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 32

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 32

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pied a prominent position. Whether at the bar, in the and example were ever on the side of virtue, and he Senate of the state, president of the bank, in the Sab- contributed largely in molding the public character." bath-school, or the free common schools, in the Church, or in the extended field of agriculture, he had no com- The Rev. Edmund Squire, of Dorchester, Massachu- peer. It may be said truly, that Calvin Fletcher has , setts, an intimate friend and admirer of Mr. Fletcher, done more to stamp society at Indianapolis with the and for a time located in Indianapolis, thus wrote: true principles of civilization and Christianity than any other man, living or dead."

Hon. Daniel D. Pratt, formerly a Senator from Indiana, an able lawyer and eloquent orator, studied law with Mr. Fletcher at Indianapolis. In response to a letter of inquiry he wrote as follows :

" He was a man made by God to be the pioneer of generations : a Joshua in the wilderness to lead them into the promised land. Such men are the prophets of peoples yet to come. He was eminently a practical man, that is a man who prophesies and accomplishes difficult things. He was a seer, a man who sees things afar off, through all mists and labyrinths; who looks also into men's hearts, and through all disguises pene- trates to the truth. His eye revealed this-no keener, more telescopic, ever looked ahead. He was a man of strong will (that backbone of a man) ; once seeing the truth, he advanced towards it with a perseverance that never relinquished the prize, but pressed on till it was gained. He was a hard worker, he believed in the omnipotence of labor, and was himself an incarnation of his faith; he utterly despised the present contempt of labor. He was accordingly a successful man; orig- inally poor, he amassed great wealth. Independence of mind was one of his attributes, not what was the fashion, but what was the truth, was his final question. An original thinker, all other men's thoughts he seemed to take as tools wherewith to fashion his own. He was accordingly a true judge, from whose verdict there was small appeal. This attribute he carried into religion. Amid all the battle of the sects he fastened his eye on the great Captain alone, and followed him. He was mighty in the Scriptures, especially of the Old Testa- ment. No clergyman that I ever knew so wonderfully applied them to the present time. He raised their heroes from the dead, and made them walk among the men and women of to-day. He was a man of courage ; when to be a friend of the slave was not only unfash- ionable but dangerous, he, at the risk of his life, forced his way into a so-called court of justice, where a mob thirsted for a slave's blood, and fastening his eye on the judge, by a few strong words of truth changed the com- ing doom and gave the man his life. Lastly he was like all men of power in this age, exceedingly rapid in thought and action; before others had begun the argu- ment he had concluded it, and was off. I think I never saw him sit entirely still; repose was not his dom- inant characteristic. He was like a bird on the bough. Calvin Fletcher was not a perfect, but he was a very remarkable man, one of the fathers of his city and of the West. Such another man I have never seen, and never expect to see again."

"Of late years my acquaintance with him has been fragmentary. I can only speak of him with confidence as I knew him while a student in hisoffice, and for the few years afterwards while he continued in the practice of the law, during which time I maintained close profes- sional relations with him. In the fall of 1833 I entered his office. He was then about thirty-five years of age, possessed of a large practice on the circuit and in the supreme court, standing by common consent at the head of the profession in Central Indiana, and commanding the unqualified confidence of the community. He fully deserved that confidence. Scrupulously honest, fair in his dealings with his clients, untiring in their interests, I do not think I have ever met a man in the legal pro- fession of greater activity, energy, earnestness, and ap- plication to business. He forgot nothing, neglected nothing necessary to be done. This was the great secret of his professional success. He was a very simple man in his tastes. Though possessed of ample means, no one could have inferred it from his manner of life. His family lived and dressed plainly. He was himself with- out a particle of ostentation ; republican simplicity characterized every phase of his life at home and abroad, in his dress, furniture, table, and associations. He was fond of the society of plain, unpretending people. The humblest man entered his house unabashed. He took pleasure in the society of aspiring young men and in aiding them by his counsel. He never tired in advising them ; in setting before them motives for diligence and good conduct and examples of excellence. He was fond of pointing to eminent men in the different walks of life, of tracing their history, and pointing out that the secret of their success lay in the virtues of diligence, continuous application to a specialty, strict integrity, and temperance. Many young men of that period owe the formation of their characters to these teachings of Mr. Fletcher. He taught them to be honest and hon- orable, to be just, exact, prompt, diligent, and tem- perate. He was himself a shining example of all these virtues. They formed the granite base of his character. A funeral discourse was preached by his pastor, the Rev. A. S. Kinnan, from the text : " Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me."-23d Psalm. Others will speak of the religious phase of his life. It was not common in those days to find men of the legal profession of deep religious convictions and illustrating those convictions in their every-day life and conversa- tion. But Mr. Fletcher belonged to this exceptional class. Religious exercises in his family were habitual. He was a constant attendant at church, and gave lib- Calvin Fletcher is dead. He closed his eventful life on the 26th, inst., being in the sixty-ninth year of his natural life. Few men in the state were more exten- sively known, and thousands of citizens have felt a shadow fall upon their hearts as they have learned of his departure. As a citizen, a statesman, a business man, a Christian, and a father, the state and family have lost a model man and parent, and have nothing left crally to the support of the ministry. The success of his Master's kingdom upon the earth lay very near his heart. He regarded religion as forming the only re- liable basis for successful private and national life. In his death the world has lost a good man who con- tributed largely in laying the foundations not only of the city where he dwelt, but of the state itself. He was one of its pioneers and leading men. His voice . but the memory of a name, which, though precious,

