Greater Indianapolis : the history, the industries, the institutions, and the people of a city of homes, Part 18

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 18

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Rev. Madison Hume came to Indiana in the early pioneer days and was one of those who settled in what was then the wilds of Dearborn County, where he entered land and began its reelamation. He was a prominent and honored citizen of that section of the state, where he not only tilled the soil but also labored with all of zeal and consecration as a clergyman of the Baptist Church. There were but few churches in that region at the time he was thus laboring, and in pursuit of his godly calling he traveled on horseback from village to village and to remote settle- ments, holding services in school houses or such other buildings as were available for the purpose. In this manner he covered a wide area, and he was Jong one of the prominent and revered ministers of the gospel in central Indiana. In 1833 he sold his property in Dearborn County and removed to Marion County, purchasing a small farm near the village of Augusta, seven miles north of In- dianapolis. There he continued to live until 1860, when he sold the farm and removed to Indianapolis. Here he died in 1864, at his residence on Capitol avenue, near Thirteenth street. His widow later sold this property to the school board and the site is now oeeu- pied by a large brick school house. His widow purchased a new home, on North Illi- nois street near Sixteenth street and she died there on the 25th of August, 1899, at the venerable age of ninety years, having survived her honored husband by nearly two score years.

James M. Hume, the subject of this memoir, was about three years of age when his family removed from Dearborn County to the new home in Marion County. Here he grew to maturity under the sturdy discipline of the farm, in the meanwhile attending to winter terms of school in the primitive log sehool house in the vicinity. This meager prelim- inary training proved ample foundation upon which to rear the substantial superstructure of definite knowledge and commanding busi-

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ness ability which later marked the man. His intellectual powers were broadened and matured by active, association with men and affairs as well as by well ordered reading of good books and periodicals of the day. Am- bitious and self-reliant, Mr. Hume early de- termined to seek a broader field of endeavor than that offered by the farm. In 1849 he came to Indianapolis, where he was destined to attain a commanding place as a merchant of progressive ideas and great executive abil- ity and as a citizen ever worthy of unquali- fied confidence and esteem. From a previ- ously published review of his business career are taken, with but slight change, the follow- ing statements :

"That he did not mistake his abilities or predilections was proved by the result of his venture in the world of trade. He first en- tered the merchant-tailoring establishment of James Hall, in the capacity of clerk, and six months later, so completely had Mr. Hume won' his employer's confidence that he was sent by Mr. Hall to Pendleton, in this state, to take charge of a shoe store there, a speedy recognition of worth and integrity as well as a bestowal of responsibility not usually con- ferred on one of his age at the time. He remained in Pendleton for a few months, until the store was closed out. Having ac- quired a taste for the drygoods business, Mr. Hume, in 1852, made arrangements to enter the employ of Horace A. Fletcher, who was then conducting an extensive business as dealer in dry goods, carpets and wall paper. The first year he received only twenty-five dollars in money for his services, but in 1856, with what he had saved, he was able to pur- chase an interest in the business and assumed charge of the establishment, doing the prin- cipal part of the buying. The business was now conducted under the firm name of H. A. Fletcher & Company. In 1858 Edgar N. Lord, of Roxbury, Massachusetts, purchased an interest in the concern, which was then removed to No. 10 East Washington street, where for a time it was located in a build- ing adjoining the one now occupied by the Indianapolis News. In 1859, James M. Ray began the erection on this ground for the Trade Palace, which was completed in the following year, and H. A. Fletcher & Com- pany had the foresight to lease the first floor of the building, thus obtaining a store room thirty-five feet wide by one hundred feet in depth ; the three upper floors of the building were sixty feet deep. It was thought by many that the growth of their trade would not justify the firm's occupancy of what was then considered extensive quarters, but the

