Greater Indianapolis : the history, the industries, the institutions, and the people of a city of homes, Part 109

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 109

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Dr. Jacobs is indebted to the public schools of Indianapolis for his early educational dis- cipline, which included a course in the Man- ual Training High School, and in 1898 he was matriculated in the Indiana Medical College, which is now known as the Indiana. Univer- sity College of Medicine and is affiliated with the state university. In this well ordered in- stitution he was graduated as a member of the class of 1901, and from the same he re- ceived his degree of Doctor of Medicine. He took the competitive examination for dispen- sary work, passing the same with specially high averages, and for one year thereafter. from May. 1901, until May, 1902, he had charge of the city dispensary of Indianapolis. At the expiration of this period he engaged in the general practice of his profession. mak-

ing a specialty of surgery, and his success has been on a parity with his recognized ability and discrimination, so that he now controls a substantial and representative practice.

In politics, Dr. Jacobs is found aligned as a stanch supporter of the cause of the Re- publican party ; he holds membership in the synagogue known as the Indianapolis Hebrew Congregation ; and in the Masonic fraternity he is affiliated with Monument Lodge No. 657, Free & Accepted Masons, of which he was worshipful master in 1909; Indianapolis Chapter No. 5, Royal Arch Masons; and Indianapolis Council No. 2, Royal and Select Masters. He is medical examiner for the Knights of the Maccabees, with which order he is affiliated in an active way, and he also holds a similar office in connection with other fraternal organizations. He is a member of the Sydenham Society of the Indiana Univer- sity College of Medicine, and is identified with the Indianapolis Medical Society, the In- diana State Medical Society, and the Ameri- can Medical Association.

On the 10th of October, 1905, Dr. Jacobs was united in marriage to Miss Naomi Marer, who was born and reared in Indianapolis and who is a daughter of Philip and Elsie Marer, the former a native of Hungary and the lat- ter of the City of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Mr. and Mrs. Marer still maintain their home in Indianapolis and of their four children Mrs. Jacobs is the eldest. Dr. and Mrs. Jacobs have a winsome little daughter, Helen, who was born on the 10th of August, 1906.

SAMUEL D. PIERSON, one of the largest manufacturers and cigar dealers in Indianap- olis, is the son of an Indiana pioneer and has evinced the same sturdy spirit in wresting success from untoward business conditions as his father showed in the earlier period. Mr. Pierson was born in Franklin County, In- diana, November 4, 1849, and is a son of Isaac H. and Pauline .(Clark) Pierson-the former born in Morristown, New Jersey, and the lat- ter in Ohio. The father died in Danville, Indiana, at the age of eighty-three years, and the mother passed away in 1859, aged thirty- seven years. In 1844 the elder Mr. Pierson migrated from Ohio to Indiana and purchased a farm in what was then the wilderness of Hendricks County. It was there that Samuel D. was born and this farm was the family homestead until 1862, when it was transferred to Clermont, Marion County, where Isaac H. Pierson engaged in general merchandising. Some time afterward he located at Danville and established a milling business, which was his last active occupation. . While a resident of Hendricks County he served as county

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HISTORY OF GREATER INDIANAPOLIS.

commissioner for several terms, and was in many ways a citizen of wide, strong and beneficial influence. In politics he was a Democrat; was an active Odd Fellow, and maintained a life-long allegiance to the Meth- odist Church.

Samuel D. Pierson, who is the third of six children, spent his boyhood days on the home farm in Hendricks County, and at the age of sixteen commenced work as a farm hand at sixteen dollars per month, two years afterward venturing to rent a farm of one hundred acres on a one-year's lease. As crops were good that year, he made a neat profit out of his venture and was thereby enabled to locate at Danville and engaged in the flour, feed and grocery business. This was in 1871, but unfortunately the panic of 1873 found his business too much extended and he lost all in the general financial disaster which overwhelmed so many of his fellows. Al- though quite heavily in debt, Mr. Pierson bravely took , the fight of rebuilding his shattered affairs. Locating in Indianapolis, he at first found work as a cigar salesman on commission. Later, he learned the manu- facture of the goods he sold; was then em- ployed as a traveling salesman, and during the ten years which he worked to pay his debts also thoroughly mastered all the details of the cigar business. At the end of his fif- teen years' experience as a commercial trav- eler he had saved two thousand dollars, but his health now failed and he spent the suc- ceeding five years as a semi-invalid. This period was necessarily one of outgo and no income, and the consequence was that in 1886 he entered the employ of the Daniel Stewart Drug Company, as manager of their cigar business. Mr. Pierson remained with that company until September, 1892, when he es- tablished a business of his own in the cigar line and conducted it independently until 1897, when he resumed his old relations with the Daniel Stewart Drug Company, as well as maintained his own business. In 1907, he became solely a proprietor. When Mr. Pier- son established his business in Indianapolis, in 1892, he possessed only credit as his cap- ital-credit founded on unwavering honesty and a splendid knowledge of the business. The result has demonstrated that the guar- antees for a successful outcome of his enter- prise could not have been stronger. The

