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 30
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Being of a mechanical turn, and also agriculturally inclined, Mr. Stilz, on the first of June of that year, formed a copait-
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nership with P. S. Birkenmayer, dealer in seeds and agricul- tural implements, it being the pioneer establishment in this line in the city, of which business, by the withdrawal of Mr. B. in March 1861, Mr. Stilz has been and is now sole propri- etor.
Much of Mr. S.'s success in this business is no doubt attrib- utable to his being a practical cultivator and agriculturist, as since his advent into the seed and implement trade he has been actively engaged in the culture of all the varied pro- ducts of the soil, thus gaining by experience the discrimina- tion and knowledge necessary to the accurate selection of his own wares, and the proper conduct of his business. That the same has been conducted with marked ability and success is evidenced by the steady and permanent growth of his busi- ness and the widely extended reputation which this house enjoys.
Mr. Stilz is just now in the prime of life, with a healthy and robust constitution, a fine form and a good personal ad- dress, and possesses the happy faculty of making friends of all with whom business or circumstances brings him in con- tact.
WILLIAM H. H. ROBINSON
Was born in Clark County, Indiana, February 6, 1820. His father removed to Louisville, Kentucky, and after living there a few years returned to his old home in Indiana, and there died in 1831.
In 1837 William H. H. Robinson moved to Rockford, in Jackson County, and there resided until 1851, when he re- moved to Indianapolis.
Mr. Robinson enlisted in the three months' service at the beginning of the war, and went into Camp Morton as color- bearer ; on the next Sunday he was elected Captain of the Company, and went into Virginia with Colonel Lew Wallace.
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Josselyn Brothers & Co.
He was soon elected Major of the Regiment. Was with Gen- eral Patterson at Martinsburg, then at Winchester; was at Bunker Hill the day of the first Bull Run fight.
After the three months' service terminated he returned home and recruited a Regiment and took them to St. Louis, thence to Paduca, Kentucky, and done honorable service in the field.
In 1864 he was nominated by the Republican party, and elected, sheriff of Marion County. This last office he filled with credit to himself and satisfaction to the people.
Since his retirement from office he has engaged in the man- ufacture of pianos, as one of the partners of the "Indianap- olis Piano Manufacturing Company." This establishment turns out three pianos of the best quality per month, and they are shipped to and sold in many of the Western cities, and are considered inferior to none, and far superior to many in- struments of the kind of Eastern manufacture. They employ none but the best of workmen, and use only a superior article of material.
The Messrs. Benhams', who are the agents for the sale of these pianos in this place, would sell or recommend none but the best, and their agency is guarantee sufficient to the public for the quality of these instruments, and the public can place the most implicit confidence in what either Mr. Robinson or Messrs. Benhams say in regard to them.
JOSSELYN BROTHERS & CO.,
Are dealers in the Singer Manufacturing Company's Sewing Machines for Indiana, Michigan, Northern Ohio, part of Illi- nois and Ontario, Canada.
This firm is composed of Alanson K. Josselyn, of Indian- apolis, Homer R. Josselyn and John J. Bagley, of Detroit, Michigan.
Alanson K. Josselyn is the managing partner for their im-
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mense and splendid establishment in Indianapolis, while his brother is the manager in Detroit.
Alanson K. Josselyn is a native of New York, his brother, of Massachusetts. They possess in a high degree business qualifications that are generally found in persons from those States. They came West for the purpose of taking charge of the Singer Manufacturing Company's business.
John J. Bagley is a prominent business man and capitalist of Detroit, and proprietor of the Tobacco manufacturing es- tablishment of that city, where that well known and popular article of tobacco, called " May Flower," is produced. They established a branch of their sewing machine business in this place in June, 1869, since which time their manager, as well as their articles, have become quite popular, and have grown in public favor.
Their salesroom is splendidly finished and most elaborately furnished, in fact, is the finest in the city, and I doubt much whether it can be surpassed in the West, where all the vari- ous kinds of machines of that company may be found, as well as the different silk twist and spool thread manufactured by the company.
In their store will be found the article used by the lone widow or seamstress, as a means of support for herself and family, to the finer and more costly article used by the wealthy for amusement or pastime.
