Greater Indianapolis : the history, the industries, the institutions, and the people of a city of homes, Part 110

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 110

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Fraternally Mr. Brown is identified with the Commercial, Country and University, clubs, and professionally with the Indiana State and the Indianapolis Bar Associations. He is a thirty-second degree Mason of the Scottish Rite and belongs to the Murat Tem- ple of the Mystic Shrine. He also retains his membership in the Sigma Chi college frater- nity, and his church relations are with the Meridian Street Methodist Church. He was married January 8, 1896, to Miss Katharine Fletcher Malott, daughter of Volney T. Ma- lott, and Caroline Macy Malott, and has be- come the father of three children, Volney Malott, Arthur V., Jr., and Katharine Ma- lott Brown.

CHARLES W. FAIRBANKS. It may be said that in studying a clean-cut, sane, d stinct character like that of the distinguished sub- ject of this sketch, former vice-president of the United States, interpretation follows fact in a straight line of derivation. His charac. ter has been the positive expression of a strong, resourceful personality, and the pages of history in our nation will bear last- ing evidence of the high value of his life and labors. Within the pages of a work of such circumscribed province as the one at hand it

is not possible to enter into detailed review of the career of Mr. Fairbanks, but in this history of his home city it is imperative that he be accorded recognition, though the in- cidental narrative must needs be the briefest of epitomes.

Charles Warren Fairbanks was born upon a farm near Unionville Center, Union County, 'Ohio, on the 11th of May, 1852, and is a son of Loriston Monroe Fairbanks and Mary Adelaide (Smith) Fairbanks, the former of whom was born in Windsor County, Ver- mont, in 1824, and the latter in the State of New York, in 1829. In the agnatic line the genealogy of Mr. Fairbanks is traced back to Jonathan Fayerbancke, who came from Eng- land and arrived in Boston in 1633, only a few years after the town was settled, and who removed to Dedham, Massachusetts, about three years later. From this worthy ancestor the former vice-president is of the ninth generation in line of direct descent. Loriston Monroe Fairbanks was a son of Lu- ther and Lucy (Lewis) Fairbanks, who set- tled on the Darby plains, in Union township, Union County, Ohio, in 1837, at which time the son was about thirteen years of age. Loriston M. Fairbanks reclaimed a farm from the forest wilds of Union County, Ohio, and was one of the honored and influential citi- zens of that section of the state,-a man of a high order of intelligence and of impregnable integrity of character. His wife, a woman of gentle and resourceful character, was likewise a representative of one of the sterling pioneer families of Union County.

Charles W. Fairbanks was reared amidst the scenes and influences of the pioneer farm and under the sturdy discipline involved he waxed strong in mind and body. Concerning this stage in his career the following perti- nent words have been written: "The limita- tions of a pioneer farm did not bound his ambitions, and the most persistent of these was his desire for an education. He attended the short terms of the local district schools, read all the books within reach, pursued his studies in the evening after working hours, and made up his mind to attend college. His family, true to the progressive instincts of their race, encouraged this disposition in every way. He was just an average, vigorous youth, his intellect indicating more of strength than brilliancy, and physically he was the equal of any of his contemporaries. But his taste for study remained constant. In this, as in all of his later endeavors, the training of his youth proved invaluable,-the habit of constant guarding against waste of time and substance necessary to maintain ex-

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istence under pioneer conditions has been one of the most potent influences in his success. He learned to exert himself to the utmost in whatever he undertook, and the lessons of simple honesty and integrity taught at home have proved sufficient for every occasion."

At the age of fifteen years Mr. Fairbanks entered the preparatory department of the Ohio Wesleyan University, at Delaware; he aided much through his own exertions to pay his way through the course of this institution, in which he was graduated in 1872, with high honors. In the meanwhile he had de- termined to adopt the legal profession as his life work. To enable him to prosecute his study of the law he secured employment with the Western Associated Press, with which he was engaged first in Pittsburg and later in Cleveland. He devoted his leisure time to his studies and after attending one term at a law school in Cleveland he was admitted to the bar, by the Supreme Court of Ohio, in May, 1874. Within the same year he estab- lished his residence in Indianapolis, where he has since continned in the work of his pro- fession save for such intervals as have been given to service in public office. It is not necessary to say more than that he is one of the distinguished members of the legal pro- fession in the United States, for such prece- dence amply indicates his powers and his snecess.

