USA > Indiana > Encyclopedia of biography of Indiana > Part 23
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city for keen insight he studies attentive- ly the conditions which affect the market and is thus enabled to buy most advan- tageously. In the conduct of his business he has always been industrious, perse- vering, widely intelligent and remarkably successful. He is a financier of quick, lively instinct and sound views. For sev- eral years he was a director of the First National Bank of Michigan City. He is president of the Michigan City Sash and Door Company, a manufacturing corpora- tion formed by himself and others, which does a large jobbing trade and has had a prosperous existence since its founding. The company has just completed a fine brick warehouse to replace a frame struc -- ture which was destroyed by fire in 1897. The late George Ames (whose biography is published in Volume I of this work) left by his will the sum of five thousand dollars for a public library in Michigan City, whose availability was contingent upon the organization of a library asso- ciation, within a given period. Through the well-directed efforts of some of the enterprising citizens of Michigan City this organization was speedily effected, and Mr. Colborn was elected president. This was in 1895 and he has held the office continuously. The affairs of the library have been wisely conducted under his ad- ministration. The public-spirited citizens have supported the organization with en- thusiasm and the public library occupies . a superb home of its own, constructed of stone and brick, at a cost of thirty-five
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Iquation Brown
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thousand dollars, and modern in all re- spects, which was opened January 1, 1898. No other city in the State of equal pop- ulation has library accommodations at all comparable with those of which the timely bequest of Mr. Ames, wisely ad- ministered, became at once the nucleus and the foundation. Mr. Colborn inher- ited from his father the political faith of the Democratic party, but reasoned him- self out of the inheritance soon after he arrived at man's estate, when he in- vestigated, reflected and acted for him- self. Since 1876 he has been actively identified with the Republican party. For twenty-five years he has been a member of the Methodist Episcopal church and on two occasions has been elected a del- egate to the general conference of the church. He believes in brotherly love and charity; has been a Freemason for fifteen years, has taken the thirty-second degree, and is now Eminent Commander of the Michigan City Commandery of Knights Templar. He was married in February, 1872, to Miss Katherine Jos- ephine Woods, of Michigan City, who died in 1894, leaving three of the four chil- dren born of this union. These are Hattie Marion, Harry Carney and Ford Woods. In 1897 he was married with Miss Nellie K. Claypool, of Tacoma, Washington. Mr. Colborn enjoys in the highest degree the confidence and esteem of his fellow citizens, because he is worthy of it. He is a genial, honest, upright Christian gen- tleman.
IGNATIUS BROWN.
Ignatius Brown, the son of Hiram and Judith Brown, was born at Indianapolis, August 11, 1831. He comes of an old Welsh family, his ancestors accompany- ing or shortly following Lord Baltimore's emigration to Maryland, and settling at Welsh Flats, near Philadelphia. His father, Hiram Brown, for years the lead- ing lawyer of central Indiana, was born July 18, 1792, at Brownsville, Pennsyl- vania, then owned by his grandfather, Thomas Brown. Judith Brown was a daughter of James Smith, one of the first Methodist preachers in this country. She was born in Powhattan county, Virginia, in 1796. Hiram and Judith Brown were married near Waynesville, Warren coun- ty, Ohio, in 1817, and removed to Indi- anapolis in November, 1823, where they resided the remainder of their lives. Ig- natius Brown received his education at the Marion County Seminary, conducted by Messrs. Kemper and Lange, and be- fore he was eighteen years old, entered his father's office as a law student. He en- tered the Law Department of the State University, then under Professors Me- Donald and Otto, in 1851, taking the jun- ior and senior classes at the same time, and graduated Bachelor of Law in the spring of 1852. He was admitted to the bar by the Supreme Court before he was twenty years old, and was associated with his father until his death in June, 1853, when he practiced alone. He was