Not the least attractive feature connected with their sales- room are several duplicates of the original sewing machine, first introduced by Adam and used in the Garden of Eden. They are employed to learn their customers how to use the modern article.
In their Indianapolis House they employ five clerks and six shipping clerks, beside the young ladies referred to in the preceding paragraph.
I clip the following from the " Indianapolis Sentinel " of
Josselyn Brothers & Co. 409
April 18, 1870. The able correspondent gives a more ex- tended history of the Singer machine :
" This machine is certainly as popular as any other in the United States. The manufactories of this company are loca- ted respectively in the city of New York, Newark, New Jer- sey, South Bend, Indiana, and at Glasgow, Scotland. The New York factory was the original and chief place of manu- facture, both for the wood and iron work of their machines, until the erection of their extensive establishment at South Bend, where now nearly all of their cabinet work is done, giving employment to some four or five hundred hands.
" Their Newark establishment is devoted entirely to the manufacture of silk twist, which is the peculiar thread suita- ble for sewing machines, demanding the capital of a million of dollars, it being the largest establishment of the kind in the world.
" The Singer machine is so called in honor of its original inventor, Mr. Singer, who is now in Paris. He is said to be worth some seven or eight millions of dollars.
" The Singer Manufacturing Company has just purchased thirty acres of ground on Tide Water at Bridgeport, Connec- ticut, where they are now building a new Eastern factory which will be one hundred feet in length, and which they ex- peet to have completed by fall, so as to be able to meet the demands of their trade, both East and West, and also through- out the different countries of Europe.
"It would, perhaps, to some, seem improbable that this company has over 400,000 of their machines now in use, while during the past year their sales have amounted to 86,781, which far excels any other company, and yet they were not able to meet the demands by over 20,000 machines.
" The wonders of the sewing machine trade of this country may be imagined when the fact is stated that the Singer Man- ufacturing Company alone gives employment to between seven 18
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Early Reminiscences.
and eight thousand persons who live through their business and enterprise. This fact certainly demonstrates the utility as well as the excellence of their machines and its apprecia- tion among the people who have had ample opportunities of knowing how they compared with all other machines of like character.
"Their agency was established in this city in 1869, and for the last year has been under the sole direction and govern- ment of Josselyn Bros. & Co., of Detroit, whose exclusive territory includes Indiana, nearly one-half of the State of Illinois, Northern Ohio, Michigan, and a portion of Canada. Within these bounds they have sold from this office and that of Detroit, during the past year, some eight thousand of the Singer machines, amounting to a business of nearly eight hun- dred thousand dollars. The business room of Josselyn Bros. & Co., of this city, No. 74 West Washington street, is one among the neatest and most convenient in the city, and will compare well even with our best finished banking rooms. In- deed, their mode of doing business is somewhat similar to that of banks, for they sell no machines on commission, as their numerous agents are and must be responsible, and purchase before hand every machine they sell.
" The young ladies who superintend the salesrooms of Messrs. Josselyn Bros. & Co., are both polite and attentive to purchasers, and from their intimate familiarity with the Singer machine, will, in an hour or so, initiate any person of an ordin- ary intelligence into their practical and satisfactory use.
" The fitting up of these machines, after the arrival of the different parts from the manufactory, gives employment to quite a number of men, while the business of the office requires the attention of some three or four clerks.
" The office finds it necessary, in order to meet the demands of the trade at the present time, to keep a large stock on hand. Their basement depository contains now some 2,000 machines.
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William Henry Turner.
" The multiplication and sale of sewing machines throughout the United States is one of the progressive wonders of the land, and shows in the footsteps of our civilization what can be accomplished by human genius when it is not only enlight- ened, but is free and independent of the overreaching dynasty of a stereotyped antiquity.
" The patronage bestowed upon the single article of sewing machines is worthy of an intelligent and free people, as it saves centuries of toil in the use of the needle, and will give to those who make our garments lives of pleasure, instead of a tedious imprisonment in the everlasting flirt of the needle.
"Sewing machines are physical missionaries in the broad field of reform .. They lift from the fingers of toil the burden of confinement; they clothe the million in the robes of com- fort, and the gentle hum of their song makes much of the music of human progress, as the poetry of its declarations says to the world, 'Be ye well dressed, and then all men will call ye blessed.'"