partners were willing to take the risk, and time proved that their judgment was not at fault. In 1863, Mr. Fletcher, wishing to re- tire, sold his interest in the business to his partners, who, in the fall of that year, admit- ted LaFayette Adams into the concern, whose title thereupon became Hume, Lord & Com- pany. In 1864, because of the failing health, Mr. Lord sold his interest to his partners, and retired from the firm, and for another year the business was continued under the title of Hume & Adams. In 1865 they disposed of their drygoods stock to engage in a carpet, wall-paper and window-shade business upon an extensive scale, both wholesale and retail, and about the same time Edgar J. Foster en- tered the firm, which then assumed the name of Hume, Adams & Company. In 1867, so steadily had their business increased that they were able to purchase the Trade Palace, which under their enterprising management was speedily enlarged to four times its original capacity. The first floor was rented to N. R. Smith & Co., drygoods merchants, and the second floor reserved for their own use. By 1870 the further extension of the business re- quired the admission of an office partner, and Arthur L. Wright, former county treasurer, became a member of the firm, whose title was later changed to Adams, Mansur & Company. Mr. Hume had accumulated a competency through his honorable and enterprising opera- tions in the local business field, and he con- tinued to be actively identified with the busi- ness mentioned until 1877; at this time the firm met financial reverses, after which Mr. Hume lived virtually retired until his death. In 1889 he and his wife removed to Cali- fornia, where they resided until 1893, when they returned to Indianapolis, and lived at 3213 North Illinois, where Mr. Hume passed the remainder of his life. He died on the fifth of March, 1899, secure in the unqualified esteem of all who knew him.

The career of James M. Hume is typical of the best there is in American life, and his reputation and unsullied character proved valuable in connection with business affairs in the capital city. He carried into business life the deportment and courtesy of the old school gentleman, which is now rapidly be- coming a tradition. He was one of the world's army of workers and no man had a greater respect for the dignity and value of honest toil. His helpfulness was exerted in a quiet and unassuming way and through diverse channels. He was full of generous impulses and as a citizen he was loyal, liberal and public-spirited. Much intellectual and moral force was his. ITe used it for the benefit of

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his fellow-men. Ile was essentially a busi- ness man and had no ambition for the prefer- ments of polities, though he was a stalwart supporter of the principles and policies of the Republican party. He was a consistent mem- ber of the Baptist Church, in whose faith he was reared, and he was liberal in the support of all church work in the community.

In December, 1867, James M. Hume mar- ried Mary Elizabeth Culley, who is the daugh- ter of the late David V. Culley, who was long a prominent and influential citizen of Indianapolis. The only child of this union is George E. Hume, of whom mention is made in following paragraphs. Mrs. Hume still maintains her home in Indianapolis, is a mem- ber of the Second Presbyterian Church and has long held an unassailable position in the social life of the city in which her life has been passed.

George E. Hume is well upholding, both as a citizen and as a business man, the pres- tige of the name which he bears. He was born on the 19th of March, 1869, in Indianap- olis, and here he secured his education in the public schools. In 1885, he entered the Bos- ton Latin School, from which he graduated in 1889. He entered Harvard University, and graduated as a member of the class of 1893, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. He then returned to his home and entered the Indianapolis Law School, from which he duly received his degree of Bachelor of Laws in 1895, in which year he was admitted to the bar. After graduation, he continued his law studies for a year in the offices of Butler, Snow & Butler, and Holtzman & Leathers, in Indianapolis. He then entered into partner- ship with Edward E. Gates, under the firm name of Gates & Hume, and they continued to be thus associated in the practice of law until 1899. In the last year mentioned he practically retired from the practice of the law to assume the office of secretary and treasurer of the Indiana Title Guaranty & Loan Company, to which position he was elected at the time of the organization and in- corporation of this institution. Since 1904, he has also served as treasurer of the Amer- ican Central Life Insurance Company, of In- dianapolis, representing another of the ably managed and financially solid institutions that are contributing so materially to the prece- dence of the fair capital eity of the Hoosier state.

Like his honored father, Mr. Inme is lib- eral and progressive in his attitude as a eiti- zen and he takes a deep interest in all that tonches the advancement and prosperity of his native eity, where he is identified with

inany representative civic and social organi- zations. He is a stalwart supporter of the principles and policies of the Republican party. Genial and companionable, his circle of friends is circumscribed only by that of his acquaintances and he is one of the popu- lar young business men of Indianapolis, be- sides remaining a member of its bar.