From his youth the future vice-president had been a close student of politics and his well fortified views and intense civie loyalty naturally led him into the field of political action. What he has accomplished is a matter of general history. During the national cam- paign of 1888 he won his title to a high place among the ablest political orators of Indiana. and then, as in all later political effort, he showed that all too nncommon fairness and freedom from insinuation and detraction that have made him a marked figure of cleanness in the turbid current of practical politics. In the campaign noted he gave most able serv- ice in behalf of the cause of the Republican party and had the satisfaction of seeing his fellow townsman. General Benjamin Harri- son, elected to the presidency of the United States. During the succeeding years he has represented a power in the political affairs of his state and those of the nation, and no campaign speaker has found more insistent demands upon his time. and attention than has he. He was a stalwart supporter of President Mckinley when that martyred patriot first appeared as presidential candi- date, in 1894, and they were on terms of most intimate friendship until the death of the

president. The Republican victory in In- diana in the election of 1894, with the re- sultant majority in the legislature, marked Mr. Fairbanks as the party choice for United States senator. Concerning his acceptance of this important trust the following statements have been made:

"In accepting the senatorship Mr. Fair- banks made personal sacrifices not easily ap- preciated by anyone unfamiliar with the cir- cumstances. He had always depended for success in his undertakings upon the course he adopted in his studies and in his profes- sional calling,-that of undivided attention to the matter in hand. When he answered the call to public service he did so with the intention of giving his duties the same care he devoted to every matter that claimed his attention. Accordingly, he retired from his law practice and gave himself up completely to his latest responsibilities, for which he proved most admirably equipped by his earlier experiences. Calm and judicial in his outlook, sane in his judgment, and accus- tomed to taking the helm in trying moments, he was a fit compeer of his associates in the national body of law-givers. He took his seat in that body in March, 1897, the same day that his friend, William McKinley, was sworn in as chief executive. They had so many aims and ambitions in common that it is not surprising their friendship endured. Such an acknowledgment of superior quali- ties, coming from the head of the nation, gave him high standing among his colleagues immediately, and they found him well able to sustain the dignity. He did not find it necessary to make his way into councils and debate. His reputation as a counselor had preceded him, and he was soon invited to join his party colleagues in conference upon the most important problem. He participated in all the vital legislation of the day. His ad- vice was sought in the most important ques- tions; his intimacy and thorough sympathy with the president commanded the utmost at- tention for his utterances. as being expres- sive of the sentiments of the chief executive. His championship of Mckinley and his poli- cies never faltered, as the record of his serv- ices in the senate amply testifies. In the senate he was early honored with the confi- dence of his fellow members to an unusual degree, and he proved himself in every re- spect worthy of this distinction. His stand upon every question was taken only after mature deliberation, but having declared himself upon any point he adhered firmly to his expressed opinion, a line of conduct pos- sible only to one of his temperament. His

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speeches upon any subject have defined his position clearly, leaving no doubt in the minds of his hearers as to his views, and con- taining no loop-holes of which he might avail himself in some subsequent emergency." It should be stated that this sureness of vision and reasoning and this certainty of attitude are the elements that stood forth most con- spicuously during his administration as vice- president of the United States. There have been no deflections and naught of vacillation in his public career or private life, and no one has had to indulge in conjecture as to where to "find" him at any critical juncture demanding mature judgment and stable powers of ratiocination. He was one of those who advocated a dignified adjustment of the difficulties with Spain if such could be com- passed, but when war became inevitable he stanchly upheld the government. As has well been said : "His patriotic conduct throughout the course of the war was consistent with his spoken opinions and highly creditable to hini both as a man and as a legislator. His sub- sequent acts gave every evidence of earnest thought and striving toward the highest ideals of man's duty to man. He endeavored to give practical valnes to his own ideas of administering the laws in their highest inter- pretation. His attitude on the Cuban and Philippine difficulties. the labor question, the tariff, the Panama canal. international arbi- tration, immigration. and other matters of the highest importance, have placed him among the progressive thinkers of the na- tion."