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agent and attorney for Dr. Richard J. Gatling, the well-known inventor of the Gatling gun, for several years, manag- ing important business interests and liti- gated matters for him. In conjunction with Dr. Gatling, he organized the first board of trade of Indianapolis, preparing the circulars and maps issued by it, set- ting forth the advantages possessed by this point as a manufacturing and com- mercial center. At a subsequent period, in 1873, at the solicitation of a commit- tee of the common council, he prepared a large pamphlet with maps and statistics, showing the commanding position of In- dianapolis from a business point of view. This publication was widely distributed by the city authorities and business men, and aided in producing the "boom" of 1873-6. After his admission to the bar, Mr. Brown took an active part in poli- tics, and as president of one of the lodges was sent as delegate to the first National Convention of the "Know Nothing" party in the year 1854. Differing with the sub- sequent policy of that organization, he left it and aided in organizing the Re- publican party, introducing and carrying in the county convention the first out- spoken set of resolutions against the spread of slavery that were adopted in this State. These resolutions were very widely published. As president of the Young Men's Republican Club, he took an active part in the Fremont campaign. He organized and directed the "Border Ruffians" Club, giving exhibitions of the horrors of slavery on the streets of In-
dianapolis and other cities. So effective were these parades that invitations to re- peat them were received from many places, among others, one from Horace Greeley, asking him to bring the club to New York. The young men afterward asked him to be a candidate for the nom- ination for mayor of Indianapolis, and though unsuccessful in the convention he was second to the nominee. In 1856 having taken a State prize of a silver cup for the best essay on the "Soils of In- diana," he was chosen secretary of the State Board of Agriculture, and pre- pared the reports of that body for 1856 and 1857. In these reports he strongly condemned the widespread destruction of the magnificent hard-wood forests of the State, asserting that the evil results on the climate and rainfall would be disas- trous. Subsequent observations have tended to confirm this conclusion. For the Indianapolis city directory of 1857, pub- lished in Cincinnati by A. C. Howard, he prepared the first historical sketch of Indianapolis up to that time, with maps showing the extent of the town at differ- ent dates. Subsequently when A. L. Lo- gan published the directory of 1868, he asked Mr. Brown to prepare a more ex- tended article, carrying the history of the city down to that date, and this he did, preparing a very compact statement of all essential facts connected with the de- velopment of the city from its first settle- ment to that time, comprised in one hun- dred closely printed pages. It involved an immense amount of labor, and is a re-
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liable compendium of all historical facts connected with the city's growth up to that date. In the civil war he entered the pay department of the army, but a year's experience in the South so impaired his health that he returned to his office. In 1870 Mr. Brown decided to prepare an abstract of the titles to all real estate in Marion county, which he has continued to the present time, at last completing a work monumental in magnitude and usefulness; one that is unequaled in this State. It is a lawyer's synopsis of every instrument connected with the history of every lot and tract of land in Marion county. One may stand appalled at the immense labor involved in it. He has been a member of very few organizations, but is a member of the Masonic order, in which he has long held the thirty-second degree, and this has been his church. From early boyhood the subject of this sketch has been a student, and of late years has withdrawn almost entirely from society, devoting his days to business, and his nights to reading works on scientific subjects, on travel, exploration, geogra- phy, history, European and Asian poli- tics, and other topics, using the libraries far beyond any other patron. Mr. Brown was married at Indianapolis, May 5, 1857, to Miss Elizabeth M. Marsee, daughter of Rev. Joseph and Rebecca L. Marsee. She was born December 19, 1854, in Jessa- mine county, Kentucky, and died at In- dianapolis, November 30, 1873. She had remarkable mental strength with a high- ly cultivated intellect, united with a most
amiable disposition. To them were born four children, Hiram, Lindsay M., May Belle, and Elizabeth M., all of whom are living.
FRANKLIN W. HAYS.
