Greater Indianapolis : the history, the industries, the institutions, and the people of a city of homes, Part 106

Author: Dunn, Jacob Piatt, 1855-1924. cn
Publication date: 1910
Publisher: Chicago : The Lewis Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 972

USA > Indiana > Marion County > Indianapolis > Greater Indianapolis : the history, the industries, the institutions, and the people of a city of homes > Part 106

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In politics Mr. Reardon is aligned as a stanch supporter of the cause for which the Democratic party stands sponsor, and his re- ligious tenents are those of the Catholic Church, in whose faith he was reared.

Mr. Reardon was united in marriage to Miss Anna Moore, of Boston, Massachusetts, and she died in 1896. She is survived by two daughters,-Mary J. and Anna H. Mr. Rear- don married for his second wife Miss Dora L. Miles, of Lebanon, Indiana, who had pre- viously been a successful and popular school teacher and who is a woman of gracious re- finement. They have one son, Henry Miles Reardon.

GEORGE T. BREUNIG. One who has served in various positions of distinctive public trust and responsibility in the city of Indianapolis and who has proved a thorough, capable and reliable official, is George T. Breunig, who is well known in the city that has so long rep- resented his home and who is held in un- qualified popular confidence and esteem. He retired from the office of city controller in January, 1910, after a most discriminating and effective administration, and he had pre- viously served a term in this responsible of- fice.

Mr. Breunig is a native of the City of Wheeling, West Virginia, where he was born on the 6th of August, 1848, and he is a son of Rev. George A. and Katherine (Young) Breunig, both of whom were natives of Ger- many, and of their seven children the sub-

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HISTORY OF GREATER INDIANAPOLIS.

ject of this sketch is the younger of the two now living; his sister, Mary, also resides in Indianapolis. The honored father, a man of high intellectuality and consecrated zeal, was one of the pioneer clergymen of the German Methodist Episcopal Church in the United States. His first pastoral charge was in the City of Detroit, Michigan, and after leaving that city he held pastorates in various other places, principally in Ohio and Indiana. He attained to the venerable age of eighty-seven years, and was a resident of Indianapolis at the time of his death, which occurred in 1897. His cherished and devoted wife was sum- moned to the life eternal in 1895, at the age of eighty-two years, and their memories are revered by all those who came within the sphere of their gracious and kindly influence.

George T. Breunig was a lad of six years at the time of the family removal from West Virginia to Louisville and then to Indianap- olis, and in this city he was reared to matu- rity, being afforded the advantages of the common schools and thereafter continuing his studies for two years in the Northwestern Christian University, now known as Butler College, at Irvington, an attractive suburb of Indianapolis. After leaving this institu- tion he held positions at, intervals as extra clerk in the offices of the city clerk, city au- ditor-and city treasurer of Indianapolis, and thus it will be noted that he early entered service in connection with the municipal gov- ernment of the capital city,-a public service in connection with which few if any citizens have been longer or more worthily identified. From 1867 to 1871 he was in their employ and from May 1871 to December 31, 1883, he was deputy city clerk and was also clerk of the city board of aldermen, and on the 1st of January, 1884, he became city clerk, of which position he remained in tenure until January, 1886, when he accepted a position as private secretary to Allen M. Fletcher, who was secretary-treasurer of the Indianapolis Natural Gas Company, with whose affairs he continued to be identified until 1891. In 1890-91 he represented the first aldermanic district as a member of the board of alder- men, and in the latter year he became book- keeper in the Fletcher Bank, now the Fletcher National Bank, in which he continued to be employed until 1901, when he became city controller, serving under the administration of Mayor Charles A. Bookwalter and retiring from office in October, 1903. Thereafter he held the position of bookkeeper of the Indian- apolis Gas Co. until January, 1906, when he again assumed the office of city controller, of which he continued incumbent until January,

1910. A marked continuity of service in con- nection with the municipal government of the capital city thus stands to the credit of Mr. Breunig, and this service has been notable for ability and fidelity. There are few who are more familiar with municipal affairs and he has ever done all in his power to further the interests of good government and liberal and progressive municipal policies. In politics Mr. Breunig is a stanch advocate of the prin- ciples for which the Republican party stands sponsor, and he has given effective service in the promotion of its cause in a local way. He is a valued member of the Marion Club and the Indianapolis Maennerchor, and is af- filiated with Indianapolis Lodge, No. 56, Knights of Pythias, of which he has served continuously as secretary since January 1, 1886. He and his wife hold membership in the Central Avenue Methodist Episcopal Church.

