. The Judges then examined the answers at their leisure, and decided to admit or not, the same as they would decide on the merits of a case. At the term Mr. English was admitted ten others were admit- ted, but several were rejected, one being a practicing lawyer of some note in the inferior courts, who was subsequently a high military officer, a member of Con- gress, and Governor. About two years after this Mr. English was admitted to practice in the Supreme Court of the United States. The great change in the method of making attorneys in Indiana came in with the adop- tion of the new state Constitution, which made an entire revolution in the old order of things, by providing that "every person of moral character, being a voter, shall be entitled to admission to practice law in all the courts of justice." Less mischief has grown out of this radi- cal change than many at the time apprehended. Mr. English had all the elements of great success at the bar, had he continued in the practice; but he drifted into politics, and very soon into an office which kept him in Washington four years, and he never again returned to the law as a profession. He was for a time associated in practice with the celebrated Joseph G. Marshall. At an early age Mr. English's inclinations turned to a po- litical life. IIis youthful ambition to win success, and opportunities which then presented themselves, com- bined to urge him in this direction of effort. However, in the calm reflection of later years, and in the full realization of these aspirations, he laid down the honors and emoluments of office to seek in the walks of busi- ness a more congenial vocation. He identified himself with the Democratic party, and took a prominent part in the political contests of his county even before he arrived at his majority. Several years before he was of age he was chosen a delegate from Scott County to the Democratic State Convention, at Indianapolis, which nominated General Tilghman A. Howard for Governor. There was no railroad connection with the capital at that time, and the roads were in such deplorable condi- tion that it took him six days' horseback riding to make

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the round trip. He commenced making speeches in that campaign, and continued in active politics for many years. This was the celebrated "log-cabin and hard cider" campaign, which resulted in the election of Gen- eral Harrison to the presidency. But "Tippecanoe and Tyler too" did not prove as harmonious as the party that had sung and hurrahed them into power antici- pated. Harrison could not, in his old age, stand the worry and strain of the position, and died soon after inauguration. Tyler, who then became President, separated from the party that had elected him, and the Democrats were soon again in the ascendancy. Under the Tyler administration, Mr. English was ap- pointed postmaster of Lexington, his native village, then the county seat of Scott County. In 1843, he was chosen principal clerk of the House of Representatives of his state, over several distinguished and worthy com- petitors. It was at this session that the IIon. Jesse D. Bright, the then Lieutenant-governor, and president of the Senate, by his casting vote postponed the regular election of a United States Senator until the next ses- sion, which resulted in his own election. James D. Williams, now the venerable and respected Governor of Indiana, was then, for the first time, a member of the House ; and he has several times made public mention of the fact that Mr. English then performed the same duties, and most satisfactorily too, with the aid of one assistant, that in these later years over a half dozen are paid to perform. David Macy, I). P. Holloway, W. W. Conner, A. C. Handy, David McClure, J. S. Simon- son, and A. L. Robinson are among the distinguished members of that Legislature who yet survive, but most of them, including such distinguished names as Samuel Hannah, Thos. Dowling, J. S. Athon, Samuel W. Parker, W. A. Bowles, and W. A. Gorman, have passed to that bourne from whence no traveler returns. Mr. English's competitor in that election was George Tay- lor, who was probably benefited by the result, as he re- moved from the state to New York, where he was elected to Congress, and became a colleague of Mr. English in that body. They were devoted friends. Soon after the close of this session of the Legislature, the presidential canvass opened. The Whigs were led by their great champion, Henry Clay, and the Demo- crats unexpectedly took up James K. Polk, then com- paratively unknown. The question was at first asked, Who is James K. Polk? The Whigs spoke sneeringly of him, and ridiculed the idea that he should be pitted against their great orator, hero, and champion; but the Democrats said they were no hero-worshipers, and were soon singing,

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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 17

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