Greater Indianapolis : the history, the industries, the institutions, and the people of a city of homes, Part 118

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 118


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After his admission to the bar Judge Mar- tindale returned to New Castle, where he en-


tered upon the practice of law. He associated himself with Hon. Joshua Mellett, under the firm name of Mellett & Martindale. He soon proved the wisdom of his choice of vocation and became one of the leading members of the bar of that section of the state. He continued in active practice at New Castle for a period of twelve years, within which he was elected prosecuting attorney for the circuit composed of the counties of Wayne, Henry, Randolph and Delaware, an office of which he was incum- bent for four years and in which he added materially to his reputation as a resourceful and versatile trial lawyer. In 1861 Governor Morton appointed him to the office of judge of the common pleas court for the district com- prising Henry, Hancock, Rush and Decatur counties, and he continued his services on the bench until May 10, 1862.


Indoctrinated by his father and grandfather with the hatred of human slavery, upon reach- ing his majority he allied himself with the Freesoilers and upon the formation of the Re- publican party in 1857 became active in its interest. His speeches in political gatherings at this period gave him a reputation as an effective political speaker. At a banquet in Cincinnati in 1860 given by the Board of Trade to the merchants of the Southern States his speech in defense of the Union and in reply to disunion utterances from some too out- spoken pro-slavery orators created a sensation and had a decided influence upon public opin- ion in Indiana and Ohio. During the War of the Rebellion he was a close personal friend and confidential adviser of Governor Morton, with whom he was later associated in the prac- tice of law at Indianapolis under the firm name of Morton, Martindale & Tarkington.


On May 10, 1862, at the expiration of his term as judge, he moved with his family to Indianapolis. In 1869 he was elected to the Indiana state Senate, a position which he filled with marked ability, his strong, practical busi- ness sense heing of great value in promoting legislation for the general welfare of the people of the state. He was looked upon as one of the fathers of the Republican party, as. indeed he was a leader in good counsel. In 1875 he hecame the owner of the Indianapolis Journal, the organ of the Republican party in Indiana and a paper of great weight and influence. In 1880 he sold the paper to the late John C New, afterwards consul-general at London.


Upon coming to this city Mr. Martindale with keen foresight as to the future of Indian- anolis, began to make real estate investments He made within twenty years more than twenty additions to the city, aggregating a thousand acres of land, and more than fifty


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streets bear names given them by him. Among these additions are Morton Place, formerly the state fair grounds and before that Camp Mor- ton, where the troops called out to defend the country had their rendezvous and where the Confederate prisoners were confined; the Mar- tindale addition, beyond Sixteenth street and between Delaware and Pennsylvania streets, called "Lincoln Park." is now the most beau- tiful and most thickly settled residence parts of the city. He saw the possibilities of Indian- apolis as a great trade and manufacturing cen- ter and impressed his views upon all with whom he came in contact. He gave the city a sounding title which it bore for many years, "The City of Concentric Circles," being illus- trated by a diagram showing that Indianapolis was a point to which all the principal railroad systems radiated.


In 1893 Mr. Martindale was a member of the board of control of the World's Columbian Exposition, which had charge of the exposi- tion held in Chicago. He also was chairman of the building and grounds committee which placed the Chicago World's Fair at Washing- ton and Jackson Parks. The present location of the Federal building was largely due to the efforts of Mr. Martindale. When he heard that the government intended to locate the new building on the site of the old postoffice, at the corner of Market and Pennsylvania streets, he immediately got in touch with Lyman J. Gage, then secretary of the treasury, with whom he was personally acquainted. Secre- tary Gage took the matter up at Washington and the final result was that the government purchased the present location of the Federal Building and erected the new structure on it.


Mr. Martindale has been identified with the inception of life insurance companies in the state and was the first president of both the Union Fire Insurance Company and the American Central Life Insurance Company, as well as being one of the incorporators. He was also active in the organization of the Atlas Engine Works in this city and was one of the founders of the German Protestant Orphan Asylum.


In 1854 Judge Martindale married Miss Emma Taylor at New Castle, and they became the parents of the following children: Lynn Boyd, Charles, Susan, Robert, Isabella (died 1864), Clarence, John Taylor, Mary Louise (died 1894), Emma, and Elijah B., Jr. Mrs. Martindale died in 1904.