In the presidential election of 1900 Senator Fairbanks gave most zealous and effective service and with all of earnestness labored for the re-election of President Mckinley, who tendered him a place in the cabinet. The estimate placed upon him at the completion of his senatorial term was shown in his re- election, and he retired only to become presi- dent of the senate, by his election to the vice- presidency after serving two years of his second senatorial term. His election to the vice-presidency, in 1904, was a fitting recog- nition of his able services in behalf of the people and his party, and the honor came to him entirely without personal solicitation or suggestion in connection with the nomination in the national Republican convention. In 1908 he was presented by his friends for the Republican presidential nomination and, though defeated, he was the only candidate for the nomination who had behind him the solid support of his own state, besides which he received votes from a larger number of states than any other candidate except the

nominee of the convention. Not given to im- pulsive action or half-formed opinions and conclusions, quiet, dignified and firm in his attitude, Mr. Fairbanks proved a veritable balance-wheel during his term of service as vice-president, and his efforts in this high office are a matter of record that shall ever adorn the pages of our national history.

Upon his retirement from the vice-presi- dency, in 1909, Mr. Fairbanks, in company with his wife, started upon a tour around the world. In the various countries visited he met with most gratifying reception, as befitting his prominence in the affairs of his native land, the while he maintained at all times the dignity and standing of the great republic of which he is a most worthy and honored representative. He returned to his home city of Indianapolis on the 24th of March, 1910, and the reception tendered him by the citizens of the capital city and state left no doubt as to the strong and secure hold he has upon their esteein and regard. Never demonstrative and. as before stated, not moved by impulse, Mr. Fairbanks has never lacked in geniality and that true human sym- pathy and tolerance that spring from gener- ous qualities of mind and heart, so that he has made friends among all classes and con- ditions of men. It has been said, with all of consistency, that "Friendliness has ever been the rule of his life, and his affections have always governed his actions to an extent rather remarkable for a man of his strength of character. Some of his most active politi- cal opponents are among his warmest per- sonal friends. He is perhaps best known for his serious, earnest, sincere nature".' Since his return from foreign travel he has been called upon for addresses in the most diverse sections of the Union and in every instance his reception flattering in the extreme. He has resumed the active practice of his pro- fession in Indianapolis, and is bringing to the work the splendid talents and earnest devo- tion that have characterized his public serv- ices and that had previously placed him among the leading members of the bar of his state and country, a nation that has honored and been honored by him. Both.he and his wife are members of the Meridian Street Methodist Episcopal Church in their home city, and their attractive home, in North Meridian street, is one that has ever been noted for its unassuming and gracious hospi- tality. Mr. Fairbanks is president of the Board of Trustees of the Methodist Episcopal Hospital in Indianapolis. He is also inter- ested in many other organizations of a chari- table character.

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On the 6th of October, 1874, was solem- nized the marriage of Mr. Fairbanks to Miss Cornelia Cole, who like himself was born and reared in Union County, Ohio. She was a fellow student in the Ohio Wesleyan Univer- sity, is a woman of most gracious presence and broad culture, and has been his inspiring companion and sympathizer in every step of his career. She was president-general of the Daughters of the American Revolution from 1901 to 1905, has been an influential and honored factor in the affairs of the National Federation of Women's Clubs and other rep- resentative organizations and was one of the chief promoters of the "Junior Republic". She was born at Marysville, the judicial cen- ter of Union County, Ohio, and is a daughter of the late Judge Philander B. Cole, who was one of the honored pioneers and most in- fluential citizens of that county. Mr. and Mrs. Fairbanks are the parents of four sons and one daughter, concerning whom the fol- lowing brief data are given: Mrs. John W. Timmons, Indianapolis, Mr. Timmons being a lieutenant in the U. S. Navy; Warren C. Fairbanks, engaged in manufacturing and other business in Chicago, Illinois ; Frederick C. Fairbanks, South Pasadena, California, at- torney at law; Richard M. Fairbanks, In- dianapolis, attorney-at-law; Robert M. Fair- banks, Indianapolis, student.

