USA > Indiana > Marion County > Indianapolis > Early reminiscences of Indianapolis, with short biographical sketches of its early citizens, and a few of the prominent business men of the present day > Part 26
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Early Reminiscences.
He was the first Secretary of the State Sinking Fund, and continued as such for near thirty years, and left the office only through the workings of political party machinery. He was a good and efficient official, and had almost the entire charge of the business.
During his thirty-six years as a citizen of this city, by his urbane and gentlemanly deportment, has won the confidence and respect of all who know him. He is the cousin of those two worthy persons, of whom I have already written, James M. Ray and the late Joseph M. Moore.
Mr. McChesney took an active part in the organization of the first Episcopal Church (Christ's), in 1837, and has since that time been a member and vestryman of it.
He has three children, one a daughter, who is the wife of Mr. David E. Snyder, one of the leading insurance men of the city. His two sons are yet single and reside with their father.
HENRY OHR.
This venerable gentleman became a citizen of Indianapolis in April, 1837. He, with his family, emigrated from Fred- erick County, Maryland, his native State and county.
Mr. Ohr was for several years a well known and popular dry goods merchant of this city, and was universally respected for his upright demeanor-and unostentatious piety. He has several children and his companion through life yet living to comfort him in his declining years. Aaron, the eldest son, is now and has been for several years one of the ticket agents at the Union Depot. John H. Ohr has been the principal agent for the Adams Express Company in this city for several years.
Mr. Ohr's eldest daughter is the widow of the late Newton Norwood. The second daughter, Julia, is now deceased ; she was the wife of John R. Elder, who is now one of our popu- lar business men.
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John Carlisle.
Mr. Ohr's two sons, like their father, enjoy the confidence of all who know them as energetic and industrious business men.
Perhaps the old pioneers of this city did not think that they were destined to supply material to make a chapter in the history of Indianapolis. If their shadow had been cast before them, would their lives have been different? In this case we think not. Mr. Ohr has jogged along through life in the even tenor of his way, and arrived at a good old age, with less to disturb the peace and quiet of his mind than is the fortune of most mortals.
JOHN CARLISLE,
The veteran miller of Indianapolis, was a native of the " Em- erald Isle," having been born in the Province of Ulster, county of Down, in the north of Ireland, in the year 1807.
When in his eighteenth year (1825) he came to the United States, landed in the city of New York, and for twelve years was a successful miller at Marlborough, Ulster County, on the Hudson River.
From the latter place he came to this city in the year 1837 and engaged in the manufacture of soap and candles; at the same time he commenced and carried on a distillery and dairy, and was the first to have milk sold from a wagon in this place.
In the year 1840 he built a large .merchant mill on the arm of the canal near where it crosses Washington street. It was at this mill he manufactured and packed in barrels the first flour that was manufactured in this part of the country for shipment. In this enterprise he was ridiculed and laughed at by his friends for wagoning flour to the Ohio River to sell at from two to three dollars per barrel. Although not profita- ble at first, he was building up a reputation for his flour for after years.
In the year 1842 he bought wheat at twenty-five cents per
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bushel, corn at ten cents, and sold his flour on the Ohio River at two dollars and seventy-five cents per barrel, corn meal in this city, eight bushels to the dollar, bran at five and shorts at ten cents per bushel, delivered in the city.
In the years 1864 and 1865 his transactions in grain and flour amounted to one million of dollars, his losses being equal to his earnings of several years previous. When the war closed he was the heaviest grain and flour dealer in the West. He had flour on sale in all the Eastern as well as Western cities, and as the article fell he still continued to buy, thereby aiding in keeping up the prices in the West.
When the Government took possession of the railroads to convey the troops home, he found it impossible to have his grain and flour forwarded before such time as it had fallen in the market to make a loss of from five to six dollars per bar- rel on the flour, and a corresponding loss on grain.
He tells me that in 1866 he paid $3.25 per bushel for wheat and sold flour at $16.00 per barrel, the highest price ever ob- tained for either article in this market.
A large grain dealer of this city once remarked that the farmers of this and adjoining counties should erect a monu- ment to his memory in consideration of the fact that he was the first to advance and keep up the price of grain, and would suffer loss rather than do anything calculated to depress it.