On the 18th of December, 1871, Mr. Breu- nig was united in marriage to Miss Augusta Vayhinger, who was born in Ripley County, Indiana, and who is a daughter of Gustave and Margaret Vayhinger, who were natives of Germany. Of the seven children Mrs. Breunig was the fifth in order of birth and of the number five are now living. Mr. Vayhinger, whose active career was devoted to agricultural pursuits, died at the patrí- archal age of ninety-two years, he having been survived by his wife by a number of years; both were devout members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Mr. and Mrs. Breunig became the parents of five children, of whom three are living, namely: Leroy C., Morris E. and Russell G. Leroy C. is assist- ant secretary of the Federal Union Surety Co. of Indianapolis. Morris E. is now book- keeper of the Park Board, and Russell G. is manager of the bond department in the of- fice of the city treasurer of Indianapolis.

HOMER I. JONES, M. D. Among the native sons of Indiana who have here entered the medical profession and gained success and prestige as able physicians and surgeons of the capital city of the state is numbered Dr. Homer I. Jones, whose standing as a physi- cian and as a citizen well entitles him to rep- resentation in this publication.

Dr. Jones was born on a farm in Putnam County, Indiana, on the 13th of November, 1865, and is a son of John C. and Lucy (O'Brien) Jones, the former of whom was born in Muskingum County, Ohio, and the latter in the State of New York. The paternal grandparents of the doctor were Gabriel and Rebecca (Smith) Jones, both of whom were born in Virginia, where the respective fami-

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lies were early founded, the lineage of the . and the Indianapolis Medical Society, is a Re- Jones family being traced back to stanch publican in his political allegiance, and both he and his wife are members of the Meridian Street Methodist Episcopal Church. He is af- filiated with the Free & Accepted Masons, Royal Arch Masons, and Knights of Pythias. Welsh origin. Gabriel Jones became one of the pioneers of Ohio, in which state he and his wife continued to reside until their death. John C. Jones was reared to manhood in Ohio, receiving the advantages of the com- In 1903 Dr. Jones was united in marriage to Miss Mamie Scholtz, daughter of Hon. F. J. Scholtz, formerly treasurer of the State of Indiana. mon schools, and the major part of his active career was one of close and successful iden- tification with agricultural pursuits. He be- came one of the prosperous farmers of Put- nam County, this state, whence he later re- moved to Greencastle.

Dr. Jones gained his early education in the public schools of the City of Greencastle, where he was finally matriculated in DePauw University, in which institution he was grad- uated as a member of the class of 1892. In the following year he completed the pre- scribed course in the Medical College of In- diana, in Indianapolis, and was duly gradu- ated with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. He had previously devoted careful attention to the study of medicine while an under- graduate in DePauw University. Dr. Jones had sufficient confidence in his ability and sufficient ambition and self-reliance to de- termine to gain for himself a place as a medi- cal practitioner in the capital city of the state. though he realized that here his novitiate would be more severe, but the eventual re- wards and prestige the greater. His success has amply justified his courage and he has built up an excellent practice in Indianapolis, where he is held in high regard both as a physician and as a citizen.

Dr. Jones became a private in Company A, Second Regiment, Indiana National Guard, and later he held the office of first lieutenant in the First Regiment, a position which he resigned in 1891. In 1894 he was chosen sergeant major of the Second Regiment of. Infantry, and in 1896 became assistant sur- geon of this command, with the rank of cap- tain, serving as such at the time of the in- ception of the Spanish-American war. He enlisted in the United States service with his regiment, and with the same held the office of assistant surgeon. Dr. Jones was mus- tered out of the United States service with other members of his regiment, in 1898, and duly received his honorable discharge. Upon the reorganization of the infantry of the In- diana National Guard in 1900 the doctor was given the office of major surgeon, and in 1907 he was honored with appointment to the posi- tion of surgeon general. He is still actively identified with the National Guard and takes much interest in its affairs. He holds mem- bership in the Indiana State Medical Society