WILLIAM HENRY TURNER,
Who is one of the leading business men of the city, was born at Whitehall, New York, October 10, 1823.
He removed to Goshen, Indiana, in 1851, and in 1853 be- came, for the first time, a citizen of Indianapolis, where he engaged in the freight department of the Indianapolis and Madison Railway.
In 1858 he introduced the Russell Reaping and Mowing Machine, and established an extensive business in the sale of this machine and other agricultural implements, and also a large and thriving trade in seeds. He was the first general State agent for the sale of the Grover & Baker Sewing Ma- chine, and built up this branch of business into a large and prosperous trade. In addition he established a grain com- mission business, which has since become a large and import-
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ant business, and brought a fortune to his successors. He also introduced the celebrated Morgan stock of horses into this State, for which he is entitled to the gratitude of all lovers and admirers of this beautiful animal.
In 1865 Mr. T. removed hence to Philadelphia, and after an absence of about four years has returned among us with all his old time energy for establishing new branches of in- dustry at the Capital, and has organized and put in operation, on a large scale, the "Indianapolis Mining Coal and Coke Company," of which he is the President.
Out of Mr. Turner's labors among us have sprung four large and prosperous business houses, besides the present enterprise which he is pushing vigorously forward.
But beyond this he is already looking to the establishing of another new branch of business, to be started here as soon as the proper means can be secured. If the East has any more such men send them on, Indianapolis will be thankful for them.
BISHOP UPFOLD.
The Rt. Rev'd Bishop Upfold, D. D., LL. D., was born at Themley Green, County of Surry, England, on the 7th of May, 1796. At six years of age he, with his parents, emigra- ted to America, arriving at their future home, Albany, New York, in July, 1802. After two years' preparation in Lan- singburgh Academy, he was entered a Freshman at Union College, Schenectady, N. Y., in September, 1810, where he graduated at a little over eighteen years of age in July, 1814.
During College vacations he gave himself to the study of medicine, under the direction of Charles D. Townsend, M. D., of Albany, which he pursued after his graduation under Dr. Valentine Mott, of New York, and graduated at the College of Physicians and Surgeons in that city, receiving his degree of M. D. on the 7th of May, 1816, his twentieth birth day.
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Bishop Upfold.
His attention being soon directed to the work of the min- istry he was admitted a candidate for Holy Orders on the 18th of October, 1818, and was ordained a Deacon by the Rt. Rev. John H. Hobart, D. D., Bishop of New York, having mean- while, on June 3d, 1817, been united in marriage to Sarah S. Graves.
After serving as Minister of Trinity Church, Lansingburgh, and Grace Church, Waterford, he was advanced to the Priest- hood by Bishop Hobart in June, 1820, and in December of that year became the first Rector of St. Luke's Church, New York, officiating also as an assistant minister of Trinity Church, New York, from 1821 to 1825.
In March, 1828, he was instituted Rector of St. Thomas' Church, N. Y., which he resigned in 1831, and accepted a call to Trinity Church, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, having in August of that year received honorary degree of D. D. from Columbia College, N. Y.
Here he remained until after his election and consecration as the first Bishop of Indiana. In 1849 he removed with his family to this State, and in May, 1850, assumed the Rector- ship of St. John's Church, Lafayette, in connection with the duties of the Episcopate. In January, 1854. he resigned his parish to devote himself entirely to the duties of his Episco- pal office, and early in 1857 removed his residence to Indian- apolis.
In 1856 he received the honorary degree of LL. D. from the University of Pennsylvania.
The subject of this brief sketch still survives, at the ad- vanced age of seventy-four years, but for several years past has been entirely incapacitated for active labor. Full of years and full of honors, his sufferings are soothed by the tender care of her to whom in early youth he pledged his love. He has a cherished sentiment of piety, and there is a religious halo which sheds its light around him. He calmly awaits the
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Early Reminiscences.
call of the Master to the higher ministry, which we trust awaits him in the Church triumphant above.
BISHOP TALBOT.
