USA > Indiana > Marion County > Indianapolis > Greater Indianapolis : the history, the industries, the institutions, and the people of a city of homes > Part 22
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Data relative to the genealogy of Mr. Fran- eis in the maternal line are properly given place at this juncture. Hon. Jacob Mutz, his maternal grandfather, was born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, being a son of
and Mary (Frybarger) Mutz, the former of whom was born in Germany and the latter in Switzerland. When he was about four years of age his parents removed from the old Keystone state to Ohio, taking up their residence in Miami County, that state, near the close of the second decade of the nine- teenth century, and there passing the remain- der of their lives. In that county Jacob Mutz was reared to manhood on the pioneer farm. and as a young man he came to Indiana and took up his residence in Shelby County, where he married Anna Maria Snepp, who likewise was a native of Lancaster County, Pennsyl- vania. being a representative of one of the old and honored families of that section of the Keystone commonwealth. Jacob Mutz and his wife continned in loving companionship down the pathway of life for half a century and she died in October, 1898, shortly after they had celebrated their golden wedding. When venerable in years Mr. Mutz contracted a second marriage. Of the ten children of the first marriage six are now living.
Hon. Jacob Mntz was one of the prominent and influential citizens of his section of the state and was a leader in the ranks of the Democratic party in Shelby County. He was three times elected to represent his county in the state legislature and was well known in other public capacities, having served for four- teen years as a member of the Indiana State Board of Agriculture and having also been a member of the board of trustees of Purdue University. He was a prominent member of the Masonic fraternity. and was one of the
pillars of the St. George Lutheran Church, near Edinburg, Shelby County, in which he was a zealous and devoted worker and in which he was the organizer of the Sunday school, which remains an honor to his memory. He was a man of broad and charitable views, kindly and tolerant in his attitude, and gener- ous in his benevolences and general helpful- ness. His death occurred on the 6th of Sep- tember, 1906, when he was nearly eighty-three years of age, and he is remembered with ven- eration as a man of sterling character and as a worthy pioneer of the Hoosier common- wealth.
J. Richard Francis, whose name initiates this article, was born at Fountaintown, Shelby County, Indiana, on the 31st of December, 1870, and his early educational discipline was secured in the public schools of his native vil- lage. In 1887 he was matriculated in the pre- paratory department of Purdue University, at Lafayette, Indiana, in which he completed the prescribed course and was graduated in 1893, on the day which was saddened to him by the death of his venerated father. He re- ceived the degree of Graduate of Pharmacy. It was the wish of his father that he should enter the medical profession, but upon his graduation the dean of his alma mater recom- mended him to Dr. John N. Hurty, of Indian- apolis, for the position of assistant in the lat- ter's analytical laboratory. Mr. Francis came to Indianapolis and became the valued assist- ant of Dr. Hurty, with whom he continued in this capacity until the doctor was elected to the office of secretary of the state board of health, in 1895, when Mr. Francis was ad- mitted to partnership in the business and as- sumed the management of the drug store, which was then conducted under the title of the J. N. Hurty Pharmacy Company. The following pertinent statements in this connec- tion are entitled to perpetuation in this article: "The business of this concern has always been conducted on a most honorable basis, and its name, either under the original or the pres- ent regime. has never been used in connection with the popularization or advertisement of patent medicines or in connection with ques- tionable undertakings of any kind. In con- nection with his pharmacy Dr. Hurty opened an analytical laboratory, and this has been continued successfully ever since. There all the drugs received into the pharmacy undergo careful preliminary inspection, and consider- ahle work from outside sources is also done there,-such as the analysis of water, the chem- ical work for the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chi- cago & St. Louis Railroad Company, etc., for which the laboratory is particularly well
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HISTORY OF GREATER INDIANAPOLIS.
equipped. All this is carried on under the personal direction of Mr. Francis, who has at- tained a reputation for ability and trustworthi- ness not surpassed by any member of the pro- fession in this state. Mr. Francis has put his vigorous mentality to many severe tests in the past few years, which have been devoted to work taxing to the utmost his physical as well as his intellectual strength. Fortunately he is endowed with a strong constitution and has had excellent health, which has made possible his continued exertions from the time he en- tered upon his present line."