OVID BUTLER was born February 7, 1801, in Augusta, New York, and died in Indian- apolis, Indiana, July 12, 1881. His father, the Rev. Chauncey Butler, was the first pas- tor of the Disciples church in Indianapolis. He died in 1840. His grandfather, Capt. Joel Butler, was a Revolutionary soldier, and served in the disastrous Quebec expedition. He died in 1822. In 1817 the family removed from New York to Jennings County, Indiana. where Ovid Butler resided until he arrived at years of manhood. He taught school for a few years; studied law, and in 1825 settled in Shelbyville, where he practiced law till 1836, when he removed to Indianapolis, ever afterward his home. He practiced law up to 1849, when on account of failing health he was obliged to give it up. Thereafter he devoted his life mainly to the Christian Church and the Northwestern Christian Uni- versity (now Butler), with which was his great memorable work, the institution now bearing his name. He was for twenty years its president, retiring in 1871, at the age of seventy. He was first a Democrat, then a Free Soiler, and later a Republican. He mar. ried in 1827 Cordelia Cole, who died in 1838, and in 1840 he married Mrs. Elizabeth A. Elgin, nee McOuat, who survived him many years.

JOHN W. CHIPMAN. As a citizen and as a man of affairs the late John W. Chipman impressed a deep influence on this history of Indianapolis, where he maintained his home for many years. Not in an ephemeral way is his name associated with the word progress, with moving forward in industrial enterprise and with every enterprise making for civic betterment, and not the least of his endeavors was in connection with interurban electric- railway promotion and upbuilding. Until within a few months prior to his death he was general manager of the Indianapolis & East- ern Railway Company, whose electric inter- urban service was greatly extended and im- proved under his able generalship. He is remembered as one of the strong, vital and honorable captains of industry in Indianap- olis, and it is mete that a brief record con- cerning his life and productive efforts be in-

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HISTORY OF GREATER INDIANAPOLIS.

corporated in this history of the city to whose development and upbuilding he contributed in no insignificant measure. He was in the City of Boston, Massachusetts, at the time of receiving the stroke of apoplexy which caused his death, on the 12th of September, 1905. He was preparing to return to his home in Indianapolis at the time when the inexorable summons came, and here his re- mains were brought for interment.

Mr. Chipman was born at Youngsville, Warren County, Pennsylvania, on the 17th of September, 1846, and was a representa- tive of old and honored families of the Key- stone commonwealth, where he was reared to maturity and received. good educational ad- vantages in his youth. His business career was one of consecutive and productive activ- ity along normal lines of industrial enter- prise, and through his own efforts he achieved a large measure of success, the while main- taining an impregnable reputation as a man of integrity and honor in all the relations of life. He came to Indianapolis in 1877, and with the exception of an interval of a few years, this city thereafter represented his home until he passed to the life eternal. Dur- ing the last few years of his life he suffered from organic difficulty of the heart, and was confined to his home for weeks at a time. He passed the summer prior to his demise at Pine Point, on the Maine coast, and was greatly benefited, but when he arrived in Bos- ton, en route to his home, he endured the at- tack that terminated his life.

Concerning the business activities of Mr. Chipman the following succinct statements will suffice, though only by inference can be understood the full scope and importance of his labors in the connections noted. He had been identified with various railroad and min- ing enterprises for a long period. For sev- eral years, up to a few months prior to his death, he was general manager of the In- dianapolis & Eastern Railway Company. He had been in the coal-mining business in Ohio and Illinois and when the Clover Leaf Rail- road was placed in the hands of a receiver Mr. Chipman was made manager of the mines controlled by that company in the state of Illinois. The mining property he managed successfully until the dissolution of the re- ceivership, and he then became one of the in- terested principals in a stone-quarrying com- pany in the Indiana oolitic field and in zinc and other mining properties in the west. In 1901 he became interested with other Indian- apolis capitalists in the organization of the Indianapolis & Eastern Railway Company, which effected the purchase of the electric

line of the Indianapolis & Greenfield Rapid Transit Company, between Indianapolis and Greenfield. Under his direction was forth- with instituted the extension of the line east- ward and he continued in the office of gen- eral manager of the company until its prop- erty passed into other hands, a few months before his death. He then went to the east for the vacation which terminated in his death, in the City of Boston, as has already been noted in this context.

