Greater Indianapolis : the history, the industries, the institutions, and the people of a city of homes, Part 119

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 119

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arms". Finally he advanced to the position of driver for one of the leading funeral di- rectors of Indianapolis, and this association was one which undoubtedly led him into the line of enterprise in which he has won a well-merited success and gained marked pop- ularity. He had the good judgment, even when a lad, to save his earnings, and his first independent business venture was that in- volved in the purchasing of a team and car- riage, which he maintained for hire, utilizing the same for funeral occasions and such other purposes as might be demanded by his patrons. This enterprise had its inception in the year 1889, and by the careful conserva- tion of his resources Mr. Beck made steady advancement toward the vantage ground of independence and definite prosperity. On the 15th of December, 1896, he engaged in the livery business on his own responsibility, hav- ing leased a building at Nos. 25 and 27 West St. Clair street. He invested in a modest equipment for his new stables and found that his cash capital when he began active opera- tions was reduced to the princely sum of fif- teen cents. His livery at this time was lo- cated farther to the north than any other in the city, but he was favored in having secured a location in a district in which resided many wealthy families. By careful service and courteous attention to the demands of his patrons he soon secured a paying business. The expansion of the enterprise was such that within three years his original building proved inadequate, and the owner of the property, appreciative of his efforts and his integrity of purpose, razed the old building and erected on its site a substantial building well adapted for the business. Four years later an addition was made to the building, the same extending at right angles to the original structure and affording a frontage on North Illinois as well as St. Clair street. Here Mr. Beck now has one of the best equipped liveries in the city, the appoint- ments and accessories being of the most ap- proved type. On the first floor is maintainedl by Mr. Beck his own blacksmith shop, and the main quarters for the horses are on the second floor, with the best of sanitary pro- visions. In connection with the livery proper is maintained an automobile garage, and this department also has a representative patron- age. On the second floor are also found the harness room and paint shop, in which latter is done the major portion of the painting of the vehicles of the establishment, for the pru- prietor insists on maintaining every detail of equipment and service at the highest pos- sible standard. Mr. Beck was the first livery-

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man in the city to purchase and place in service funeral cars, or hearses, and of these he now operates four of the best type. On two different occasions he engaged also in the undertaking business, but in each case he finally disposed of his interests in this line.

Beginning life as a poor boy, Mr. Beck has courageously faced the problems which have presented themselves, and by his aggressive policy, his sagacity and his sterling integ- rity he has not only made his way to definite success but has gained and retained the con- fidence and esteem of those with whom he has come in contact in the various relations of life. He is an authority in the values of horses and has realized large returns from his dealings in this line of stock, and as a citizen he is liberal and public-spirited.

In the year 1900, Mr. Beck was united in marriage to Miss Alice DuWau, and their attractive home is known for its generons hospitality.

WILLIAM A. BELL. There is no need for conjecture or uncertainity in determining the value and success of the life of William .1. Bell, who was one of the foremost educators of the State of Indiana and who realized in the most significant sense that true success is not that gained through commercial pre-emi- nence or personal aggrandizement, but rather that which lies in the eternal verities of human sympathy and helpfulness. He left the great heritage of noble thoughts and noble deeds. He was a man of broad intellect and viewed life and its responsibilities in their right propor- tions. He was not given to half-views and rash inferences. The leap from the particular to the general is very tempting to the thoughtless. but not to the man of strength and judgment and lofty motives. Few men have left so beneficent an impression upon the cause of pub- lic education in Indiana as did Mr. Bell, and. indeed, his reputation far transcends the limi- tations of this commonwealth. In all relations of life and devotion to principle and duty, he was absolutely inviolable and his was a deep abiding human sympathy and tolerance. He died at his home in Indianapolis on the tenth of December, 1906.