Mr. Carlisle also tells me that his great error in business was that of holding on too long before selling, and that had he bought and sold instanter his profits would have amounted to a large fortune ; his great desire was to keep up prices in the hands of the producers, thereby benefiting the whole country. He says he never failed to make money when he bought and sold promptly ; but he has the proud satisfaction of knowing that his action has benefited the whole country.
In the years 1864 and 1865 he often bought from 25,000 to 30,000 bushels of wheat, and from 2,000 to 3,000 barrels
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Doctor John M. Gaston.
of flour in one week, paying out in cash therefor nearly one hundred thousand dollars, this amount going directly into the hands of the farming community. It is quite unnecessary to say that his credit was commensurate with his demands for money in carrying on those immense transactions.
Although he lost very heavy, as stated here, I would not have the reader think for a moment that his circumstances were any other than affluent. He and his sons are the owners of two splendid merchant mills in this city, one near the canal, on West Market street, the other on West Maryland street.
Out of his sixty-three years of life forty-two have been spent in the milling business. With this experience it is no wonder his brands of flour stand so high in all the eastern as well as western markets.
Mr. Carlisle is a remarkably active and industrious man, never leaving for to-morrow that which can be done to-day. He is nearly always on the go; more inclined to attend to his own business than that of other people. He don't seem to have any time to spare in idle or frivolous conversation ; al- though decided in his political views, he never tries to force them upon others.
He has occupied his present handsome residence, on the corner of Washington and West streets, about thirty years. He has bought a greater number of bushels of grain, a larger number of barrels of flour, and disbursed more money among the farmers than any man now living in the city. In all his transactions he has been prompt, and he requires others to be so with him. Such is John Carlisle, the veteran miller of Indianapolis.
DOCTOR JOHN M. GASTON,
One of the prominent physicians of Indianapolis, is a native of Pennsylvania, but, when quite young, came with his father
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to Indiana, and settled in Hancock County. His first resi- dence in this city, for a short time only, was in 1833.
About the year 1838 he returned and commenced the study of medicine with Doctors Sanders and Parry. After finish- ing his studies and attending the lectures, he entered upon the practice of his profession in this place, and has continued it since that time. Although it is said that a "prophet is without honor in his own country," the Doctor's success has proved that it is different with physicians, as he has ever had an extensive practice. He has gradually worked his way up the ladder until he is now near the top round, and stands high in his profession as well as in his boots.
Hiram Gaston, his brother, made the first buggy ever made in Indianapolis, in 1833. Some years afterwards, Edward and Hiram Gaston commenced the manufacture of carriages of all kinds, and successfully continued until the death of the latter in October, 1866.
Edward is yet working at the business in this city. There were no finer carriages manufactured than at the shop of the Gastons.
CHARLES G. FRENCH.
Charlie tells me he has not the most remote recollection of ever having been born at all, although, from what he has heard, he supposes such an event did occur in Delaware County, Ohio, and says that he there ran wild with bears and "Ingins" until he was large enough to behave himself in white society. I am sorry that the space I have allotted to each sketch precludes my giving his in full, in his own graphic and interesting style.
He received a portion of his education at the college located in Granville, Licking County, in his native State.
After receiving his education he pursued different occupa- tions, such as dispensing the "elixor of life," in the shape of
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Andrew Wallace.
whisky, raising silk worms, thereby destroying all the mul- berry trees in his neighborhood to feed them, he finally fought his way into the shop of a watchmaker and jeweller, of Gran- ville, Ohio, where he learned that business.
Charlie came to Indianapolis in the year 1845, and engaged with and worked in the shop of William H. Talbott for many years. He then commenced and has continued business on his own account, and has been quite successful in the accu- mulation of property, and is rewarded for his industry by the possession of a fine suburban residence at the east end of Washington street, and is doing a fine business at his well filled store on North Meridian street.
He has lately met with a bereavement, in the loss of his amiable wife, that has cast a gloom over his countenance and his usual buoyant and cheerful spirits.