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can never be a substitute for his living presence. Calvin Fletcher was born at Ludlow, Vermont, February 4, 1798. From his private journal of April 7, 1865, I am

saw him drive a fast horse down street, with a cigar in his mouth, smoking under a heavy mustache, as if the woods were on fire? Enter the house of God, and permitted to extract the following respecting his early there you see him displaying no more show of wealth life :

"April II, 1815, when I was seventeen, I left my dear home with reluctance, and walked some forty miles, and obtained work for six months. I labored the ensuing half year, and did not lose a single day ; indeed, I gained three days by the tasks I took. I committed many chapters in the Bible and hymns in Watts. I traveled eight miles and back to church each Sunday. In September of that year an elephant, the first live one that I ever heard of, came through New England and exhibited at Woodstock .* Scarcely a man, woman, or child but went. I could not spare the time and would not go. On the Ioth of November, went to school at

the academy at Royalton, Vermont. I had no time to lose-a day was precious. I felt that I had to pre- pare to meet the battle of life. Education I had learned, especially from my mother, was power-was the lever that would raise me to respectability and honor. In my last days I am pleased to remember that I lost no time, wasted no means, but did the best my ability and opportunity afforded."

In many respects he was a remarkable man. Few men, as men, have ever given more continuous evidence to the world of being equally poised than he. He was no strong man in one direction and correspondingly weak in the opposite; but strong on all sides. In his private life, few men have ever lived more fully without reproach. His habits and dispositions were all in harmony with the highest morality and intelligent manhood. In the family he was a model of patience, affection, diligence, and control. I need but allude to the fact that his sons and daughters, dead and living, have all made, and As a citizen he was ever interested in the politics of his country ; and in his last hours he expressed his en- tire confidence in the ultimate success of the principle of freedom, in spite of all opposition. In 1827 he was elected state Senator, to which place he was afterwards are now making, human life a success, to prove the strength of this assertion. I dare speak of Miles J. Fletcher in this connection, the only son who has pre- ceded him to the spirit world, having personally known him to be one of the purest-minded, high-toned Chris- | re-elected ; but in 1833 he resigned his position, and tian gentlemen found among men. Calvin Fletcher never afterwards entered the political arena. His in- terest in, and support of his country in her recent trial is known to all, and needs but to be mentioned to be appreciated. He said to a friend at one time : ever esteemed the father the priest of the household, and responsible for the religious culture of his family. He was accustomed, on returning from church, to re- . hearse the sermon before the family, and enforce its "I have resolved, if need be, to lay the whole of my property on the altar of my country, so that I may do all that I can to leave my grandchildren liberty; if I do not leave my children a fortune." teachings upon his children. Not a month before his death he told me he had every sermon he had heard for the past year in his church. He maintained family prayer in his house for thirty-six years past. When in the midst of his success as a lawyer, he laid down his profession that he might more fully meet his responsi- bility as a parent, and by good government and render- ing his home attractive, secure the well-being of his children. As a business man, he was before you an epistle, known and read of all men. His business life was a remarkable success. The secret of his success lay in the following characteristics: 1, honest labor ; 2, care- ful calculation ; 3, frugality ; 4, promptitude ; 5, never going into debt ; 6, doing one thing at a time; and 7, perseverance. This will indicate to you at once that he had a plan of life ; and being humble, God blessed his endeavors. No man meeting Mr. Fletcher would have seen any display of wealth and position. Who ever