wholesale and retail headquarters of his large business are on Washington street, which is also the location of his manufacturing plant. He also has six retail branches, and altogether his business amounts to $250.000 annually.

On December 24, 1888, Mr. Pierson was

united in marriage with Miss Cora Went- worth, a native of Connecticut. Three chil- dren have been born of this union, Mary be- ing now the wife of Frank Gaines, a shoe merchant of Louisville, Kentucky; and Charles aud Carroll living at home. The father is a member of the Columbia and Marion clubs and the Maennerchor, and is identified with the following Masonic bodies : Pentalpha Lodge No. 564, A., F. and A. M .; Keystone Chapter No. 6, R. A. M .; Raper Commandery No. 1, K. T., and Murat Tem- ple, A. A. O. N. M. S.

ADDISON C. HARRIS. Among those who have lent dignity and honor to the bar of the State of Indiana, a place of special distinction must be accorded to Addison C. Harris, whose career as a lawyer and diplomat has been one of large and distinct accomplishments, and who is still engaged in the practice of his profession in Indianapolis, where he began his labors as a member of the bar nearly half a century ago. He is recognized as one of the most able and distinguished members of the legal pro- fession in the state, having a broad, exact and comprehensive knowledge of the science of jurisprudence and having long held precedence as one of the most versatile and brilliant ad- vocates engaged in the practice in the Hoosier commonwealth. He has been prominent in public affairs and represented the United States as minister to Austria-Hungary.

Mr. Harris finds satisfaction in reverting to Indiana as the place of his nativity and he is a scion of one of its old and honored families, being a representative of the fourth genera- tion in this state. The lineage of the Harris family is traced back to stanch English origin. There is a tradition that the family originally lived in Cornwall and lived in Wales during the time George Fox preached there-where they joined the Quakers and afterward came to America. The immediate line early settled in North Carolina, whence came the original representative in Indiana, fully a century ago. Mr. Harris was born in Wayne County, In- diana, on the 1st of October, 1840, and is a son of Branson L., and Martha (Young) Harris, both born in Wayne County. The fam- ily were, as said, members of the Society of Friends and were among the earliest settlers in Wayne County, where the head of the family was Obediah Harris, the great-great-grand- father of Addison C. Obediah Harris there took up his home upon his removal from North Carolina, as early as 1807. He had been a preacher of the Society of Friends in Guil- ford County. North Carolina, and was an early founder of the Qnaker Church in Indiana, hav- ing erected on his farm a building which he

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named the "New Garden Meeting House," in honor of the old church, in which he had preached in North Carolina. He acquired in Wayne County, some miles north of Richmond, a considerable body of land and made a farm in the virgin forest. He was one hundred years of age at the time of his death in Wayne County. He had eight children who came with him from North Carolina, one being Ben- jamin, who was a direct ancestor of Addison C. The children of Benjamin were: Obediah (Mt. Jackson) ; Pleasant ; James, grandfather of Addison C .; Beersheba, John, Benjamin, Rebecca, Sarah, Margaret, David, Aaron, Eliza- beth, Nathan, and two, who died before their majority. James Harris had the following children : Branson L., Winton, Milton, Han- nah, Allan R., Sarilda, and Addison (died in infancy).

Branson L. Harris, the father of Addison C. Harris, was one of the substantial farmers of Wayne County, and both he and his wife were devout members of the Christian Church. He was a member of the legislature for sev- eral sessions and took an active part in current affairs. He continued to reside in Wayne. County until his death, at the age of ninety- one years, and his wife was eighty-six years at the time of her death. They had two sons, of whom Addison C. is the eldest. Alonzo M., the other son, owns the old farm in Wayne County.