In 1901 the title was changed to the Hurty- Francis Pharmacy Company, and this was re- tained until 1904, when Mr. Francis secured the interest of Dr. Hurty in the enterprise, which he has since successfully conducted un- der the title of the Francis Pharmacy Com- pany, being president of the company. Both by reason of his insistent personal preference and in continuance of the original policy on which the business was founded, Mr. Francis has not permitted commercialism to enter into the enterprise to the extent of commending or "pushing" proprietary remedies and the mani- fold lines of patent medicines, and it is grati- fying to the medical profession and to the general public that so admirable an establish- ment is maintained in Indianapolis as that of the Francis Pharmacy Company,-an estab- lishment in which the best technical service is assured and in which every effort is made to properly cater to the demands of a large and appreciative patronage. Mr. Francis · holds high prestige as a reliable and progressive business man, as an able scientist in his chosen field and as a citizen of utmost loyalty and public spirit. He has won success through worthy means, and that his professional course has not lacked the highest of endorsement on the part of the medical fraternity will be ade- quately shown in the several personal esti- mates with which this sketch shall be closed.
In politics Mr. Francis gives a stanch al- legiance to the cause of the Republican forces, but the turmoil and strife of the political arena has had no allurement for him. He re- tains membership in the St. George Lutheran Church, in Shelby County, of which mention has been made in a preceding paragraph, and in the time-honored Masonic fraternity he has completed the degrees of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite, in which he has attained the thirty-second degree, besides being a popular member of Murat Temple, Ancient Arabic Or- der of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. He holds membership in the University Club, the Columbia Club and the German Honse; is affiliated" with the Kappa Sigma college fra-
ternity and is an honorary member of the Xi Psi Phi fraternity.
On the 28th of August, 1899, was solemn- ized the marriage of Mr. Francis to Helen Dalrymple, who was born and reared at Mor- ristown, Indiana, and who is the only child of John M. and Mary Ellen ( Hargrove) Dal- rymple, who now maintain their home in In- dianapolis, where Mr. Dalrymple is president of the Indianapolis Saddlery Company. He is of Scotch lineage and a scion of one of the old and patrician families of Virginia, with whose history the name became identified in the early colonial epoch. Mr. Dalrymple is a zealous supporter of the work of the Methodist Episcopal Church in general and in a more concrete sense of the Central Avenue Meth- odist Church of Indianapolis, in which both he and his wife are zealous members, as is also their only daughter, Mrs. Francis. Mr. Dal- rymple has served as a member of the Indiana State Board of Charities and his personal benevolences and charities have been unosten- tatious and well ordered. He donated and en- dowed the John M. Dalrymple room in the Indiana Methodist Hospital, at Indianapolis. He is an honored and ·influential citizen and business man of the capital city and is promi- nently identified with the Masonic fraternity as well as with various civic organizations of representative order. Mrs. Dalrymple is descended in the paternal line from an old and prominent family of the State of Maryland, whence the original representatives came from Scotland. Her maternal ancestors, named Smith, early settled in Virginia. Mrs. Francis is prominent in connection with the best social activities of her home city, where she enjoys distinctive popularity. She is an accomplished musician and is identified with musical affairs of the best order in Indianapolis, where she is also identified with the Federation of Women's Clubs, in which she has held various offices. She completed her educational work in DePanw University and is a member of the Alpha Chi Omega sorority.
In conclusion of this article are entered state- ments, with proper credit to the respective sources, concerning the professional and busi- ness standing of Mr. Francis, and the estimates, emanating from distinguished anthorities, bear their own significance.
Dr. William N. Wishard, one of the leading physicians and surgeons of Indianapolis, has written as follows: "J. R. Francis is a thor- oughly scientific pharmacist who makes a con- scientious effort toward the highest ideals of sei- entific dispensing. He is thoroughly trained, has an enthusiastic devotion to his work and a keen appreciation of the present-dav pharma-
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HISTORY OF GREATER INDIANAPOLIS.
ceutical requirements; he justly deserves the high reputation he bears."
The tribute of Dr. Charles E. Ferguson is as follows: "J. R. Francis is one of the few ethical druggists in the state. Graduated in pharmacy and in chemistry in Purdue Univer- sity, son of a distinguished physician, he came to Indianapolis as chemist for J. N. Hurty. Ile became Dr. Hurty's partner, under the firm name of the Hurty-Francis Pharmaey Company, and later succeeded Dr. Hurty. He has a most complete laboratory, is chemist for the Big Four Railway Company. He is a suc- cess because the doctors know they can trust him. He has trained pharmacists who put up his prescriptions. The store has always had a high reputation for honesty and purity in com- pounding prescriptions. Mr. Francis has sus- tained the high reputation established by J. N. Hurty. He is by nature and by training adapted to his profession-this is the secret of his success."
From Dr. Samuel E. Earp, a well known in- structor in medical colleges and a writer of marked prominence in the domain of his pro- fession, comes the following emphatic endorse- ment: "J. R. Francis is a competent, repu- table and ethical pharmacist, but this is not all: the large retail drug establishment of which he is the proprietor has in connection with it a well equipped laboratory for the pur- pose of standardizing his stock, and this he gives his personal supervision. His cautious and painstaking methods are characteristic of but few men in active business life. His thor- oughness in details with a view of reaching perfection is the secret of his success."