William Allen Bell, A. M., was born in Clin- ton County, Indiana, on the 30th of Janu- ary, 1833, and was the eldest of the children of Nathaniel and Nancy (Endicott) Bell. In the agnatic line, the genealogy is traced back to the stanchest of Scottish stock, and concerning the parents of the subject of this memoir, the fo]- lowing pertinent and appreciative statement is well worthv of reproduction in this connee- tion : "Nathaniel Bell was a man of stalwart

proportions and remarkable physical strength and stupendous energy. He was endowed lib- orally with courage, firmness, resolution and other mental resources, which enabled him usually to accomplish his undertakings. He was influential with men and among men. His discernment, foresight and judgment were ex- cellent. He was a clear-headed, self-reliant, in- dependent financier-one who engaged in large transactions for the country and the times. He was one of those naturally rugged characters, born to buffet fortune and fond of the battle though he had none of the advantages of schol- arship and culture. He instituted wholesome dis- cipline in his family and maintained it rigor- ously in the government and training of his children, and yet his nature was strongly emotional and profoundly generous. His be- nevolence was large and responsive to appeals, his sympathy tender and easily touched and his attachments were strong and unfaltering. He was affectionately devoted to his sons and daughters, careful of their education, solicitous of their welfare and proud of their successes. His wife was of English descent. Some of her ancestors immigrated to New England and their descendants thence to Pennsylvania, the state of her nativity. She was a woman of rare gentleness and natural refinement. Quiet in manner, equable in temper, sympathetic in dis- position, she displayed unusual fortitude and self-control in the greater trials of life. She possessed in their completeness the attributes most lovable in a mother and most attractive in a home. Naturally delicate, modest, retir- ing and timid, she never manifested a desire to participate in public affairs, but consecrated all of her faculties and energies to her family. Her sensibilities were acute and her life was singularly pure-guided by natural impulses and the inspiration of a deeply religious senti- ment."

The parents of William _1. Bell were num- bered among the carly pioneers of Clinton County and there he was reared to maturity on the frontier farm in whose work he carly began to give his aid as did he also in the conduct of his father's general store in the Village of Michigantown. The early educational disci- pline of Mr. Bell was that afforded in the dis- triet schools in the locality and period and these he was able to attend during the winter terms. That he made good use of the oppor- tunities thus afforded him is evident when recognition is taken of the fact that at the age of eighteen years he proved himself eligible for pedagogic honors. He engaged to teach in the district school of his native county and the term was one of sixty-five days' duration with an attendant salary of one dollar per day.

W. A.Bell

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HISTORY OF GREATER INDIANAPOLIS.

He continued in this employment for three winters and in 1853 he entered the preparatory department of Antioch College at Yellow Springs, Ohio. In this institution he continued his studies at intervals for a period of seven vears. In view of his own prominence in edu- cational work there is consistency in here en- tering an interesting record concerning An- tioch College. "This institution represented the most pretentious experiment of co-educa- tion up to that date. It was liberal and pro- gressive in all respects, utilizing the most ad- vanced educational ideas by installing as presi- dent their greatest exponent, Horace Mann, of Massachusetts. Its religious charter attempt- ed to effect practical Christian union the basis of character, teaching unity in diversity, union of action and effort, regardless of diversity of creeds and beliefs. Young men and women from the east and the west assembled there un- der a new inspiration. The cultured Bostonian and the unsophisticated Hoosier met on a com- mon level in the chapel and learned wisdom from the great expounder of a new ethical gos- pel, the great advocate of equality in educa- tion and universal brotherhood in Christianity. The opportunity of listening to the daily lec- tures of Horace Mann was a privilege of incs- timable value to a young man with the capacity and disposition to appreciate him and his work."