On coming to this city Mr. and Mrs. Mar- tindale connected themselves with the First Presbyterian Church, attending through the pastorates of the Rev. Messrs. Nixon, Harper,


Kumler and Reed and during the pastorate of the Rev. M. L. Haines.


Judge Martindale died in Indianapolis, Feb- ruary 28, 1910. For several years up to his death he was pointed out as the most dis- tinguished looking elderly gentleman of the city. His step was remarkably active for a man of his years. He walked erect with a quiet dignitv ; his eye was bright; he was alert to all that was going on; his politeness was unfail- ing; and he was ready to champion any de- serving cause and to give advice out of his long experience to those who sought him out. When he was president of the Board of Trade, 1898-99, he advocated the sale of the old build- ing in Kentucky avenue and removal to the heart of the city. The counsel was subse- quently followed and resulted in the present beautiful Board of Trade building facing Federal Square. He was the oldest director of the Indianapolis Board of Trade, having held the position of director for about thirty years.


ADOLPH SEIDENSTICKER. The honored sub- ject of this memoir played no insignificant part in connection with the material and civic upbuilding and progress of Indianapolis, where he maintained his home for more than forty years and where his death occurred at the family residence, 377 North East street, on the 13th of February, 1895. He came of a patrician German family and well upheld the honor of the name which he bore. He was long and prominently identified with journalistic work, having early entered the German newspaper field in Indianapolis and having wielded much influence through his editorial utterances. He was a man of keen intellect and broad mental ken, a citizen, leal and loyal in every respect, and during the latter years of his life he devoted his atten- tion to the practice of law, in which his suc- cess was of no equivocal order. His name merits an enduring place in the history of the Indiana capital, and record concerning his life and labors is most consistently perpetu- ated in the pages of this compilation.


Adolph Seidensticker was born at Goet- tingen, Hanover, Germany, on the 15th of July, 1831, being a son of George and Jo- hanne (Schepeler) Seidensticker. His father, known in this country as Dr. George Seiden- sticker, was a scion of a prominent and influ- ential Hanoverian family and served with distinction in the army of the fatherland. In this connection he rose to the rank of lieu- tenant during the Russian and Saxon. wars, later was in active service with the Austrian army in the conflicts of 1813-14, and there- after he became a prominent lawyer at Goet-


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tingen. He was one of those valiant souls that took an especially active part in the revolution of 1831, and being one of the most influential men identified with the movement he was signaled out by the government as a special victim for punishment. He was taken prisoner and cast into a dungeon for per- petual incarceration. His imprisonment con- tinued about fifteen years and he was then offered his freedom on condition that he would emigrate to America and never return to the loved land of his nativity. He was hurried to the nearest seaport and was even denied the privilege of seeing his family be- fore his departure for America. Adolph Seidensticker was born a few months after his father had been thus imprisoned and he never saw him until the family was finally united in 1846 at Philadelphia, at which time he was a lad of about fifteen years. When Dr. George Seidensticker arrived in the city of Baltimore he was given a public reception, and his friends raised and sent to the King of Hanover two hundred and ninety dollars to defray the expenses of his deportation, this being done in order that he might be un- der no obligation to the Hanoverian govern- ment. He became editor of the Philadelphia Demokrat, a German newspaper, and contin- ued to reside in the Pennsylvania metropolis, honored by all who knew him, until his death, which occurred in 1862.


Adolph Seidensticker was fifteen years of age at the time of the family immigration to America, and he had received good educa- tional advantages in the schools of his native land. He early manifested a predilection for newspaper work, and his first contributions in this line were published in the Phila- delphia Freie Presse. He finally came to the west and accepted an editorial position on a German newspaper in Cincinnati. In 1852, he was sent from that city to Indianapolis to re- port the constitutional convention of Indiana for a number of leading German newspapers in the east. He was impressed with the, ad- vantages offered by Indianapolis as a prom- ising field for an enterprising young man and decided to remain here, accepting a position on a local German paper. In 1854, he be- came associated with others in the founding of the German Telegraph, of which he was one of the principal owners for many years, as well as editor for a long period. In the year of 1854 also he was identified with the organization of the German Mutual Insur- ance Company of Indiana, of which he served as secretary until 1858, after which he was its president consecutively until the time of his death. . He was one of the founders of


the Independent Turnverein of Indianapolis, of which he was president for several years, besides which he was for two years president of the Indianapolis Maennerchor.