It is a well recognized fact that the mem- bers of the Society of Friends, who settled in Wayne County, were persons of intelligence and early fostered education in that part of the state, and thus they provided for their children better educational advantages than were afforded in some other sections. Addi- son C. Harris thus gained a good common school education in a Quaker school near his father's farm during his boyhood. At the age of twenty years he was matriculated in the Northwestern Christian University, now known as Butler College and located in Irvington, an attractive suburb of Indianapolis. In this in- stitution he was graduated as a member. of the class of 1862. Soon after his graduation Mr. Harris began the work of preparation for the profession in which it has been his for- tune to attain so much of distinction and precedence. He began reading law in the office of the firm of Barbour & Howland, who were at that time the leading members of the In- dianapolis bar, and later he took a course of lectures under the preceptorship of Judge Samuel E. Perkins, who served with distinc- tion on the bench of the Supreme Court. He was ambitious and earnest as a student and grounded himself in the principles of the sci-

ence of jurisprudence, thereby admirably forti- fying himself in a preliminary way for the practical work of his chosen and exacting pro- fession. He was admitted to the bar in 1865, and forthwith engaged in practice in the capi- tal city. He associated himself with John T. Dye, a well known lawyer, under the firm name of Dye & Harris, and this partnership con- tinued for a period of seventeen years, at the expiration of which Mr. Dye withdrew to enter the railway practice. From that time forward to the present the legal work of Mr. Harris has been conducted in the most part by him- self. Concerning him the following succinct and well justified statement has been made: "His ability and success as a lawyer would entitle him to high rank among a selected list of attorneys who fairly represent, without sec- tional discrimination, the American bar." He has labored with all his ardor and fidelity in his profession, always showing a deep appre- ciation of its dignity and responsibility and observing to the utmost its unwritten ethical code. He has been concerned in much im- portant litigation in both the State and the Federal courts and the records of the same bear lasting testimony of his skill, as well as of his exceptional knowledge of the science of the law and its precedents. It is not within the province of this article to enter into details concerning the admirable work accomplished by Mr. Harris during his many years of prac- tice at the bar, but it may well be said that he has written his name large in the history of the Indiana bar and that few have attained a higher reputation or a larger measure of success.

Mr. Harris served as president of the In- diana Bar Association in 1904-5, and is presi- dent of the Indiana Law School, to whose advancement he contributed largely through his able administration and high professional reputation. He is president of the board of trustees of Purdue University, at Lafayette, Indiana, is a member of the Indianapolis Literary Club and the Columbia Club.

Always a stalwart supporter of the princi- ples and policies for which the Republican party stands, Mr. Harris has not denied the benefit of his services in the party councils and in many campaigns. He prefers a place at the bar to one of political preferment. In 1876 he was elected to represent Marion County in the state Senate, where he made a most admirable record and exemplified a broad and enlightened policy as a loyal and public- spirited citizen and able legislator. In Janu- ary, 1899, without solicitation of suggestion on his part. Mr. Harris was selected by Presi- dent Mckinley for the important diplomatic

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HISTORY OF GREATER INDIANAPOLIS.

post of minister to Austria-Hungary. Fully appreciative of the honor he accepted the post, in connection with which he creditably repre- sented his country for a period of three years, at the expiration of which he voluntarily re- tired from office and resumed the active work of his profession in Indianapolis, where he still continues in practice and where he has a large and representative clientage. Mr. Har- ris has traveled extensively, is a man of high intellectual, as well as professional attain- ments, and well represents the gentility, cul- ture and, affability of the greatly admired "old school" regime.

On the 14th of May, 1868, Mr. Harris was married to Miss India Crago, who was born at Connersville, Indiana, and who was a grad- uate of the Northwestern Christian University in 1867.

CHARLES O. WHEATCRAFT, prominently known as an Indianapolis florist, was born in Greenwood, Johnson County, Indiana, Oc- tober 25, 1867, a son of Joseph and Sarah Jane (Russell) Wheatcraft. The father, who also had his nativity in Johnson County, In- diana, died at the early age of twenty-three years, and his widow is now living in Indian- apolis. Charles was their only child, and he came to Indianapolis when a mere child with his mother, attending the public schools here, and later began work as a florist. After a time he was able to engage in the business for himself, and through his industry and ability has been able to maintain one of the largest and best equipped houses in his line in In- dianapolis. He has been in business at 2925 Capitol avenue during the past twenty years. When he first became identified with this part of the city it was prairie land all about him, and Mr. Wheatcraft has witnessed and par- ticipated in its subsequent development. He is affiliated with the Republican party and is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He married Alice Baker. She was born near Franklin in Johnson County, Indiana, a daughter of Henry Baker, a farmer and dairyman.