While attending college Mr. Bell paid bis own expenses by wages earned in various lines of employment during the vacations and by teaching one or two terms. He completed the regular classical course in Antioch College in which he was graduated as a member of the class of 1860 and from which he received the degree of Bachelor of Arts. Soon after his graduation he went to the South for the pur- pose of engaging in teaching. He opened a school in the State of Mississippi but this was soon closed owing to the intensity of sectional feeling and popular prejudice against northern- ers in the climacteric period just preceding the inception of the Civil War. Under these conditions Mr. Bell returned to Indiana and in 1861-2 he was engaged in teaching at Williams- burg, Wayne County. During the following vear he served as principal of a ward school at Indianapolis and in 1864 he was principal of the Indianapolis high school. In 1865, while superintendent of the public schools of Rich- mond, Indiana, he took up the study of medi- cine with the intention of adopting the medical profession as a life work. His success and prec- edence in the pedagogical line, however, caused a definite demand for his services along this line and 'in 1866 he returned to Indianapolis and accepted the position of principal of the

high school. This incumbency he retained un- til 1871 and in the meanwhile he also served as school examiner of Marion County for a period of four years. He passed the summer of 1870 in making a tour of Europe for recre- ation and study.

Undoubtedly the great work of Mr. Bell in connection with the cause of education was that accomplished in connection with the Indi- anapolis School Journal, which he purchased in August, 1871, and which he conducted with ever increasing prosperity and influence up to 1899. Under the able and progressive admin- istration of Mr. Bell this publication became conspicuous for its devotion to the interests of the common schools of the state as well as for its advocacy of higher education. It gained leadership in disseminating and supporting pro- gressive ideas and always kept abreast with the inost enlightened thought and practical meth- ods. Thus it maintained the first place among educational publications in' Indiana and re- ceived the strong support of teachers in all grades as it was so conducted as to retain their confidence and aid them in their work as well by its discussions and expositions of current topics and personal notes from old educators in the field and editorial utterances and able coun- sel of its owner and editor. Mr. Bell had the distinction of serving as president of the In- diana State Teachers' Association during its session of 1873 and during the full decade of services as member of the board of education of Indianapolis, he held the office of president of this body for seven years. For more than a quarter of a century he kept in close touch with the schools and teachers of the state, vis- iting institutions in all of the counties, giving lessons and delivering public lectures. Con- cerning him the following appreciative words were written a few years prior to his death: "In every talk of his there is something worth remembering ; in every lecture there is the wis- dom of common sense presented in plain Anglo Saxon and impressed with the carnestness of conviction. The humorous vein in his short speeches on social occasions charges them with a breeziness which is much enjoyed by listen- ers. His apprehension of humor and his ability to originate or adapt a witticism lend charm and piquancy to his after-dinner speeches. The desire to make a point and invoke applause never prompts him to an unkind utterance which could wound the sensibility of another. He always displays good humor."

Mr. Bell was an influential and honored fac- tor in connection with the best educational work in Indiana for thirty years and both by his writings and personal labors he did much to improve the character of the schools and to

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HISTORY OF GREATER INDIANAPOLIS.

elevate the pedagogical profession. As a citi- zen he was broad-minded, progressive and pub- lic-spirited, giving much time to charitable, benevolent and church work and ever lending his influence in support of all that tends to promote healthful and reputable moral senti- ment in the community. He was a devoted member of the Plymouth Congregational Church of which he was a trustee at the time of his death, besides which he was for a long period of years leader and teacher of a Sunday school class composed of business and profes- sional men. He was an active and valued mem- ber of the Indiana Literary Club and of the College Corner Club. He was the owner of a large and well improved farm in Delaware County, and found both pleasure and recre- ation in giving to the same a general supervis- ion. He ever maintained a deep interest in the basic industry of agriculture, with its concom- itant of stock-growing, and he was a frequent attendant at the meetings of the State Board of Agriculture where his counsel and address ever attracted most favorable attention. He had splendid powers of observation and ratioci- nation and he was never given to rash conjec- tures or conclusions as he carefully weighed all matters, even those of minor importance, before expressing an opinion. Thus his reputation for wisdom and mature judgment was eminently justified. His opinion, therefore, when ex- pressed, embodied his conviction and deliber- ate judgment. He was consulted freely and his judgment was sought in connection with matters of interest to the municipality, the polity and maintenance of the church, the or- ganization and support of charities, and all matters especially affecting popular education in the state. As a man he "stood four-square to every wind that blows" and he well exempli- fied in his personality the truth of the state- ment that "The bravest are the tenderest, the loving are the daring." Kindness, sincerity, tolerance, generosity and deep human sym- pathy were found to abide with him as con- stant guests. From his devotion to principle there was no deviation and his strong and noble personality gained to him unqualified esteem in all roles of life. His political support was given to the Republican party.