From 1854 until 1860 Mr. Seidensticker was editor of the Indianapolis Volksblatt, a weekly paper which under his direction wielded marked influence among the German- Americans of the state. In the meanwhile he had given careful attention to the study 'of the law, and in 1860 he was admitted to the bar. He thereupon became a member of the law and real estate firm of Kappes and Seidensticker, whose title was later changed to Kappes, Seidensticker and Naltner and finally to Seidensticker and Naltner. The latter firm was dissolved about the time of the financial panic of 1873. In 1871, Mr. Seidensticker assumed charge of the daily German Telegraph, of which he continued editor until 1881, after which year he devoted his attention to the practice of law until his death, at the age of sixty-three years and eight months. Concerning his labors and status in the legal profession the following pertinent statements have been made by one familiar with his career at the bar: "He had a lucrative practice, and while he was not pre-eminent in his attainments as to techni- calities incident to the practice of the law he had a thorough knowledge of its underlying principles and a very keen sense of right and justice, which made him a safe and prudent counselor. No member of the bar was more careful and conscientious in his relations to his clients than was he or more urbane and courteous in his association with other mem- bers of his profession, as well as respectful of the dignity of the courts. He had high conceptions of the duties of a lawyer, and in all the relations of his profession he lived up to high ideals. He had no misunderstandings with his clients, no wrangles with opposing counsel and never received a rebuke from the court. He was a clear thinker and had a broad mental grasp; he had executive ability of a high order; he was of a most gentle and affectionate nature; he was of an ardent and energetic temperament; and over all and above all he was possessed of sterling integ- rity, upon which no blot was ever made. Possessed of such characteristics, as was nat- ural, he soon became a man of large influ- ence, not only among the German-Americans of the city, but also with the public in gen- eral. His best monument is in the large number of business and social organizations which he was instrumental in establishing and with which he was connected."


Mr. Seidensticker exerted potent influence


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in the organization of the Pioneer Verein, composed of Germans who came to Indian- apolis in and preceding the early '50s. He was also one of the founders of the German- English school and was for seven years its president. He was affiliated with Pentalpha Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, and was one of the founders of Freya Lodge of Haru- gari. He loved liberty, and rightly estimated and was willing to bear the burdens of citi- zenship. From 1864 to 1869 he was a mem- ber of the city council from the old Ninth ward, and he was most assiduous and pains- taking in the performance of his duties as a member of that municipal body. In pol- itics he was first identified with the Demo- cratic party, but from 1860 until 1876 upheld the principles of the Republican party, and then returned to the ranks of the Democracy. His religious faith was that of the Unitarian Church.


Essentially loyal and patriotic by inherent tendencies and individual character, Mr. Seidensticker gave to the cause of the Union the most fervent and effective support during the crucial period of the Civil War. The Thirty-second Volunteer Infantry, known as the German regiment and famous for valiant service, was organized largely through his zealous efforts, and his office was headquar- ters for the conferences that resulted in the formation of this gallant command. Of him it has well been said: "He was never false to any trust confided to him; he never failed a friend in the hour of need ; and he was true in every relation of life. Thus he lived and thus he died."


In conclusion is given brief record concern- ing the ideal domestic relations which com- passed the subject of this memoir and which afforded to him the supreme satisfaction and solace of his long and useful life. On the 4th of March, 1857, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Seidensticker to Miss Minna Schmidt. who was born in Germany and who survived him more than a decade, her death having occurred on the 8th of February. 1908, at which time she was sixty-seven years of age. They became the parents of seven children, namely: George, of whom specific mention is made on following pages of this work; Emma, who is the widow of William Abel and resides in Indianapolis: Oswald, who is a representative real estate and insurance man of Indianapolis: Stella, who is the wife of Albert Lauter, of this city; Adolph, Jr., who likewise is individually mentioned in this work; Frank, who is a successful lawyer in Indianapolis; and Ernest, who died at the age of eleven years.