He enjoys the confidence and respect of his numerous friends and acquaintances of this city in a high degree, and the name of Charlie French is synonymous with that of the words liberality and good feeling.
ANDREW WALLACE.
The name that heads this sketch is, perhaps, as familiar to the citizens of this place, as well as to the farming community of Marion and the surrounding counties, as that of any per- son now doing business in the city.
Although not one of the oldest, he has certainly been one of the most successful produce dealers of his day.
Mr. Wallace was a paper maker by trade, having learned the business with John Sheets, of Madison, Jefferson County. He came to this place in the year 1840, in comparatively poor circumstances. Soon after he bought a small farm in Ham- ilton County and removed his family thereon; there he re- mained some time, and, to accommodate his friends, Messrs. Sheets and Yandes, he returned to the city to take charge of
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and superintend their paper mill, their former superintendent having been burned and otherwise injured to prevent his at- tending to the duties. Mechanics of that kind being very scarce at that time, Mr. Wallace consented to accommodate them until such time as they should be enabled to employ another.
He remained with them until January, 1847, the high wa- ter of that year destroying the aqueduct of the canal wound up for the time being the manufacture of paper and his con- nection with those gentlemen.
Mr. Robert Underhill, in the meantime, having become ac- quainted with Mr. Wallace, and learning something of his untiring industry and fine business qualifications, employed him to take charge of his Bridgeport flouring mill, which he did, and managed with profit to his employer until the fall of 1847. It will be remembered by our old citizens that our merchants up to this time had not paid cash for produce, with the exception of pork to be driven to the Ohio River, and by John Carlisle for wheat, which was but a very small portion of the surplus of the country.
Mr. Wallace inaugurated the present system of paying cash for stock and all kinds of produce in this place, and every- thing he laid his hand to prospered.
He then took charge of Mr. Underhill's City Mills, Mr. Underhill, having the utmost confidence in his integrity, ar- ranged for him to draw money out of bank on his own checks in the transaction of business pertaining to the mill. From the time he took charge of Mr. Underhill's business it pros- pered, so that in a few years he was enabled to retire with a fortune.
In the year 1848 he was employed by Mr. Jeremiah Foot as a clerk in his store. Mr. Foot wished to make as much as possible out of Mr. Wallace's services, and, like the person that killed the goose that laid the golden egg, very unwittingly
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Andrew Wallace.
got himself rid of his valuable services. One very dull day of trade Mr. Foot requested Mr. Wallace to go into the cellar and saw a half cord of wood, as there was not much doing in the store. This Mr. W. refused to do; he stood upon his dignity, and told Mr. Foot he would rather pay for the saw- ing out of his own pocket.
Mr. Foot insisted on his doing it himself, as he could not afford to take it out of his own pocket. Mr. W. acceded to Mr. F.'s request, and told him that he would saw the wood, and wished Mr. Foot to make out his account while he was so doing, and that after the wood was sawed he would con- sider himself free from any obligation to continue in Mr. F.'s employ.
The sawing of that half cord of wood was, perhaps, the dearest Mr. F. ever paid for, as it was to Mr. Wallace time better employed than he had done before.
In the fall of 1848 Mr. W. commenced the purchase of grain and shipping to the house of Pollys & Butler, of Madi- son, Indiana, and did more business in that line than all the other establishments of the kind in the place, often shipping five or six car lords per day.
He then commenced the business of a family grocer in the Walpole House, a frame building, situated about the middle of the space between where the Odd Fellows' Hall now stands and the alley on the north side of Washington, between Penn- sylvania and Delaware streets.
On the vacant ground east of his store, and adjoining the alley, was his wagon yard and salt sheds. On every board in the fence and every barrel of salt was branded the name of " Andy Wallace," much to the annoyance of his competitor, the late P. B. L. Smith, who then did a large business on the corner where Odd Fellows' Hall now stands, and was some- what jealous of " Andy's," at least, great show of business.