JOHN OSCAR HENDERSON. A scion of one of the honored pioneer families of Indiana, which has represented his home from the time of his nativity, John Oscar Henderson has gained precedence as one of the able news- paper men of the state and has also wielded marked influence in public affairs, as one of the recognized leaders in the ranks of the Democratic party in the Hoosier common- wealth. He is now engaged in manufacturing in the City of Indianapolis, which has been his place of residencee since 1891. He is well known and held in high esteem in his native

state, and served for two terms in the office of state auditor.

John Oscar Henderson was born in the Vil- lage of New London, Howard County, In- diana, on the 1st of September, 1847, and is a son of Dr. John F. and Cynthia A. (Whitson) Henderson, natives, respectively, of Pennsyl- vania and North Carolina. The parents con- tiued to reside in Howard County until their death and there held a secure place in the esteem of all who knew them. Dr. Hender- son was one of the able pioneer physicians of Howard County, where he was for many years engaged in the work of his humane pro- fession. He served as surgeon of the Eighty- ninth Indiana Volunteer Infantry in the Civil War, and in the meanwhile had removed with his family to the City of Kokomo, the county seat of Howard County. After the close of the war he there founded the Kokomo Dispatch, and as editor and publisher of the same he made the paper a potent force in the local political field, as well as effective expo- nent of the varied interests of the community. He was long known as one of the wheel-horses of the Democratic party in Indiana and was prominent in its councils. He was a man of fine intellectual and professional attainments, high-minded, generous and tolerant, and he made his life count for good in all its rela- tions. He died in the year 1887 and his wife. passed away in 1890. They became the par- ents of seven children, of whom four sons. are now living.

John Oscar Henderson, the immediate sub- ject of this review, is indebted to the com- mon schools of New London and Kokomo for his early educational discipline, and he sup- plemented this training by an effective course in Asbury University (now DePauw Univer- sity), at Greencastle, Indiana, in which insti- tution he was graduated as a member of the class of 1872 and from which he received the degrees of Bachelor of Science and Master of Science.

After his graduation, Mr. Henderson and his brother Howard E. became identified with the publication of the Kokomo Dispatch, of which their father was the founder, as al- ready noted. Both attained to success and prominence in the local newspaper field of Indiana and both gained precedence as loyal and influential advocates of the principles and policies of the Democratic party, in whose ranks they became active leaders in 1876.

For many years John Oscar Henderson was chairman of the Democratic central commit- tee of Howard County, and in 1885 he was appointed United States internal-revenue col- lector for the eleventh district of Indiana,

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under the administration of President Cleve- land. He retained this incumbency two years and handled the affairs of the office with un- equivocal ability and success. In 1886 he was a member of the executive committee of the Democratic state central committee, and in 1888 he was a delegate to the Democratic national convention, in which he had the dis- tinction of being chosen assistant secretary.

In 1889, he was elected president of the Democratic Editorial Association of Indiana, and in the following year recognition of his eligibility and of his services in the party cause was given when, as the condidate on the Democratic ticket, he was elected to the responsible office of auditor of the State of Indiana. He made an admirable record in this position and at the expiration of his first term was elected as his own successor, by a gratifying imajority. He was thus in- cumbent of the office of state auditor for four consecutive years, and his administration has passed on record as one of the most effective in the annals of the state government.

Upon retiring from the office of Auditor of State, Mr. Henderson took his family abroad, and resided two years in Dresden, Germany, and two years in Paris, France, where his sons were prepared for American Colleges. During their residence abroad, Mr. and Mrs. Henderson traveled extensively in Europe, Asia, and Africa. Upon their return home in 1901, Mr. Henderson became extensively in- terested in the Kokomo Steel and Wire Com- pany, the Lafayette Strawboard Company, and the Holt Ice and Cold Storage Company, all of which he helped to organize and found and in all of which he is a large stockholder and director. In connection with his brother, he still publishes the Kokomo Dispatch, which is everywhere recognized as one of the most influential Democratic newspapers of In- diana.