Rt. Rev. Joseph C. Talbot, D. D., LL. D., was born in Al- exandria, Virginia, Sept. 5, 1816, of Quaker parents, and edu- cated at the Alexandria Academy. He removed to the West in 1835, and settled at Louisville, Ky., where for several years he was engaged in mercantile and banking pursuits. There he first became acquainted with the Episcopal Church, and was baptized in Christ's Church, Louisville, by the Rev. Wil- liam Jackson in 1837, and soon after confirmed by the Bishop of Kentucky, Rt. Rev. Dr. Smith. In the same parish in 1838, was united to Anna M., only child of Captain Samuel Waris, U. S. N.
In 1843 he became a candidate for Holy Orders, and was ordained Deacon by Rt. Rev. B. B. Smith, D. D., of Ken- tucky, September, 1846, and Priest September, 1848.
With his Deaconate he commenced work for a third parish in Louisville, and soon founded and built St. John's Church, of which he remained the Rector for seven years.
In January, 1853, he accepted a call to Christ's Church, Indianapolis, where he also continued seven years, until his consecration as Missionary Bishop of the Northwest February 15, 1860. During his Rectorship the present beautiful stone church was erected for the parish.
In 1854 he received from the Western University of Penn- sylvania the honorary degree of D. D., and in 1867 that of LL. D. from the University of Cambridge, England.
In August, 1865, he was elected by a unanimous vote of the Convention Assistant Bishop of Indiana ; and in October of that year returned to the Diocese in that capacity.
He was one of the Council of Anglican Bishops that as- sembled at Lambeth, England, in 1867.
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Dr. Thomas B. Elliott.
Bishop Talbot, at the age of fifty-three, is in full vigor of life, and bids fair for many years of usefulness in the good cause in which he is engaged. He is a man of great fertility of thought, with a cheerful and hopeful disposition, and is a very engaging speaker, and beloved by all who know him. He has charge of all the active duties of the Diocese of In- diana. We hope he may live until his hair is bleached as white in the service as that of his venerable predecessor, our good Bishop Upfold.
DR. THOMAS B. ELLIOTT
Has been recognized during the last fifteen years as one of the most enterprising, active and effective workers for the prosperity of the city. He is a native of Brockport, Mon- roe County, New York, where he was born July 20, 1825.
He received a liberal education, having graduated at Ham- ilton College, New York, in 1845. He studied medicine with his father, Dr. John B. Elliott, who has been for some years past a venerable and much respected resident of this city, and has reached in good health and vigor the advanced age of eighty-one years.
During the winter of 1846-7, T. B. Elliott attended his first course of medical lectures in the University of New York, then presided over by that eminent surgeon, Dr. Val- entine Mott. He continued his studies in New York and Brooklyn during the ensuing spring and summer. In the fall of 1847 and winter of 1848, he traveled in the Eastern States and Canada as agent for a New York publishing house, and during most of the year 1848 traveled through the Southern and Western States, taking full manuscript notes of his trav- els, occasionally corresponding with Eastern newspapers.
He attended his second term of medical lectures in the winter of 1849-50 at the Jefferson Medical College, Philadel- phia, where he graduated in the spring of 1850 with the de-
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Early Reminiscences.
gree of M. D. He continued his studies in Boston, Massa- chusetts, during the next year, and in September and Novem- ber, 1850, he accepted an appointment as Assistant Physician in the Indiana Hospital for the Insane. He remained there four years, and discharged the duties of the position in a man- ner that secured the approval of all with whom he was asso- ciated.
He was married in May, 1853, to Miss Helen Brown, of Goshen, Indiana, and in December, 1855, resigned his trust at the Hospital and commenced the practice of medicine in the city. He was two years physician to the county and three years Secretary to the State Medical Society.
Having entire confidence in the rapid growth of the city, he invested all his means, from time to time, in out-lot pro- perty in the then suburbs of the city, which has since largely increased in value.
In June, 1856, he aided in the organization of the Board of Trade, was elected Secretary, and issued a circular showing the advantages of the city for the various industries, which was published with a Railroad Map.
In January, 1857, he presented to the Board of Trade an elaborate paper on " Indianapolis, its Resources or Advantages, Manufactures and Wants," which was printed in pamphlet form, by order of the Board, accompanied with a revised rail- road map, and several thousand copies were distributed among distant manufactories and artisans. The influence of these papers has been to establish here a number of our leading manufactures.
In 1858 he relinquished his profession and opened the large brick warehouse, No. 150 South Delaware street, and became a flour and grain merchant.