GEORGE SEIDENSTICKER. A member of the bar of his native city and numbered among its representative business men, the subject of this review is the eldest son of the late Adolph Seidensticker, to whom a specific memoir is dedicated on other pages of this vol- ume, so that further consideration of the family history is not demanded in the present connection.


George Seidensticker was born in Indian- apolis, on the 26th of April, 1858, and after completing the curriculum of the German- English school in this city he continued his studies for one year in a well ordered acad- emy at Hoboken, New Jersey. Upon his re- turn to his native city he entered the high school, in which he was graduated as a mem- ber of the class of 1875. He then became a student in the law office of the firm of Taylor, Rand and Taylor, under whose pre- ceptorship he well fortified himself in the knowledge of the science of jurisprudence, being admitted to the bar in 1879. Shortly afterward he associated himself in practice with James M. Minters, but this alliance did not long continue, as in 1881 Mr. Seiden- sticker entered into professional partnership with his honored father, long one of the rep- resentative members of the Indianapolis bar. Later Mr. Seidensticker passed several years in the west, and upon his return to Indian- apolis he resumed the active practice of his profession, in which he gained much of pres- tige and success and to which he continued to give the major portion of his time and attention until 1902. when he effected the or- ganization of the German Investment and Securities Company, of which he has since continued general manager, and he is also the general manager of the Home Bond Com- pany, which he organized in 1903, and of the German Realty Company, established through his efforts in 1906. Each of these corpora- tions is of substantial order and exercises important functions under the able adminis- tration of Mr. Seidensticker, who has virtu- ally retired from the active practice of his profession.


Though never in the least ambitious for the honors or emoluments of public office, Mr. Seidensticker has ever been aligned as a stanch advocate of the principles and pol- icies for which the Democratic party stands basically sponsor. He is essentially loyal and progressive as a citizen, and his interest in the well-being of his native city is of insist- ent type. He is a member of the Indianapo -- lis Commercial Club, the Indianapolis Maen- nerchor, and has been from his youth very prominently identified with the Independent


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Turnverein. He was one of the leading pro- moters of the organization of the Improved Order of Knights of Pythias, of which he was the first supreme commander anu in whose affairs he is still prominent.


In 1880, Mr. Seidensticker was united in marriage to Miss Emma Mannfeld, of Indian- apolis, but she died in the fall of the same year. On. the 29th of January, 1896, was solemnized his marriage to Miss Margaret Schmidt, daughter of Frederick W. and Ot- tilie (Kiefer) Schmidt, and they have four children, namely: Myra, Stella, George, Jr., and Robert E.


ADOLPH SEIDENSTICKER. Bearing the full patronymic of his honored father and fol- lowing the same vocation as did the latter, Adolph Seidensticker has admirably upheld the prestige of the name, both as a citizen and as an able and representative member of the bar of the capital city, which has been 'his home from the time of his nativity to the present. He is not only established in the suc- cessful practice of his profession in Indian- apolis, but is. also representative of Marion County in the lower house of the state leg- islature.


Mr. Seidensticker was born in Indianapolis on the 30th of July, 1875, and is a son of Adolph and Minna (Schmidt) Seidensticker, both of whom were natives of Germany. His father became a distinguished member of the Indiana bar and was for many years engaged in the practice of his profession in Indian- apolis, where both he and his wife continued to maintain their home until their death. The subject of this review is indebted to the public schools of Indianapolis for his early educational discipline and was graduated in the Shortridge high school as a member of the class of 1894. Immediately after leav- ing school he took up the study of law and was matriculated in the Indiana Law School, one of the leading educational institutions of the capital city. Here he completed the pre- scribed technical course and was graduated as a member of the class of 1896, duly re- ceiving the degree of Bachelor of Laws and being at once admitted to the bar of his na- tive city, and state. He forthwith entered upon the active practice of his chosen pro- fession, and that under most favorable aus- pices, since he was not only specially well fortified for the work through natural predi- lection and careful training, but also suc- ceeded his father as a member of the law firm nf Florea & Seidensticker, through member- ship in which he was granted no little pres- tige in a preliminary way, owing to the high standing maintained by his father at the