On the 16th day of November. 1898, Mr. Hume married Lucy Fitzhugh Holliday, who was born and reared in Indianapolis and who is the daughter of William Jacquelin Holli- day and Lucy (Redd) Holliday, the former a cousin of Governor Holliday of Virginia. and the latter a lineal descendant of the great patriot, Patrick Henry. Mr. and Mrs. Hume have two sons-William Mansur and Jaequelin Holliday.

ALEXANDER M. STEWART. A representative business man and most popular citizen of the fair capital city of Indiana is Alexander M. Stewart, who is a native son of this common- wealth, where his entire life has been passed, and who has been engaged in the music trade for nearly thirty years, representing the major portion of his active career. He has been a resident of Indianapolis since 1869 and his popularity is based upon his generous attri- butes of character and his signal rectitude and fairness as a business man.

Mr. Stewart was born in the eity of Terre Haute, Indiana, on the 4th of March, 1867, and is a seion of one of the old and distin- guished families of the state, with whose an- nals the name has been identified since the early pioneer epoch in the history of this com- monwealth. He is the only child of Colonel Robert R. and Flora (Sullivan) Stewart. His father was horn and reared in Indiana, and he represented this state with distinction as a soldier in the Mexican War, in which he held the rank of lieutenant, and when the dark cloud of Civil War cast its grewsome pall over the national horizon this sterling patriot was among the first to tender his serv- ices in defense of the Union. He was made colonel of the Eleventh Indiana Cavalry, with which he participated in numerous engage- ments prior to the time when he met the dire fortunes of war, in heing captured by the enemy. by whom he was incarcerated in loath- some old Libby prison, in Richmond, Virginia. where he was held for a period of seven months. His health became seriously impaired through the privations and other hardships which he endured in this historic prison, and he died a few years after the close of the great conflict through which the integrity of the nation was perpetuated. His widow subsequently became the wife of Emil Wulsehner. of Indianapolis.

alexander El. Alewart

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who died April 9, 1900. She was prominent in religious and charitable work and in the social activities of the community. She was chairman of the board of trustees of the In- diana Orphans' Home Association. She was born and reared in the capital city, where her father, Esqnire William Sullivan, was a prom- inent and influential citizen. She died in Rome, Italy, April 14, 1909.

Alexander M. Stewart was about three years of age at the time of his father's death, and soon thereafter his mother came to Indian- apolis, in which city he was reared to man- hood and to whose public schools he is in- debted for his early educational discipline. His stepfather was here engaged in the music business for many years, and with this line of enterprise Mr. Stewart has been identified from his youth to the present time. His finely equipped establishment is considered the lead- ing music house of the state and is eligibly located on Pennsylvania street, in the main building, especially built for this firm. Here is retained a large and representative patron- age and the establishment is a favored head- quarters for the leading musicians of the city, as well as for other patrons of all classes.

In connection with his music business Mr. Stewart has for a number of years had large real estate interests in Indianapolis, and in this line he has made many important trans- actions and through the same advanced the development of the city. He is essentially and emphatically progressive and public spirited as a citizen and none has shown more satisfaction in witnessing and aiding in the development of the "Greater Indianapolis." In politics he maintains an independent atti- tude, and he is identified with the Columbia Club, the German House and the Indianapolis Maennerchor, and the Loyal Legion. In the Masonic fraternity he has completed the circle of the Scottish Rite body, in which latter he has attained the thirtv-second degree, besides which he is affiliated with the allied organiza- tion, the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine.

On the 16th of November, 1893, .Mr. Stew- art was united in marriage to Miss Georgia Toms, of St. Louis, Missouri, and she was sum- moned to the life eternal on the 9th of August, 1906, being survived by two sons,-George Ed- mond and James T.

JULIUS C. WALK, one of the veteran busi- ness men and highly honored citizens of In- dianapolis, figures as the subject of this brief sketch, and in addition to his prestige in the field of business in which he has so long en- gaged his energies, further interest attaches to his career from the fact that he is a native

son of the Indiana capital, which has repre- sented his home from the time of his birth. He is known as a leal and loyal citizen and as one who has witnessed and contributed to the upbuilding of the great industrial and commercial city that may well be designated "Greater Indianapolis". He has gained suc- cess along normal and legitimate lines of business and is now the head of one of the oldest and largest retail jewelry concerns in the city and one that has ever secured a pat- ronage of essentially representative order, its fine trade being based upon fair and honor- able dealings and careful attention to the demands of the appreciative patronage. The enterprise is now conducted under the firm name of Julius C. Walk & Son, and the finely appointed and equipped establishment is lo- cated at No. 10 East Washington street.