Franklin W. Hays, M. D., is one of the representative members of the medical and surgical profession of Indiana, and he is counted among the many men of dis- tinction and worth which this State has given to medicine and surgery. Although an Ohioan by birth, Dr. Hays laid the foundation of his medical education in the schools of Indiana. Well grounded in literary and scientific branches by a course at the University of Kentucky, he brought to the study of medicine qualities insuring intelligent and unremitting la- bor. His first tutor in the way of pro- fessional studies, was Dr. Grove of Col- umbus. He afterwards went to Green- field, Indiana, where he read under the direction of Drs. Howard and Martin. It was here that the friendship between James Whitcomb Riley, the poet, and Dr. Hays began, at a period when these young men were only dreaming of wealth and fame. Diversity of careers has wrought no change in the relations formed nearly twenty years ago, unless it be in a keen- er appreciation and delight in a com- panionship and affection that under- stands. From Greenfield Dr. Hays came to Indianapolis, where he studied under Drs. Patrick H. and Henry Jameson. At this time he began his course in the medi-
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cal college of Indiana, from which he | graduated in 1880. He has been connect- ed ever since with this institution, hold- ing not only the position of professor and lecturer, but being identified with its busi- ness responsibilities. While a student, he lectured on chemistry and toxicology, and after graduation he was continued in the work, and at the same time elected libra- rian and registrar of the college. He afterwards became lecturer on dermatol- ogy, and superintendent of the Bobb Free Dispensary connected with the institu- tion. In the reorganization of the college on a financial and professional basis some years ago, Dr. Hays was a very influen- tial factor. That work has made the in- stitution one of the leading and most highly considered medical colleges in the West. He was made secretary of the col- lege, and became its professor of materia medica, therapeutics and dermatology. For many years he was secretary of the college Alumni Association, and for sev- eral terms its president. He has been also an active member of the Marion County and Indiana Medical Societies, and of the American Medical Association. Not. withstanding many and diverse duties. Dr. Hays found time for a post-graduate course at the University of Pennsylvania, and also for attendance in the New York, Philadelphia and European hospitals, and with all the demands made upon his time by a large practice and additional interests, he keeps pace with every new investigation and discovery in his profes- sion. He keeps constantly in touch with
the advances of the hospitals of eastern cities and of Europe, to acquire the knowl- edge these medical institutions afford. He is of the consulting staff of the Indianapo- lis Free Dispensary, City Hospital and St. Vincent's Hospital, having been pre- viously attending physician at the lat- ter institution. Under Mayor Denny's ad- ministration Dr. Hays was president of the Indianapolis Board of Health. He brought to this position of official trust it lively appreciation of what the city needed to make its sanitation perfect. By. reason of his professional knowledge, his views in this matter were valuable, and they were the more reliable, owing to his having made, while traveling abroad, a study of sanitary systems. To such ex- tent as his suggestions were acted upon, the results were satisfactory, and had the plans he advocated been adopted in their essential features, the city would have been to-day in this direction far in ad- vance of any city in the country. Besides being a skilful physician, Dr. Hays has shown marked ability in important mat- ters of finance, and has proved himself a remarkable organizer, his knowledge of human nature and the mutability of af- fairs showing the keenest insight and ob- servation. The Columbia Club, in recog- nition of these qualities as exercised in its behalf, made him its president. This club is the political and social organization of the Republicans of Indiana. No insti- tution of the kind is altogether like it. or more highly representative of the pro- fessional, business and social worth of
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the State. It is a great power in politics, although that is but one of the chief ends of the organization. Dr. Hays' activity and progressive spirit, united with a strong executive ability, has given new life to the club that will soon result in its possession of a larger material value in new buildings and a wider influence in increased but strictly representative membership. Highly esteemed in his pro- fession and out of it, Dr. Hays has be- come a factor in Indianapolis affairs which are for the most part controlled by men of his age. He is of the young and aggressive class in the city, that is just now, to a marked degree, setting the pace for the progressive to follow. Dr. Frank- lin W. Hays was born at Eldorado, Ohio, April 2, 1858. His early boyhood was spent in Columbus, Indiana, where, shortly after his birth, his parents had gone to live. His father, James C. Hays, a merchant and man of public affairs, was a descendant of a family known for its sturdy character, progressive spirit and resolute purpose in aiding develop- ment of Georgia and Tennessee. During the Civil War, the conscientious spirit which led many of this old Southern family to cast their fortunes with the Confederacy, moved others to espouse the cause of the Government. It was an hon- est difference of opinion and belief as to where duty belonged, that thus for four years of civic strife divided the family. The immediate relatives of the Doctor were loyal to the Union. Thus the po- litical environment of Franklin W. Hays
was such as to identify him in his youth and early manhood with the Republican party. While not active in politics, as activity is ordinarily regarded, he has al- ways a keen interest in his party's move- ments and needs, to which he contributes both his means and influence. Through his mother, Sarah J. (Clevenger) Hays, he comes of a family whose American branch dates from colonial times; and which gave to the Republic, men who at- tained preferment and distinction in bus- iness, in the professions and in art, among the latter being the well-known sculptor, Shobal Clevenger.