He was the first merchant in this city to introduce shelling corn by steam power, and preparing and shipping it to the different markets. Previous to this time corn was only used
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Dr. Thomas B. Elliott.
for feed and distillation. During the year 1859 Dr. Elliott shelled, sacked and shipped over one hundred thousand bush- els to the markets East and South. At that time there were no through freight lines, and all grain was shipped in sacks or barrels. He conducted another flour and grain warehouse and elevator on the Indianapolis and Cincinnati Railroad track, corner of Alabama street, that was burned in 1866, about which time, owing to serious losses in business, he re- linquished warehousing.
In 1863, as Chairman of a committee of citizens, he pre- pared and published a pamphlet setting forth the advantages of Indianapolis as the site of the new projected National Ar- senal. This was sent to each Senator and Representative in Congress, and had its influence in securing the location of that institution in this city.
The Board of Trade, in 1856, had no claims to be consid- ered in any sense a Merchants' Exchange, it was substantially an advertising medium for the city.
In 1864 Dr. Elliott, associated with a number of leading merchants, established the Board of Trade and Merchants' Exchange, and was elected its first President, which office he held until April, 1866, when he was succeeded by James C. Ferguson, Esq.
In 1860 Dr. Elliott was elected one of the Trustees of the Public Schools, and, after years of labor, was appointed Pres- ident of the Board, which position he continued to hold, by successive appointments, until May, 1869. Our citizens are mainly indebted to his industry, persistence and foresight for the admirable school system which our city enjoys. In 1860 there were not sufficient school buildings, and no adequate funds, and no regular superintendence, and more than fifty per cent. of the pupils of suitable age had no room in the schools.
Under the Presideney of Dr. Elliott Professor Shortridge
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Early Reminiscences.
was appointed Superintendent, funds were raised by making a levy to the full extent of the law, and new, first-class school houses were built on the corner of Michigan and Blackford, Vermont and Davidson, and Union and McCarty streets, thus adding, with the re-arrangement of the old buildings, room for over two thousand children. The Second Presbyterian Church property, on the corner of Circle and Market streets, was also bought and a High School organized on a grand and liberal scale. Dr. Elliott has at all times cheerfully given whatever aid was in his power to all public enterprises.
CAPTAIN H. M. SOCWELL
Was born in New Jersey "one morning quite early," and when a child came to Indiana. At the age of sixteen he en- gaged with Captain Tom Wright, on the old steamboat Wis- consin, and was gradually promoted from one place to another until he finally reached the pinnacle of steamboat position.
After fifteen years of " Life upon the ocean wave," he aban- doned it, and came to Indianapolis and engaged in the family grocery business on East Washington street, but his steamboat fame had followed him.
A company was formed, with him as one of the stockhold- ers, to build a steamboat to navigate the turbulent waters of White River. This monster of the deep was called "Gover- nor Morton."
When the boat was finished Capt. Socwell was unanimously selected as her commander, which duty he performed with the skill and experience of an old navigator.
On the trial trip to Cold Spring and back the boat was crowded from the hole to the hurricane deck. When but a few minutes out from port the cry of "man overboard " was heard. The Captain ordered the life-boat lowered; the man proved to be a fat Dutchman, who was hard aground laying upon his belly.
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Governor Conrad Baker.
The next was a lady, who had stepped into the water up to her armpits. Captain S. cried to the bystanders to save that woman, as she was a young widow worth half a million of dollars.
One of the proprietors of the "Journal," (Mr. Samuel Douglass) who has for sometime been a candidate for matri- mony, was standing by and confirmed what the Captain said, and let the golden opportunity slip through his hands. An old widower, whose head had been whitened by the frost of some seventy winters, plunged in, saved the widow, won her heart, if not the half million, and they were shortly after married. "There's a divinity that shapes our ends rough hew them as we will." For particulars call on the Captain.
Captain Socwell has navigated his dry land craft to much advantage, and is yet one of the popular family grocers of the city.
He is just the man to keep such an establishment, good- looking, pleasant manners, accommodating disposition, fond of a joke, and will generally he found with a large and select assortment of goods, and will never be caught placing light weights in the widow's basket. May his business craft never be stranded.
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