bar. He has not, however, stood in the shadow of this paternal precedence, but in a sub- jective way has weil proved his claims to con- sideration as one of the able trial lawyers and versatile and resourceful counselors of the bar of the Indiana capital-a city which has every reason to be proud of the personnel of its bench and bar. The firm of which Mr. Seidensticker is junior member controls a large and representative clientage and he has appeared in connection with many important litigations in both the State and Federal courts. He has a deep appreciation of the dignity and responsibilities of his chosen pro- fession, in which he has achieved honors through well directed effort and admirable equipment for the work.


In politics, Mr. Seidensticker is aligned as a stanch and effective, advocate of the prin- ciples and policies for which the Democratic party stands sponsor, and while he has never been ambitious for public office he responded to the. insistent overtures of party friends and became the standard bearer of the party. as nominee for representative in the state legislature from Marion County in the elec- tion of 1908. He received a gratifying ma- jority at the polls and gave himself loyally and unreservedly to the work of the office to which he had thus been chosen, thus amply justifying the course of those who had pre- vailed upon him to accept nomination. In the sixty-sixth session of the general assem- bly he was made chairman of the important committee on towns and townships. He in- troduced and ably championed on the floor of the house the Indianapolis park bill, which reached favorable enactment, and he also pre- sented the Indianapolis police-court bill, which likewise became a law and which has greatly facilitated and improved the work assigned to the jurisdiction of said court. This act prescribes that the police justice shall not engage in the practice of law dur- ing his tenure of office, and provides that he be given a stipulated salary, with the hold- ing of court sessions both forenoon and after- noon. Grave abuses had naturally grown into this department of the local judiciary, owing to the faulty system maintained, and the present law has inured greatly to the conservation of justice and to the expedi- tion of the work of the justice courts. Mr. Seidensticker also appeared prominently as an advocate of the street-improving bill, which became a law, and for his able cham- pionship of the same he received much com- mendation, irrespective of partisan affilia- tions.


Mr. Seidensticker is a member of the In-


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liana Bar Association, the Indiana Demo- cratic Club, the Independent Turnverein, the Indianapolis Maennerchor, the Knights of Pythias, and the Masonic fraternity, in which last he has completed the circle of the York Rite and is affiliated with the Commandery of the Knights 'Templar.


In 1898 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Seidensticker to Miss Helen Porter, a daughter of James H. Porter, one of the venerable and honored citizens of Indianap- olis, with whose business and civic interests he has been long and prominently identified. Mr. and Mrs. Seidensticker have three chil- dren-James Porter, Adolplı, Jr., and Mary Margaret.


FRANK A. BECK. Among the thoroughly metropolitan establishments of its kind in the capital city is the finely appointed livery stable owned and conducted by Mr. Beck, who is one of the progressive business men and popular citizens of Indianapolis, and his success is the more gratifying to note by virtue of the fact that it represents the tangible result of his own efforts.


Mr. Beck was born in the City of Fort Wayne, Indiana, on the 7th of October, 1867, and is a son of Bascillius and Rosena (Sick) Beck, both of whom were born and reared in Germany, where their marriage was solem- nized. Upon immigrating to America they located in the City of Buffalo, New York, but shortly afterward came to Indiana and took up their abode in Fort Wayne, where the father was engaged in mechanical pursuits until his death. About 1882 the widowed mother came with her children to Indian- apolis, and here she continued to maintain her home until her death. The subject of this review secured his early educational training in the public schools of Fort Wayne, but he was not able to complete even the curriculum of the high school, as he found it incumbent upon him to assume the practical duties and responsibilities of life while he was still a boy. His devoted mother was left with most limited financial resources after the death of her husband, and Frank A. early began to contribute his quota to the support of the family. He was about fifteen years of age at the time of the removal to Indianapolis, and as a boy he turned his at- tention to whatsoever honest work he could secure. Thus he was found working as a newsboy and bootblack, and it is needless to say that in meeting the vehement competition of his confreres in these dignified occupations he developed a spirit of self-reliance that carried him through many difficulties which had to be settled, as it were, "by force and




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