Mr. Chipman was a man of generous im- pulses and genial personality, and in Indian- apolis he had a wide circle of friends, both in business and social relations. He was one of the active members of the Commercial Club and a charter member of the Columbia Club, representative, organizations that have done much to promote the progress of the capital city, and he was also affiliated with the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows. Though es- sentially a business man, the symmetrical character of Mr. Chipman manifested itself in public spirit and civic liberality, and while he had no desire for public office he was a stanch advocate of the principles and policies for which the Republican party stands spon- sor.

On the 2nd of April, 1872, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Chipman to Miss Lucy A. Whitney, who was born and reared at Conway, Massachusetts, where her father, the late Nathan Whitney, was long a prominent business man and influential citizen. Mrs. Chipman still retains her home in Indianap- olis, a place endeared to her by the gracious associations and memories of the past, and here also reside the two daughters, Misses Susan and Mary Elizabeth. The family has been long one of prominence and distinctive popularity in connection with the best social activities of Indianapolis, and the attractive home is located at 1645 Talbott avenue.

HON. JAMES MADISON LEATHERS. A scion of a family that has been distinguished, both in the direct and collateral lines, in connection with the history of Indiana, Judge James Madison Leathers has attained to high stand- ing in the profession dignified by the splendid talents of his honored father and other repre- sentatives of the family, and he is not only one of the able members of the bar of his native state but has also been a valued member of its judiciary for more than a decade, being now one of the judges of the Superior Court of Marion County, which retains the services of five judges, whose court rooms are commonly designated by number. Judge Leathers exer- cises the functions of his important judicial office in Room 2 of the county building. As

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one of the representative members of the bench and bar of Indiana, as a member of one of the sterling pioneer families of this commonwealth, and as a loyal and honored citizen of Indian- apolis, he is well entitled to special recognition in this historical compilation.

Judge James Madison Leathers was born in the City of Indianapolis, Indiana, on the 31st of August, 1861, and is a son of William W. and Mary (Wallace) Leathers. His father, William Wallace Leathers, was a native of In- diana and was reared on the homestead farm of his parents, in Morgan County, this state, where he secured a common-school education. He made such effective use of the advantages thus afforded him that as a youth he became eligible for pedagogic honors, having been for some time a successful teacher in the public schools of Morgan County. He early manifest- .ed a marked predilection for the same. He realized the imperative necessity for higher training in the academic branches and with this end in view he entered the old Northwest- ern Christian University, now known as Butler University, at Irvington, Indiana, in which institution he completed both the literary and law courses, being graduated in each depart- ment in 1860 and receiving the degrees of Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws. He forthwith engaged in the practice of his pro- fession in Indianapolis, and that he promptly gained a secure position at the bar is shown in the fact that in 1861 he was elected prose- cuting attorney of Marion County, an office of which he continued incumbent for two suc- cessive terms and in which he made an ad- mirable record. He gained more than local celebrity as a criminal lawyer and built up a large and important practice in both the civil and criminal departments of his profession, thus assuming a position of leadership at the bar of the state and continuing to retain the same until his death, on the 17th of December, 1875, at the untimely age of thirty-nine years and when he was at the very zenith of his splendid powers and virile strength. He had the deepest appreciation of the dignity and honor of his chosen profession, was a stickler in the observance of its unwritten code of ethics, and as a man his course was guided and governed by the highest principles. In politics he was originally aligned with the Democratic party, but when the Civil War was precipitated upon a divided nation he prompt- ly espoused the cause of the Republican party, which more essentially represented the policy of an indissoluble federal union, and there- after he was a zealous advocate of its prin- ciples and policies until the close of his life. He was prominent in the councils of his party

in Indiana and served at one time as chairman of the Republican central committee of Marion County.

In the year 1860 was solemnized the mar- riage of William Wallace Leathers to Miss Mary Wallace, daughter of Hon. David and Zerelda G. Wallace, of Indianapolis. Mrs. Leathers likewise was educated in the North- western Christian University and was a woman of high accomplishments and most gracious personality. A member of a family of much distinction, she was afforded superior advan- tages and had marked talent in both liter- ature and art.' She died on the 4th of March, 1870, at the early age of thirty-three years, secure in the affectionate regard of all who had come within the sphere of her gentle and gra- cious influence.