On the 20th of July, 1871, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Bell to Miss Eliza Can- nell of Waterford, New York, who had been his assistant in the Indianapolis high school for several years and who for many years after their marriage was his able and valued coad- jutor in the management of the "Indiana School Journal." Mrs. Bell was born in Waterford. New York. Her parents were both natives of England. They came to America as strangers

to each other in 1834, but soon thereafter formed a life partnership and settled in the Empire state. Mrs. Bell is a woman of broad scholarship and a fine literary taste and ability. She has been and is a valued member of the Woman's Club, and other literary organiza- tions of a representative order and she has been prominent in the best social activities of In- diana's capital city where she still maintains her home. Mr. Bell is also survived by one daughter, Mrs. Garrard, who was educated in the Indiana public schools and Vassar College.

The complete set of the "Indiana School Journal" from its beginning in 1856 until the close of 1899, when Mr. Bell severed his con- nection with it, has been donated by Mrs. Bell to the library of Earlham College at Richmond, Indiana.

JOHN H. FURNAS. It is gratifying to the publishers of this work to be able to present within its pages a review, brief though it be, of the career of this representative business man of Indianapolis, where he has attained to distinctive success through his own ability and well-directed efforts and where he has built up an industrial concern which con- tributes materially to the economic and com- mercial prestige of the fair capital city of his native state. He is president and general manager of the Furnas Office & Bank Fur- niture Company, whose well-equipped manu- factory is located on East Eleventh street, and the title of the company adequately indi- cates the nature of the business conducted, the same being now of wide scope and im- portance. Mr. Furnas is also senior member of the firm of J. H. Furnas & Company, representative coal dealers of the city.

This is an age of specializing, and Mr. Furnas has had the prescience to realize that much was thus to be accomplished by limit- ing the variety of products turned out of the manufactory of which he is the executive head. The results have fully justified the wisdom of his course, and the Furnas Office & Bank Furniture Company now holds rank among the most successful and substantial industrial concerns of "Greater Indianapo- lis." The aim of the company has been at all times to turn out products of the best possible excellence and to give to patrons even better values than expected. Adherence to this rule has been potent in building up the thriving enterprise of which the subject of this review is now the executive and prac- tical head.

John H. Furnas takes pride in reverting to the fine old Hoosier commonwealth as the place of his nativity, and he is a scion of one of its honored pioneer families. He was born

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HISTORY OF GREATER INDIANAPOLIS.

on the paternal homestead farm, in Decatur Township, Marion County, Indiana, on the 13th of March, 1854, and is a son of Joseph and Mary Furnas, who were natives of the State of Ohio and birthright members of the Society of Friends, commonly designated as Quakers. The respective families came to Indiana in an early day, and it is a matter of record that the Furnas family here located in the year 1828. Joseph Furnas became one of the representative farmers of Marion County, where he developed a fine landed estate, and both he and his wife were num- bered among the highly esteemed citizens of Decatur Township, where they lived and la- bored to goodly ends and where they con- tinued to maintain their home until they were summoned to the life eternal, and the old homestead is still in the possession of the family.

Under the sturdy and invigorating disci- pline of the home farm John H. Furnas was reared to years of maturity, waxing strong in mind and body under the training involved and gaining a deep appreciation of the dig- nity of honest toil and endeavor, so that he has ever placed a true value upon men and realized that "he who serves is royal". After completing the curriculum of the common schools, Mr. Furnas was matriculated in Ox- ford University, where he gained a liberal education in the academic sense.