LOUIS BURCKHARDT, M. D., has been en- gaged in the practice of his profession in In- dianapolis since 1893, and is recognized as one of the representative physicians and sur- geons of the capital city, where he is also a member of the faculty of the medical depart- ment of the University of Indiana, in which he holds the chair of clinical medicine. The doctor had the advantages of the universities and hospitals on the European continent.

Dr. Burckhardt was born at Wehr, Ger- many, on the 4th of November, 1865, and is a son of Adolph and Cecile (Merian) Burck- hardt, natives of Switzerland. Dr. Burck- hardt was graduated in the gymnasium of Freiburg. Germany, in 1883. Thereafter- he continued his studies in. the University of

Freiburg, and later in leading institutions of learning at Zurich, Switzerland, and Strass- burg, Germany. He was graduated in the medical department of the University of Zurich as a member of the class of 1889, and received his degree of Doctor of Medicine in 1890. After his graduation in medicine Dr. Burckhardt devoted three years to clinical work in leading hospitals of Leipzig, Berlin, Vienna, Paris, Zurich and Basle. In Zurich he served as physician of the children's clinic and at Basle as physician of the obstetrical clinic. The doctor came to the United States in 1893, and in May, 1893, he took up his residence in Indianapolis, where he has since been engaged in the practice of his profes- sion and where he now retains a large and representative clientele. Since 1908 he has held the chair of clinical medicine in the medical department of the University of In- diana. While in his fatherland, as a young man, Dr. Burckhardt served as first lieuten- ant in the sanitary corps of the Swiss militia. He is a member of the American Medical As- sociation, the Indiana State Medical Society, and the Indianapolis Medical Society.

On the 25th of April, 1899, Dr. Burckhardt was united in marriage to Miss Adele Schmidt, daughter of Dr. Fritz Schmidt, sanitary counselor to the king of Prussia.

ARTHUR V. BROWN, a leader in the Indian- apolis bar and of especial prominence in the legal department of Marion County, is a na- tive of Indiana, born at New Bethel, March 17, 1863. His parents were Dr. Samuel M. and Mahala S. (Brady) Brown. The family were of South Carolina origin, the paternal grandfather, John Brown, passing his entire life in that state. The father was born at Abbeville, South Carolina, May 23, 1823, be- coming a resident of Marion County, Indiana, May 23, 1848, first locating in New Bethel. He had but recently commenced the practice of his profession and continued it at this point until the day of his death more than fifty-seven years thereafter. A regular graduate of the Cincinnati Medical College, he earned a high reputation in his practice in which he remained active until his decease. His wife, the mother of' Arthur V., "was a daughter of Henry Brady, a pioneer settler of Indiana who came from Zanesville, Ohio. Mr. Brady was evidently a man of varied and substantial accomplishments. He was well educated, taught school in his earlier days; was a civil engineer; served as a sol- dier in the War of 1812; long served as jus- tice of the peace, and also became well known as a member of both houses of the Indiana legislature. He spent the latter days of his

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life as a farmer, living to the advanced age of eighty-nine . years. Mrs. Samuel M. Brown was a native of Marion County, and died in 1866, leaving five children of whoni Arthur V. was the last born. The father was married twice, his second wife being Marilda McCaughy, who bore him four children. She now resides at New Bethel.

Mr. Brown of this sketch was three years of age when his mother died. He was reared in the parental home at New Bethel and after graduating from the country schools prepara- tory to a collegiate course, he entered Butler University where he was a student for six years, graduating in 1885. He then studied law in the office of Harrison, Miller and, Elam, and since his admission to the bar in 1888 has been engaged in a lucrative and superior practice, both as private attorney and official of the county. For some time he served as attorney for the poor in the crimi- nal court; was chief deputy prosecuting at- torney two years, and was honored with the county attorneyship from 1891 to 1895. In· addition to his professional work as a lawyer, he has quite large financial and real estate interests, being a director in the Indiana Na- tional Bank and a large holder of Trust Com- pany and bank stocks. He is president of the Law Building Company and has engaged in the sub-division of real estate during the last ten years very extensively.

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Greater Indianapolis : the history, the industries, the institutions, and the people of a city of homes, Part 109

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