In the paternal line Judge Leathers traces his ancestry back to stanch German origin, and in the maternal line to Scotch and Irish stock. His maternal grandmother, Zerelda (Gray) Wallace, under whose guidance he was reared, was born in Kentucky and was a grand- niece of Daniel Boone. At the age of nineteen years she was united in marriage to Hon. David Wallace, who was then lieutenant gov- ernor of Indiana and who later became gov- ernor of the state, having held this office from 1838 to 1840, inclusive. Governor Wallace also served one term in Congress and was for a time judge of the court of common pleas of Marion County. He was the father of Gener- al Lew Wallace, one of Indiana's most dis- tinguished sons, and also of William Wallace, whose name likewise is well known in the his- tory of this commonwealth. Both of these sons were the offspring of a prior marriage to that with the grandmother of Judge Leathers. Mrs. Zerelda G. Wallace herself achieved na- tional fame, as one of the early exponents of woman suffrage and as a worker in the cause of temperance. She was an eloquent and re- sourceful public speaker, and her services were much in demand on the lecture platform, in addition to which she was a frequent contribu- tor to the newspaper press and to standard periodical literature. She was summoned to the life eternal in 1904.

Judge Leathers was but nine years of age when his mother died and was fourteen at the time of his father's death. After the demise of his mother he was taken into the home of his maternal grandmother, as has already been intimated, and after having received careful rudimentary instruction under her personal guidance he continued his studies in the pub- lic schools of Indianapolis. That he was dili- gent and appreciative as a youthful student is assured hy the fact that he was but sixteen

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years of age when he entered Butler Univer- sity, the alma mater of his father and mother. In this institution he completed the prescribed four years' course, showing marked proficiency in both the classical and modern languages, as well as in logic, rhetoric, literature and his- tory. He was graduated, with high honors, in June, 1881, at the age of nineteen years, and he was president of his class during the senior year.

A member of a family that has given many able representatives to the legal profession, it may be believed that Judge Leathers had an inherent inclination toward the law, and the texture of his mentality peculiarly adapted him for this field of endeavor. At the age of twenty years he entered the law office of Will- iam Wallace, under whose able preceptorship he devoted himself carefully to the study of the science of jurisprudence, and later he contin- ned his technical studies in turn under the direction of William A. Ketcham and Ad- dison C. Harris. All three of these honored preceptors were leading members of the bar of the Indiana capital. In further fortifying himself for his chosen profession Judge Leathers entered the Central Law School in Indianapolis, in which he was graduated as a member of the class of 1883, thus adding the degree of Bachelor of Laws to the baccalau- reate degree which he had previously received from Butler University.

In the autumn of 1884 Judge Leathers es- tablished himself in the individual practice of his profession in Indianapolis, and his devo- tion to his work was so linked with due at- tending success and prestige as to amply jus- tify bis choice of vocation. In the year 1885 he entered into a professional partnership with Hon. John W. Holtzman, under the firm name of Holtzman & Leathers, and this gratifying and productive alliance continued without in- terruption until 1898, it being terminated only when Judge Leathers withdrew to enter upon his duties as judge of the Superior Court of Marion County, to which office he was elected in the year mentioned. The firm of which he was a member built up a large and representa- tive professional business and its interposition was secured in connection with a large amount of the important litigations in the State and Federal courts.

On the bench of the Superior Court Judge Leathers has shown most effectively the essen- tially judicial cast of his mind, as well as his wide and exact knowledge of the law and of precedents, the result being that his rulings have been based upon equity and justice and that his decisions, invariably fair and im- partial, have met with few reversals by the

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Greater Indianapolis : the history, the industries, the institutions, and the people of a city of homes, Part 106

Author: Dunn, Jacob Piatt, 1855-1924. cn Publication date: 1910 Publisher: Chicago : The Lewis Publishing Company Number of Pages: 972

Author: Dunn, Jacob Piatt, 1855-1924. cn
Publication date: 1910
Publisher: Chicago : The Lewis Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 972