The house in which Mr. Walk was born was located on the corner of Meridian and Washington streets, Indianapolis, which was then a small city, and the date of his nativity was January 4, 1840. He is a son of Louis and Emma (Iohn) Walk, the former of whom was born in Wurtemburg, Germany, in the year 1806, and the latter of whom was born in Nord Hausen, Prussia, on the 18th of Feb- ruary. 1809. The parents were reared and educated in their fatherland and came alone to America when young. Their acquaint- anceship was formed in the United States and on the 16th of April, 1838, their mar- riage was solemnized, in New York City. The father became a naturalized citizen of the land of his adoption on the 28th of July, 1842, in Indianapolis, and his certificate of citizen- ship, now in the possession of the subject of this sketch, was signed by Robert B. Duncan, who was at that time clerk of Marion County. Louis Walk came with his young wife to Indianapolis in 1839. making the trip from Philadelphia to Cincinnati and thence on to the little capital city of the Hoosier state. They passed the residue of their long and useful lives in Indianapolis, where they were recognized as folk of sterling worth of char- acter and where they were held in unqualified confidence and respect by all who knew them. They were devout members of the Lutheran and Catholic Churches and their lives, hon- est and unpretentious, were marked by kindly deeds and generous interest in the welfare of those about them. The honored father was summoned to his reward on the 9th of May. 1875, and his cherished and devoted wife en- tered into eternal rest on the 27th of August, 1889. They became the parents of three chil- dren, namely: Louise, who is the widow of Julius Mannfeld and still maintains her home

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in Indianapolis; Julius C., who is the imme- diate subject of this sketch; and Carl, who died in 1903, leaving a widow, two sons and one danghter; he was a representative busi- ness man and honored citizen of Indianapolis, where his family still reside. Louis Walk was a shoemaker by trade and his entire ac- tive career was one of active identification with the same. For many years he conducted a custom boot and shoe shop in Indianapolis, and his distinctive skill and genial personality gained to him a large patronage from the best class of citizens.

Julius C. Walk was reared to maturity in the Indiana capital and here he received a good common-school education. In 1855 he entered upon an apprenticeship to the trade of silversmith and goldsmith and watchmaker, completing a service of four years and be- coming a skilled artisan. He was employed at his trade in local establishments until 1877, when he initiated his independent career in the jewelry business. He formed a partner- ship with James N. Mayhew and Wheelock P. Bingham, under the firm name of Bingham, Walk & Mayhew, and they opened their mod- est establishment at No. 12 East Washington street. This partnership alliance remained unchanged for a period of five years, at the expiration of which Mr. Mayhew retired, and thereafter the firm of Bingham & Walk contin- ved the business until the death of Mr. Bing- ham, in 1889. In 1892 Mr. Walk purchased of Mrs. Bingham the interest of his former partner and valued friend, and he then ad- mitted to partnership his only son, Carl F. Walk, since which time the business has been continued under the title of Julius C. Walk & Son. Thus for more than thirty years has the honored subject of this sketch been iden- tified in an independent way with the one line of enterprise in the City of Indianapolis, and his course has been marked by that im- pregnable integrity of purpose, that careful consideration of the requirements of his patrons, and that generous and kindly atti- tude that have gained to him a secure place as one of the representative business men of the capital city and as one of its popular and valued citizens.

In politics Mr. Walk. though never an aspirant for office, has ever shown a loyal in- terest in all that has tended to enhance the civic and material prosperity and progress of his native city. His wife holds membership in the Plymouth Church, and he is identified with various social and fraternal organiza- tions, including the Masonic fraternity, with which he has been affiliated since 1865. He has membership in Ancient Landmarks Lodge

No. 319, Free & Accepted Masons; Keystone Chapter No: 6, Royal Arch Masons: and Raper Commandery No. 1, Knights Temp- lars, with which fine chivalric body he has been identified since 1872. He has also at- tained to the thirty-second degree in the An- cient Accepted Scottish Rite Masonry, and since 1884 has been a member of Murat Temple, Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine.