# The New York Sun, in 1879, gave what purported to be an exhaustive article on the first menageries ever formed in the United States. and stated that the first elephant of which they had any knowledge arrived in 1818. But we have an undoubted ac- count of an elephant in the United States as early as 18:5.

and position than the little children among whom he might chance to sit, as he did in the gallery the last time he ever entered the sanctuary, all the while mak- ing notes of the sermon. Of him it can never be said, " He was puffed up," or that he drowsed or slumbered where known duty waited. He was deeply impressed with the importance of his time, and even before his conversion felt the very great responsibility of rigidly improving it. He was always an early riser, and when in the full career of law, usually performed as much pro- fessional labor before eight o'clock in the morning as most men would do all day. The early annals of Indianapolis will show how great an interest he took in the welfare of his adopted home. The early pioneers of this city who still survive, will bear witness to the fact that there was scarcely a meeting to promote education, religion, or city or state improvement, at which Mr. Fletcher was not present. His journal of January 1, 1833, contains the following, in which Mr. Fletcher's spirit and char- acter are further illustrated :

"I should return with gratitude, praise, and thanks- " giving on this day to Him who has watched over me and mine for the last year. None are missing ! How little do I deserve such mercies! Once my professional cares were the bane of all enjoyment. My fears made me miserable. I do not look on defeat as so ruinous as I once did. I have learned, thank God, some lessons of patience. I feel it my duty to double my diligence, to suffer no man's business to receive an injury by my negligence. No, I will try to render unto every one his just due."

Early in the history of his life he washed his hands from the guilt of that sum of national villainies, Ameri- can slavery. He was an Abolitionist when it cost some- thing to be one. He once said to one of his sons, " When I am in the court-house engaged in an impor- tant suit, if the Governor of the state should send in word that he wished to speak with me, I would reply that I could not go; but if a Quaker should touch me on the shoulder and say, 'A colored man is out here in distress and fear,' I would leave the court-house in a minute to see the man; for I feel that I would have to account at that last day when He shall ask me if 'I have visited the sick and in prison or bondage, and fed the poor.' The great of this world can take care of them- selves, but God has made us stewards for the down- trodden, and we must account to him." These old anti- slavery men are now being gathered to their fathers, but the nation owes them a debt of gratitude never yet paid. Thank God, that Mr. Fletcher lived to see the bond go free. Like Simeon of old, he and his co-

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laborers are now permitted to say for themselves, "Let : his native city of Indianapolis in the general practice thy servants depart in peace, for our eyes have beheld thy salvation." But I point you to him as a Christian. If the sentiment, " By their fruits ye shall know them," be the criterion of Christian character, then I would point you to every Protestant Church of this city, and nearly all of this county; I would point you to the school-houses and seminaries ; I would point you to our houses of charity and asylums; I would point you to hundreds of minister's wives and hungry children ; I would point you to all the benevolent societies for the poor, and the maimed and oppressed; sixteen persons that he educated during his life out of his own funds, and say, Calvin Fletcher has stock in them all; and thus "he being dead yet speaketh." No man could love and respect the Bible and the minister more than he. He was a constant student of the one, and hearer of the other. Among the very last things he said was to speak of his love and respect for his pastor, and the last rational recognition was to recognize the Bible under the most touching circumstances. The oldest and youngest son had arisen to take their turn in watching with him. He had been unconscious for many hours. His oldest son had brought in the large family Bible for personal use, and while sitting by his side he opened his eyes, and, recognizing the Book of God, he nodded his head and smiled in the most grateful and pleasing manner. The last entry in his diary closes thus :

"Sunday, February 4, 1866 .- Sixty-eight years old. Born on Sunday ; a happy day to me. What makes this day more dear to me, is that I was born on it. May God sanctify this holy day, the Sabbath, to my use and salvation. It has always been a dear and blessed day to me. May God strengthen and go with me as he permits me to walk into a new year of my life-perhaps the last. May I live in readiness to meet his last call on earth with lamp trimmed and ready to enter into the morning feast. He has been present thus far to sustain me, and, like a kind father, forgiving and merciful. May I have the Spirit with me to teach and instruct me-that old age will not be marked with mental imbecility, impatience, and want of faith, but may I be constantly in the spirit, in love and in union with Christ."