WILLIAM J. HENLEY.
The origin of Hon. William J. Henley, sought through a long line of English an- cestors, is lost in the twilight of Eng- land's early history. The record of the family on this side of the Atlantic begins with the grandfather of Judge Henley, who crossed to Philadelphia with Will- iam Penn. In 1832 his father, Thomas W. Henley, located in Carthage, Rush county, Indiana, having come thither from North Carolina, and here, on Octo- ber 15, 1864, William J. was born, his mother, Hannah Williams Henley, being the daughter of Jason Williams, who was one of the earliest settlers of Henry coun- ty, Indiana. Young Henley attended the public schools of his native town, from which he was regularly graduated. Sub- sequently he took an academic course in
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the institution carried on by the Society of Friends. Of this Society he became a member, and he has remained until the present time a Friend. In 1880 he asso- ciated himself with the law firm of Mel- lette & Bundy, of New Castle, Indiana, remaining with them for two years. He then went to Rushville, Indiana, and spent a year in the law office of George C. Clark. On leaving the latter position, he entered into a partnership with Benja- min L. Smith, for practice in Rushville. This partnership was dissolved in 1887 and the new one of Henley & Guffin formed, which lasted for nine years. Early in 1896 the Republicans elected Mr. Henley Justice of the Appellate Court of Indiana. He took his seat of office at the beginning of the following year, and has since been "winning golden opinions" of both legal associates and clients. In 1885 he was married to Miss Sallie Monroe, the union taking place in Nashville, Ten- nessee. The grandfather of this lady, General P. A. Hackelman, was colonel of the Sixteenth Regiment, Indiana Volun- trers, in our Civil War, and was killed at Corinth while commanding a brigade in the battle of that place. He was the one general from Indiana who laid down his life during the struggle of the Rebellion; and at the last session of the State Leg- islature the erection of a monument as a memorial to him, to be placed in the grounds of the State House, was anthor- ized. Judge and Mrs. Henley have three children,-June, aged eight; William, five, and Gladys, three years. In touch-
ing upon the character of Judge Henley, the words of one or two of his professional colleagues may be quoted as representing the general opinion. An eminent jurist says of him:
"Judge Henley has acquired an envi- able position as a jurist at an age when most men of a profession are students of books. He has an intuitive genius for law, and early in life aspired not merely for judicial eminence but for judicial ex- cellence. He is careful, painstaking and perspicuous in his opinions. He is logi- cal, analytical and patient in investigation and composition, courageous and ambi- tious, fair minded and well read. His ju- dicial opinions command the respect of the profession throughout the State. As a citizen, he is esteemed by all who know him for his devotion to country and State. His tastes are simple and refined; his pri- vate and public life beautiful."
And a prominent attorney of Indian- apolis says:
"It affords me great pleasure to testify to the fact that Judge Henley, while a young man, is one of the ablest judges that has ever graced the bench of Indi- ana. He is strong in every temperament, qualified in every character, and by every phase of his entire make-up is endowed with the characteristics that will make bim a great judge as well as a great la w- yer. Earnest, faithful and devoted to a duty imposed upon him, he stands ready at all times to discharge his work in any capacity fully and faithfully. His deci- sions are looked upon by lawyers as able, forceful and without fear or favor, ab- solutely impartial in every particular. Genial, loyal to his friends, faithful to any promise he makes, as a man among men he stands second to none."
WILLIAM FORTUNE.