Andy would never suffer a farm wagon to pass his door,
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Early Reminiscences.
going west, until he had used every stratagem and exhausted all his eloquence to induce its occupants to call in at his estab- lishment first. Often by the time the wagon would be fairly stopped he would have the old lady's baby in his store sitting on the counter, with a stick of candy in each hand and one protruding from its mouth, before the mother had got out of the wagon. Andy, with a large stock of candy with which he sugar-coated the children, and a pretty wiry tongue and an accommodating disposition, became a great favorite with the farmers of the country which built him up an extensive trade.
His competitors in business thought that it would not take long to wind Andy Wallace up. This, reaching Andy's ears, caused him to redouble his diligence and industry, being de- termined to succeed or risk his all upon the trial ; like Riche- lieu, he thought that " there is no such word as fail."
At this place Mr. Wallace built up a fine business and an extensive acquaintance throughout this and the adjoining counties.
In the year 1855 he engaged in the wholesale grocery busi- ness, which he still continues, and has a large share of the wholesale business for both city and country. He is a fair illustration of the truth of the saw, " that some things can be done as well as others."
He owns some very valuable business as well as private pro- perty in the city, and one of the finest and earliest cultivated farms in the county.
One of the great secrets of his success was that when he made up his mind to do anything he did it with all his might, and when he thought that he had a good investment in pro- perty he held on to it.
He was for eight years President of the State Institutions for the amelioration of the condition of the Deaf and Dumb, Insane and Blind, and they, like everything else he put his
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Elijah S. Alvord.
hands to, prospered under his supervision. But he, like most other successful men, has not been free from the abuse and vituperation of those less successful, and he has hurled back the calumny upon their own heads with a redoubled foree.
ELIJAH S. ALVORD
Is a native of the "Old Bay State," having been born and raised in Greenfield, Franklin County. He came to the West in 1834, and for nearly two years resided in Richmond, Indi- ana, thence to this city in the spring of 1836.
Mr. Alvord brought with him to this place some fifteen or twenty horses, and established himself in the livery business in the stables attached to the a Wshington Hall (now Glenns' Block, then kept by E. Browning). He tells us that he here performed, personally, the labor that would require the united efforts of four or five hired men to accomplish, and in order to keep out competition in this line rented the only other establishment of the kind in the place and locked it up. It was then and there the foundation of a fortune was laid, and the reputation of a first-class business man was commenced.
Mr. Alvord was among the first to start the business of a money broker in this place, and was quite successful as long as he continued it.
He then became a partner of Messrs. J. & P. Vorhees in the Ohio Stage Company that owned the various lines of stages that centered to this place and diverged therefrom, East, West, North and South. He was for years principal superintendent of the whole business. He then established some other lines throughout Illinois, Iowa and other Western States, and finally a line across the plains to the Pacific coast. He is now Pres- ident of the Western Stage Company ; President, and a large stockholder in the Citizens' line of Street Railways of this city. He is, also, one of the founders of the Rink, its President, and a large stoekholder. This popular place of
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Early Reminiscences.
amusement was the first of the kind in the State. As I said before, he is a fine business man, energetic and industrious, and his indomitable perseverance has been rewarded with a large share of this world's goods.
He possesses great firmness and decision of character, and a stand once taken it is difficult to remove him from it. Al- though a citizen of this city for the past thirty-four years, he has never sought or asked for office at the hands of the peo- ple or any other appointing power.
During the existence of that party he was a warm and en thusiastic Whig, but when it was disbanded, with many others of his political associates, fell in with and supports the Demo- cratic party.
He was, by the State Convention that assembled in this city on the 8th of January, 1870, unanimously chosen Chairman of the State Central Committee of the Democracy of Indiana, which position he has filled thus far to the entire satisfaction of his associates and with credit and honor to himself.
Mr. Alvord owns and lives in one of the palatial mansions of the city, on North Pennsylvania street. He owns a fine business house on South Meridian street, known as Alvord's Block, and other valuable property in the city, both improved and unimproved.
Mr. Alvord is a man of good address, courteous and genial in his intercourse with others. Although he has passed the noon-day of life, he looks quite young, and bids fair for many years of enjoyment in the society of his family and friends, and usefulness to the public.