DANIEL W. MARMON. It must be conceded that in this age of colossal enterprise and marked intellectual energy, the prominent and successful men are those whose abilities lead them into large undertakings and to assume the responsibilities and labors of leaders in their respective fields of endeavor. Success is methodical and consecutive and represents the concrete result of the determined application of individual abilities and powers along rigidly defined lines of labor, whether mental or manual.

Among the great industrial enterprises which have conserved and admirably main- tained the commercial prestige of Indiana's capital city is that conducted by the Nordyke & Marmon Company, manufacturers of mill- ing machinery and appliances and also, in later years, of automobiles. Of this great concern the subject of this memoir was chief execu- tive, and to the upbuilding of the magnificent enterprise he gave the best of his fine mechan- ical powers and administrative ability, so that he merits a place of distinction in this pub- lication, as having been one of the veritable "captains of industry" to whom Indianapolis has been indebted for her splendid, for her great industrial advancement and wide commer- cial prestige. His life was characterized by ex-

alted purpose and impregnable integrity and he left a deep impress upon the industrial and civic annals of the metropolis of the state which represented his home from his infancy until the time of his death, which occurred in the city of Indianapolis on the 10th of May, 1909. He was known as one of the ablest milling engineers in the United States and many in- ventions of great practical utility in this field are to be attributed to him.

Daniel W. Marmon was born in Logan County, Ohio, on the 10th of October, 1844, and his father, Dr. James W. Marmon, was one of the able physicians and surgeons of the old Buckeye state, where he died in 1849 and his wife a month later. When Mr. Marmon was but five years of age he removed from Ohio and located in Richmond, Indiana, where he was reared to manhood. After completing the curriculum of the common schools of that attractive little Quaker city he there entered Earlham College, a well ordered institution maintained under the auspices of the Society of Friends, and in the same he was graduated as a member of the class of 1865. From his early youth he manifested a distinct predilec- tion for mechanical work and study, and through the development of his powers in this line he attained to high prestige as a mechani- cian and inventor. In 1866, not long after his graduation in Earlham College, Mr. Mar- mon purchased an interest in the business of the firm of E. and A. H. Nordyke, manufac- turers of milling machinery, in Richmond, and the title of the firm was thereupon changed to Nordyke. Marmon & Company. For the en- suing ten years the firm continued its opera- tions in Richmond and then, in 1876, for the purpose of securing better internal facilities and greater commercial advantages, the busi- ness was removed to Indianapolis, where it rapidly expanded in scope and importance. Upon this removal the enterprise was incor- porated, under the title of the Nordyke & Mar- mon Company, and Mr. Marmon, who had been secretary of the company since 1865, con- tinued incumbent of that office until 1898, when he became president of the company and was so until death. The corporation gave its attention exclusively to the manufacturing of flour mill machinery until 1903, when the manufacturing of automobiles became one of the important departments of the enterprise. The great manufacturing plant of the com- pany is one of the largest and best equipped in the city and its products in the original field of operation have found sale in. the most diverse sections of the Union as well as in for- eign lands, thus adding materially to the com- mercial precedence of Indianapolis. In the

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development of the business to its present ex- tensive proportions, no influence was more potent and beneficent than that of Mr. Mar- mon, who gave to it the best of his energies and abilities during the long years of his connec- tion with the same. Not only was he splen- didly equipped in the matter of mechanical talent, enabling him to give intelligent direc- tion to all details of manufacturing, but he was also a business man of marked executive ability and distinctive acumen. His influence therefore permeated all departments of the enterprise and the same stands as an enduring monument to his memory. Other prominent concerns also benefited materially from his in- terposition, and it should be noted in this con- nection that he was the owner of the Nobles- ville Milling Company, of Noblesville, Indiana, and president of the Indianapolis Light and Heat Company from its organization until his death.

While essentially a business man and giving his time and attention to the various interests with which he was thus connected, Mr. Mar- mon was never lacking in civic loyalty and public spirit, as was evident from the tangible co-operation which he ever stood ready to accord to measures and enterprises tending to conserve the general welfare of the community. He found neither time nor inclination for po- litical activity, though he was a staunch sup- porter of the cause of the Republican party, and he never sought or held public office. He was a charter member of the Columbia Club and also held membership in the Commercial Club, both of which stand exponent of high civic ideals. He commanded the unequivocal esteem and confidence of all with whom he came in contact, though he was singularly free from ostentation and never found allurement in the great white light of publicity. He measured men and affairs accurately, was kindly and tolerant in his judgment and he made his life count for good in all its relations and activities. For many years prior to his demise Mr. Marmon was one of the valued and zealous members of the Second Presbyterian Church of Indianapolis, and he gave effective service as a member of its board of trustees.