This was the last entry in his journal-the closing paragraph of a great and good man's life. It needs no comment further than to say, as a prayer it was an- swered in a remarkable manner. He was full of grati- tude to God, and said that while he was in the valley of the shadow of death, he realized more fully than ever his own unworthiness and that Christ was his only righteousness.

of his profession, but making a specialty of diseases of the eye, ear, and nose, in which branches he is univer- sally regarded as an expert, and in which his practice has reached immense proportions. His success in these specialties has been almost phenomenal, while his gen- eral practice is scarcely second to any practitioner in the city or state. Doctor Wright is a member of the Indiana Academy of Sciences, and in 1868 was its secre- tary. He is also a member of the Marion County Medical Society, and of the Indiana State Medical Society. In 1869 he was demonstrator of anatomy in the Indiana Medical College, and subsequently professor of materia medica and therapeutics in and secretary of the same institution, and afterwards its president. He is also member of the staff at the City Hospital, and physician to St. John's Home for Invalids. In 1875 and 1876 he was president of the Indianapolis Board of Health; was president of the Indiana Medico-Legal Fraternity in 1877 and 1878, and at present fills the chair of materia medica and therapeutics in the Medical College of Indiana, the Medical Department of Butler University. During the War of the Rebellion he held the position of quartermaster's sergeant of the camp of instruction, and afterwards was superintendent of com- missary stores at Nashville, Tennessee, and chief clerk of the chief commissary of the subsistence department of Kentucky, in the Union army. Doctor Wright's contributions to the medical literature of the day have been numerous and important, covering the whole pe- riod of his professional life. His thesis on "Spontane- ous Evolution " was published in the Western Journal of Medicine in March, 1868, and his reports on " Diseases of the Eye and Ear" in the Transactions of the Indiana State Medical Society for 1870-I. He was for some time editor of the Indiana Medical Journal, to which he contributed many editorials, reports of cases, etc., which attracted wide-spread attention. In literary circles, outside the profession, Doctor Wright has always been a moving spirit, and has been active in the organization and "sup- port of some of the most important in the city of Indi-

anapolis. He has been president of the Scottish Rite Dramatic Association ever since its organization ; and in this field of art evinces an originality and versatility : rarely found in amateur organizations. Since the incep-

RIGIIT, CHARLES EDWARD, M. D., of Indi- anapolis, was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, No- tion of the Indianapolis Shakespeare Club he has also vember 1, 1843, and at this writing is exactly filled the position of president. In the Masonic Order, of which he is an active member, he attained the Thirty-third Degree, September 18, 1878, and is a mem- ber of Rapier Commandery, No. I, of Indianapolis, Knights Templar, which has recently won for itself a national reputation. Doctor Wright is also a member and medical examiner of the Order of Knights of thirty-seven years of age. Few men of this age have attained such distinction in any profession, or filled so many responsible and honorable positions. His col- legiate education was obtained at the Indiana Asbury University, at Greencastle, Indiana, and he subsequently studied medicine at the Medical College of Ohio, at Cincinnati, whence he was graduated M. D. in March, , Pythias. In politics he is an ardent Democrat, and 1868. Immediately after his graduation he settled in | says he has no religion, which means that he is no

late Night

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John R. Neuman

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sectarian, and is inclined to be liberal to all sects and creeds. In November, 1870, Doctor Wright married Miss Anna Haugh, of Indianapolis, and their family consists of two children, a boy and girl. The old adage, that a prophet is without honor in his own country, seems to lack verification in the case of Doctor Wright. Born and brought up in the city of Indianapolis, it has been the scene of his professional labors, and here he has been honored as highly as has ever fallen to the lot of a man of his years. One who has known him through a life-time says of him that there are few men in the profession of medicine of more promise than Doctor Wright. He is in many things a genius, in pri- vate life a man of exemplary habits and deportment, fond of recreation and society, a fine amateur dramatist, of cultivated literary tastes, and a man of decided con- victions, a warm friend, as well as a good hater. His æsthetic tastes have surrounded him with much that is pleasant in life, not the least of which is a fine private library, replete with standard and professional works. He has attained a standing in his profession seldom reached at his time of life, and his friends are numerous and warmly attached to him. With many chapters yet to write in the history of his life, from the past it is safe to assume that his future will be still bright, pros- perous, and happy.