On the 30th of April, 1868, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Walk to Miss Eleanora T. E. Werbe, who was born and reared in Indianapolis and who is a daughter of the late Ferdinand L. Werbe, who was for many years engaged in the merchandise business in this city. Mr. and Mrs. Walk have three children, namely, Julia, Carl and Freda. Freda is the wife of Dr. Reginald Garstrong; Carl married Matilda Brink, daughter of Christian Brink, one time recorder of Marion County.

DANIEL YANDES. A publication of this na- ture exercises its most important function when it takes cognizance, through proper me- morial tribute, of the life and labors of so distinguished a citizen as was Daniel Yandes, who was a pioneer of pioneers in the Indiana capital, where he took up his abode in 1821 and where he continued to reside until his death, in the fullness of years and well earned honors, on the 10th of June, 1878, at which time he was eighty-five years and five months of age. He ever stood exponent of the most leal and loyal citizenship and was a gracious, noble personality whose memory will be long cherished and venerated in the city to whose civic and material progress he contributed in most generous measure. A man of great business capacity and of the highest prin- ciples of integrity and honor, he made his in- finence felt along divers lines and he was long a leader in the promotion of legitimate in- dustrial and semi-public enterprises which conserved the general welfare of the city and state of his adoption.

Daniel Yandes was born in Fayette Coun- ty, Pennsylvania, in January, 1793, and was a son of Simon and Anna Catherine (Rider) Yandes, both of whom were natives of Ger- many. The father owned and operated a farm near the Monongahela River, west of Uniontown, and there the two sons, Daniel and Simon, Jr., were reared to maturity, re- ceiving such advantages as were afforded in the common schools of the locality and period. Both of the sons early began to assist in the work of the home farm, aiding in its reclama- tion from the forest wilds. Both manifested their loyalty when the War. of 1812 was in

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progress, and both served under Gen. William Henry Harrison in this second struggle with England, having been on duty with the troops in northern Ohio, but never having been called into active conflict during their six months' term of service. In 1814, when the national capital was made the point of attack on the part of the British the two youthful patriots again enlisted, and when but twenty- one years of age Daniel Yandes was elected major of his regiment, but his command was not called into action. In the following year was solemnized his marriage to Miss Anna Wilson, eldest daughter of James and Mary (Rabb) Wilson. Her father was a represen- tative farmer and influential citizen of Fay- ette county, where he served for a number of years as a magistrate. The Wilson family was of Scotch-Irish and the Rabb family of Scotch-English lineage, and both held to the faith of the Presbyterian Church, of which Mrs. Yandes was a devoted member during her entire life. She was a woman of gentle and gracious character and proved a veritable helpmeet to her husband. Her paternal grandfather, Alexander Wilson, was born in 1727 and finally removed from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, to Fayette County, that state, where his death occurred in the year 1815.

After his marriage Daniel Yandes engaged in coal mining and also the operating of a flour mill. In 1817 occurred the death of his honored father, who was eighty-four years of age at the time, and in the following year he set forth for Indiana, in company with his widowed mother, his wife and their two chil- dren, making the trip down the Ohio River to Cincinnati and proceeding thence to Fay- ette County, Indiana, where he secured a tract of heavily timbered land, near. the present thriving town of Connersville. He became one of the pioneer farmers of that section of the state, where he continued to reside un- til 1821, when he removed to the little town of Indianapolis, which had but recently been designated as the capital of the state. He thereafter maintained his home in Indian- apolis and here centered his interests until his death, which occurred in June, 1878, as already noted in this context. His first place of abode in the capital city was a log cabin which he erected near the southwest corner of Washington and Alabama streets, opposite the court-house square. In 1823 he built a frame house of three rooms, in the same lo- cality, and this continued to be the family domicile until 1831, when he erected a two- story brick residence west of and contignons to the present building of the State Life In-

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Greater Indianapolis : the history, the industries, the institutions, and the people of a city of homes, Part 18

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