Mr. Furnas has been a resident of Indian- apolis for years, and here his rise in the business world has been gained by close ap- plication, indefatigable industry and deter- mined marshaling of fine energies along nor- mal lines of enterprise. He was the founder of the company of which he is now the head, and his business policy has at all times been progressive, so that success has come as a natural result. His standing in the business circles of the capital city is one of marked security and popularity, and he is one of those captains of industry whose promotion of normal industrial enterprises has contrib- uted to the great and rapid commercial ad- vancement of Indianapolis. As a citizen he is essentially loyal and public-spirited, and he is a member of the Commercial Club and other civic organizations of promotive im- portance and high civic ideals. The attrac- tive family home, a center of gracious hos- pitality, is located at 585 Middle Drive.

WILLIAM H. H. MILLER. A distinguished figure in the history of Indiana and the nation and one who has conferred honor upon the Hoosier Commonwealth not less through his services in offices of high public trust than through his labors as one of the able

members of the bar of the state, there is em- phatic consistency in according in this pub- lication specific recognition of this repre- sentative member of the legal profession in "Greater Indianapolis"

William Henry Harrison Miller, former at -. torney-general of the United States and at the present time an active member of the Indianapolis bar, was born at Augusta, Oneida County, New York, on the 6th of September, 1840, the youngest but one of the ten children of Curtis and Lucy (Duncan) Miller, natives respectively of New York and Massachusetts. His father devoted the major portion of his active career to farming and continued his residence in the Empire state until the close of his life, as did also his wife. He was a man of sterling traits of character and of strong mentality, and wielded no little influence in his community, where he ever commanded unequivocal re- spect and confidence. The Miller family, coming of stanch Scotch and English origin, was founded in America in the seventeenth century and this branch of it settled in Oneida County, New York, in 1795. The boyhood and youth of William Henry Har- rison were passed on the home farm, and, like many another who has achieved distinc- tion in professional and public life, the dis- cipline there received was of incalculable value to him in his later work. While a farmer boy he duly availed himself of the privileges afforded by the district schools of his native county with such effect that he became a teacher therein at the early age of fifteen years. Later he continued his studies in an academy at Whitestown, New York, and finally was matriculated in Hamilton Col- lege, located at Clinton in that state, from which excellent institution he was graduated as a member of the class of 1861, receiving the degree of Bachelor of Arts. While there he became a member of the Delta Upsilon college fraternity. Soon after his gradua- tion he made his way westward and located at Maumee City, Ohio, where he secured a position as teacher in the village schools.

In May, 1862, he enlisted as a private in the Eighty-fourth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, was elected a lieutenant and served until the' close of his three months' term of enlistment. at the expiration of which, in September of the same year, he received his honorable dis- charge. He then located in the City of To- ledo, Ohio, where he took up the study of law under the able preceptorship of Morrison R. Waite, who later became chief justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Finan- cial exigencies, however, soon interrupted the

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HISTORY OF GREATER INDIANAPOLIS.

professional studies of the ambitious young man, and after serving a time as clerk in a law office he accepted the position of superin- tendent of the public schools of Peru, In- diana. While doing careful and effective work in this position he devoted his other- wise leisure hours to his law studies, and his powers of analysis, absorption and assini- ilation enabled him to make rapid and sub- stantial progress in the science of jurispru- dence, and in 1865 he was admitted to the bar of the state, at Peru. For a short time thereafter he was engaged in the practice of his profession in that city, and there also he served most acceptably in the position of county school examiner. It is worthy of special note that this is the only public office which he ever held until many years later, when he became attorney general of the United States.

In 1866, Mr. Miller removed to Fort Wayne, Indiana, where, without influential connections or personal acquaintanceship, he valiantly undertook to establish himself in the practice of his chosen profession. He formed a partnership with William H. Coombs, an old lawyer of large ability but limited prac- tice, and his strong initiative, determined ap- plication and thorough technical fortification soon gained for him distinctive recognition, the result being that the business of the firm so rapidly expanded in scope and importance that soon a third member of the firm became necessary.

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Greater Indianapolis : the history, the industries, the institutions, and the people of a city of homes, Part 119

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