JOHN BURK
Was a native of the State of New Jersey. He came to Ohio in the year 1832, remaining in that State about a year. He came to Huntington, in Indiana, in the year 1833, and en- gaged to complete four sections of the Wabash and Erie Ca-
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John Burk.
nal. About the time of the completion of this contract, he was elected to represent, in the Legislature, the counties of Huntington, Wells, Jay, Blackford and Adams. He made an efficient and working member, just such a man as that new and sparsely settled country needed at that time.
In the fall of 1836 he contracted for building the "feeder dam " at Broad Ripple, seven miles north of this city. He then undertook other important contracts on the Central Ca- nal, and while they were in progress, and before completion, the general and gigantic system of internal improvements by the State was abandoned for the want of the necessary funds to finish them.
While a contractor Mr. Burk frequently worked from eighty to one hundred men at a time, a large proportion of whom were Irish, and they would frequently have riots and quarrels among themselves growing out of their own religious or po- litical opinions in their native land. During these periodical ebullitions of wrath, and often violence, Mr. Burk exercised great influence over them, and often prevented bloodshed and death among them.
Hands working on public works were influenced in the se- lection of the contractor they would work for by the number of "jiggers " he would give them per day. By jiggers was meant a small cup of whisky, say about a gill ; they had cups made on purpose for this use.
About the second question asked by the applicant for work was, " how many jiggers do you give?" Mr. Burk tells me that the number he gave was seven, although some contrac- tors gave eight or nine.
After the public works were abandoned he built a large flouring and saw mill at Broad Ripple, and with his family there resided for several years.
During Mr. B.'s residence at Broad Ripple one of the citi- zens of the village (Bob Earl) built a flat-bottom canal boat
16
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Early Reminiscences.
and at the suggestion of Mr. Burk called it David Burr, in honor of the Commissioner of the Wabash and Erie Canal. There are many persons yet living in the city that have had the pleasure of a trip to and from Broad Ripple in Mr. Earl's boat. I remember, very well, that in the summer of 1844, and during the canvass for President between Henry Clay and James K. Polk, Mr. Earl was employed to take a fishing party to the Ripple on his boat. One of our respectable citizens (referred to in another sketch) getting very much excited while talking with a political opponent, unthoughtedly made a back step and went into the canal where it was ten or twelve feet water. This cooled the gentleman's political ardor for the balance of the day, although he was kept quite warm by the laughs and jeers of his friends.
I have digressed to give this little incident. Mr. Burk was active in getting up and forwarding the interest of the Indian- apolis and Peru Railroad, negotiated in New York for its first loan, was its first President, and continued as such until the road was finished and became prosperous.
He was the first coal dealer in this city, was the first to open and develop the coal mines of Clay County, from which a large quantity that is now used for manufacturing purposes in this city is derived.
At Mr. B.'s old residence at Broad Ripple may now be seen a large willow tree, two feet in diameter, which, he tells me, sprung from a twig, cut for and used all day as a riding switch in 1843, then he stuck it in a marsh or wet piece of ground, where it took root and has grown since that time to its present proportions.
Mr. Burk was, in the palmy days of that party, an ardent Whig of the old school, and supported the Hero of Tippeca- noe for the Presidency in 1836 and that ever-memorable year of 1840. He gives an interesting account of a visit that him-
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James H. McKernan.
self and family made to the old Hero in 1840, at his resi- dence at North Bend.
I would have been happy to have finished this short tribute to Mr. B.'s many virtues and noble traits of character with- out referring to anything of an unpleasant or painful nature, " but such is life" that we often sip from the same cup the bitter as well as the sweet.
On the 28th of October, 1868, at the age of seventy-two years, Mr. Burk, while attending to the receiving of cars loaded with coal, was, in some way, caught between two cars and had his left leg crushed in such a way as rendered ampu- tation necessary ; but at this writing he has so far recovered as to be able, with the use of a crutch, to attend to his ordi- nary business.
JAMES H. McKERNAN,
One of the most enterprising and business men of Indianap- olis, was born at New Castle (not upon Tyne, where the wor- thy apothecary practiced the healing art), but upon the banks of the Delaware.
When he first came to Indiana, in 1842, he was engaged for a short time in the foundry business at Lafayette.
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