William Fortune was born in Boon- ville, Warrick county, Indiana, May 27,
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1863. He is of French and Scotch descent on his mother's side, the St. Clairs of Kentucky and Virginia. His great-grand- father was Wayman St. Clair and his grandfather was Isaac St. Clair. On his father's side the family (Fortune-Shoe- maker) is of French and German origin. Although the St. Clairs were large slave owners, the Kentucky branch of the fam- ily took the Union side, and five of the six uneles of the subject served through the war on the Federal side. William H. Fortune the father of William, was one of the first to enlist in Company A, of the First Indiana Cavalry and served till mustered out at the close of the war. He fell into the disastrous mistake de- scribed by Tourgee as "A Fool's Errand," and was one of the great number of Union soldiers who went South soon after the surrender of the Confederates. He lo- cated in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, in the summer of 1865, but, like nearly all others who sought their fortunes in the rebuild- ing of Southern prosperity, encountered reverses instead, and eighteen months af- terward returned North. The next few years were spent in Paxton, Illinois; Seymour, Shoals, Mitchell and Evans- ville, Indiana, the family finally returning to Boonville, the birthplace of William, where the latter lived from his ninth to his eighteenth year. Ile became an ap- prentice in the printing office of the Boon- ville Standard in 1876. The editor of the Standard, M. B. Crawford, took much in- terest in the training of the boy as a writ- er, and before he was sixteen years old
he was doing much of the editorial work of the paper. When seventeen years old he wrote and published a history of his native county, from the profits of which he was enabled to provide for the family, which had become dependent upon him, while he sought a new field of work. In January, 1882, he became a reporter on the Indianapolis Journal. His reports of the sessions of the Indiana General _1.s- sembly in 1883-4 were the cause of sey- eral rather dramatic incidents, resulting finally in an attempt by the Democratic majority to expel him on the last day of the session, but this was thwarted by enough of the Democratic Senators vot- ing on his side to make a tie, and the do- ciding vote of the Lieutenant-Governor, General Manson, was cast in his favor. Soon afterward Mr. Fortune succeeded Harry S. New as city editor of the Jour- nal and continued in this position till the spring of 1888, when he resigned on account of ill-health. Soon afterward he started the Sunday Press, with Mrs. Em- ma Carleton as associate editor. The paper ranked high in literary quality, and among its regular contributors were many of the best known people in the State, but it was soon demonstrated, as Mr. Fortune believed, that the possible success of such a publication was not worth the effort and expense of establish- ing it, and the Press was discontinued at the end of three months. The nom- ination of Harrison for President made Indiana the battle center in the campaign 1 of 1888, and as the special representative
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of several leading newspapers, including the New York Tribune, Philadelphia Press and Chicago Tribune, Mr. Fortune did some notable work as a political cor- respondent. It brought him an offer of the position of Washington correspond- ent of the Chicago Tribune, which was declined. While an editorial writer on the Indianapolis News, when John H. Holliday was in charge of the paper, Mr. Fortune wrote several articles urging or- ganized effort toward overcoming the ex- treme conservatism which then hindered the physical improvement and commer- cial development of Indianapolis. The suggestion was received with general ap- proval, as shown by many letters writ- ten to the paper commending the arti- cles, and offering ideas as to the scope of the needed work. It had been proposed in the articles that the work should be undertaken by the Board of Trade, but when a resolution on this line was brought before the governors of that or- ganization, it was defeated. One of the few members of the board of governors who supported the resolution was Col. Eli Lilly. When advised of the adverse ac- tion of the Board of Trade, Mr. Fortune immediately called up by telephone a number of business men, asking them to attend a meeting at the Bates House the next day. Twenty-seven men were at this meeting and they became the nucleus of the Commercial Club, of Indianapolis, the organization of which was completed at another meeting held two days later, with eighty charter members. Col. Eli Lilly
was chosen as president and Mr. Fortune was elected as secretary, and the Com- mercial Club entered vigorously upon the work for which it was organized. The membership grew from eighty to a thou- sand inside of a month, and the many pro- jects which constitute the history of the club during the period of activity of Colo- nel Lilly and Mr. Fortune were brought forward in rapid succession, and every im- portant undertaking was successfully carried out. This movement marked the beginning of a new era in Indianapolis. It marked also a turning point in the life of William Fortune, who gradually relin- quished newspaper work and necessarily soon gave it up entirely. The new plans of work absorbed his thoughts and re- quired his time. In the new field it was his duty "to do things" for which he showed capability, and the energy, the enthu- siasm, the indomitable spirit with which projects were undertaken and carried out spurred others into activity in the same work. The aim which Mr. Fortune kept in view in these projects, as often de- clared, was "to make Indianapolis a model city." The story of what was ac- complished through this work and his connection with it is to be found more completely than it can be given here in the history of the Commercial Club dur- ing the time of his official responsibility and activity. For five years Colonel Lilly was president and Mr. Fortune secretary of the club, when both retired. Mr. For- tune then served two terms as first vice- president and rounded out his career in
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