In August, 1870, was solemnized the mar- riage of Mr. Marmon to Miss Elizabeth Car- penter of Richmond, Indiana, a daughter of Weller and Susan M. Carpenter. Mrs. Mar- mon still maintains her home in Indianapolis, as do also the three children, Walter C., How- ard C. and Caroline. The sons are identified with the business to which their honored father so long gave the major part of his time and attention and are numbered among the Vol. II-35

representative business men of the younger generation in Indianapolis.

LEWIS A. COLEMAN. As junior member of the well known law firm of Holtzman & Cole- man, of which the senior partner is Hon. John W. Holtzman, a former mayor of In- dianapolis, Lewis Austin Coleman stands. as one of the representative younger members of the bar of the capital city of his native state, where he has been specially successful in the exacting work of his chosen profession. He is at the present time secretary of the In- dianapolis Bar Association.

Mr. Coleman was born in Tipton County, Indiana, on the 26th of October, 1873, and is the third in order of birth of the four chil- dren of George W. and Mary A. (Hayes) Coleman. George W. Coleman was born at Worthville, Carrollton County, Kentucky, ou the 8th of December, 1837, and is a son of Richard Coleman, who likewise was a native of Kentucky, of which state his father, Rob- ert Coleman, born in Virginia, in 1758, was a pioneer. So far as available data determines, said Robert Coleman was a son of Robert Coleman, Sr., who was of stanch English lin- eage, a large slave and land owner, and who served as a patriot soldier in the Continental line in the War of the Revolution.

George W. Coleman was left an orphan at the age of eight years, his father dying in Shelby County, Indiana, in March, 1845. The mother then moved back to Kentucky and found a home for her son, George, with one Jacob Albright, with whom he lived until September, 1851. Mr. Coleman then went to work for himself and in October, 1854. when seventeen years old, he went to Iowa, near Bellefontaine, where he attended school three months each winter until 1862, except- ing two, in October, 1858, going to Kansas where he preempted a quarter section of land and during the winter of 1860 he taught school.

In the early part of the year 1862 he ten- dered his services in defense of the Union, by enlisting as a private in Company F, Fortieth Iowa Volunteer Infantry, with which gallant command he continued in serv- ice until the close of the war. He partici- pated in a number of the important battles marking the progress of the great internecine conflict, and received his honorable discharge in August, 1865. At Knoxville, Iowa, on the 30th of September. 1865, was solemnized the marriage of this youthful veteran to Miss Mary A. Hayes, who was born at Mount Ver- non, Ohio. July 28, 1843, a daughter of Adam Hayes, who was born in Greene County, Pennsylvania, in 1807, of Scotch-Irish· an-

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cestry. From the old Keystone state Adam Hayes finally removed to Ohio, and in the late '40s or early '50s he set forth with his large family to seek a home in the far west. They passed one year in LaSalle County, Illi- nois, and then set forth with teams and wagons for Pike's Peak, Colorado, where the gold excitement was then at its height. On the long and arduous journey across the plains the family party encountered many hazardous and exciting experiences. The father and his sturdy sons had a number of encounters with the Indians, and finally one of the sons, David, was killed by the Indians, after the arrival of the family in Colorado. After remaining for a short interval in Colo- rado Adam Hayes and his family returned to the east as far as Knoxville, Iowa, where a permanent home was established by the hon- ored head of the family, who was long one of its influential citizens and successful business men. Adam Hayes was a valiant soldier of the Union in the Civil War, as were also three of his sons, while two other of the sons were enrolled as soldiers in the Confederate ranks, as was true in the case of many other families, thus making the great conflict well merit its designation of fratricidal. After the close of his army service Adam Hayes, then venerable in years, returned to Knox- ville, Iowa, where he passed the residue of his life and where his death occurred in 1885.

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Greater Indianapolis : the history, the industries, the institutions, and the people of a city of homes, Part 110

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