EWMAN, JOHN S., of Indianapolis, was born in Montgomery County, Ohio, April 10, 1805. In March, 1807, he came to what is now Wayne Township, in Wayne County, Indiana, with his grandfather, Andrew Hoover, Sen. In January, 1827, he removed to Centerville, where he was employed in the office of his uncle, David Hoover, who was clerk of the county courts. Here he studied law, and was admitted to the bar in May, 1828, continuing in the practice until 1860. For nearly ten years of this time he was in partnership with Jesse P. Siddall, the firm being Newman & Siddall. He was also for sev- eral years engaged in the mercantile business in the firm of Hannah & Newman, at Centerville. In 1850, Mr. Newman was elected a member of the Constitu- tional Convention to revise the state Constitution. In 1847, he was chosen president of the Whitewater Canal Company, and served as such for five years. In 1851, he was elected president of the Indiana Central Railway Company. In 1860, Mr. Newman removed to Indian- apolis, and for several years was president of the Mer- chants' National Bank of that city. October 1, 1829, Mr. Newman married Miss Eliza J. Hannah, daughter of Samuel Hannah, Esq., of Centerville. On October 1. 1879, he enjoyed the inestimable privilege of celebrat- ing his golden wedding with the partner of his youth and old age, in the presence of a large number of his

family and friends, and his estimable wife still survives to gladden the household in which love has reigned for over half a century. Mr. and Mrs. Newman have had six children. Mary married Dr. H. C. Carey : Ger- trude is the wife of Mr. Ingram Fletcher, a banker of Indianapolis ; Omar is engaged in the lumber business in Chicago; Walter, who was first lieutenant in the United States army, and served in the late war, died in Indianapolis, January 1, 1864, of a disease contracted in the service. Two other children died in infancy.

OLLOWAY, DAVID P., formerly commissioner of patents, was born in Warren County, Ohio, on the 6th of December, 1809. His father was David Holloway, and his mother, before marriage, was Hannah Richards. His ancestors came to this country from the village of Holloway, near London, in the year 1676, and, as members of a colony, were brought out by William Penn. He received his education, which was rudimental and primary, at the Friends' schools in Cin- cinnati, not attending after he was ten years of age. He entered upon the printing business when fourteen, at Rich- mond, Wayne County, Indiana, to which his parents had removed the year previous. That year he spent on a farm, and he was three years in the newspaper office at Richmond. Leaving it, he entered the establishment of the Cincinnati Gazette to complete his trade, in which he became a proficient. The summer of 1830 he was in Lafayette, as a clerk in the store of a brother-in-law. He returned to Richmond in the fall, and began working in the Palladium office as a printer. Three years after, he purchased the office, and became the editor of the journal, in conjunction with John Finley, the second year. In 1836 he removed to the country; but in 1837 repur- chased the Palladium, in company with B. W. Davis, with whom he remained associated until 1870. He was a member of the House of Representatives of the state of Indiana in 1843-44, and was elected to the Senate the latter year. He was twice re-elected. He was chosen a member of the Thirty-fourth Congress, and was highly esteemed for his services in t' capacity. He took a warm interest in agriculture, an was connected with the State Board of Agriculture from 1852 to 1859, being its president the latter year. He was appointed by Presi- dent Lincoln commissioner of patents, serving as such from 1861 to 1865. He has been a Mason for many years, and has also been a member of nearly all the temperance orders which have been organized in the United States during the last thirty years. He was a member of the Union League during the years 1863 and 1864. He has always been a member of the society of Friends. He is an earnest Republican, but his alle- I giance to the Union and the flag is above all parties.

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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 32

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