LOUIS A. GREINER, D. V. S., is a distin- gnished representative of a worthy profes- sion with which five generations of his fam- ily have been prominently identified, and he is recognized as one of the leading ex- ponents of veterinary science in the state, be- ing the senior member of the firm of L. A. Greiner & Son, proprietors of the finely equipped Indianapolis Veterinary Infirmary, located at 14-16 South Alabama street, and also having been founder of the Indiana Veterinary College, which he conducted suc- cessfully for a period of nine years. He has long controlled a large and lucrative profes- sional business in Indianapolis, and is a citi- zen in every way worthy of the unqualified esteem in which he is held in the community.
Dr. Lonis Adolph Greiner is a native of that fair German province of Alsace-Lorraine. which was wrested from France at the time of the Franco-Prussian War and which was still a French province at the time of his birth, which there ocenrred on the 7th of De-
cember, 1854. He is a son of Dr. L. A. Greiner, who was likewise born in Alsace- Lorraine, of stanch German lineage. In 1866 Dr. L. A. Greiner immigrated with his fam- ily to the United States, establishing his home in the City of Buffalo, New York, where he was engaged in business as a veterinary surgeon until 1879, when he removed to In- dianapolis, where he has since maintained his home and where he has been prominent and successful in the work of his profession. He died in the year 1889 and his wife died in 1907. The father was graduated in the Alford Veterinary College, in the City of Paris, and for many years was assistant to his brother, Dr. William Greiner, who was official veterinary surgeon for the Strassburg district of Alsace-Lorraine. Dr. Henry Her- man Greiner, paternal grandfather of him whose name initiates this review, served as veterinarian in the army of the great Napo- leon, following that commander in his various campaigns and having been with him at Mos- cow and Waterloo.
Dr. Louis A. Greiner secured his rudi- mentary education in his native land and was a lad of twelve years at the time of the fam- ily immigration to America. He was reared to maturity in the City of Buffalo, where he duly availed himself of the advantages of the public schools and also attended the German Lutheran Seminary, his parents being devout members of the German Lutheran Church. He began the study of veterinary science un- dler the able preceptorship of his honored father and had gained thorough and practical instruction in the same and engaged in prac- tice prior to attaining the age of twenty years. He then entered the Philadelphia Veterinary College, in which he completed the prescribed course and amply fortified himself for the work of his profession, to which he has de- voted his attention without interruption since he was nineteen years of age and in which he has added materially to the professional prestige of the name which he bears. After leaving college, in 1876, he continued in the work of his chosen vocation in the City of Buffalo until 1881, when he came to Indian- apolis and joined his father, who had here taken up his ahode two years previously.
In 1883 Dr. Lonis A. Greiner opened the Indianapolis Veterinary Infirmary, which he has since condneted with unqualified success and which has held at all times a large and representative patronage, hased on effective service and correct business methods. Dr. Greiner is the acknowledged leader in his profession in this city, and his technical skill is of the highest order. In 1892 he estab-
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lished the Indiana Veterinary College, which he conducted for nine years and which he brought to a high state of efficiency, having graduated in the institution seventy students, all of whom have been successful in their profession. Impaired health and the exact- ing demands of his own professional work finally compelled Dr. Greiner to retire from the educational establishment which he had thus founded. Concerning the doctor and his work the following pertinent statements are worthy of reproduction in this publication : " Associated with Dr. Greiner in his exten- sive business are his son, Dr. Joseph M. Greiner, two assistants and several laborers. Facilities for their work are complete and of the best modern type. The latest devices and methods are utilized and no expense is spared in rendering the appointments of the infirmary first-class in every respect. Dr. Greiner has been the city veterinarian of Indianapolis for a number of years and is now incumbent of that position. He does all the veterinary work for the Consumers' Ice Company, Sterling R. Holt Ice & Cold Stor- age Company, the Sterling R. Holt stock farm at Maywood, the Indianapolis Street Railway Company, the Standard Oil Com- pany and other large and important con- cerns. His private practice is very large and lucrative. During the proper season he has in operation the Indiana School for Farriers, designed to teach, in the most practical man- ner, scientific shoeing for horses, -particu- larly driving and racing animals". Dr. Greiner is associated with the Terre Haute Veterinary College of which he is vice-presi- dent and professor of cattle pathology and lameness and shoeing.
Dr. Greiner takes a loyal interest in all that touches the welfare of his home city and is essentially public-spirited in his attitude. He is a member of the German Orphans' Home Society, is a stalwart supporter of the canse of the Democratic party, in which con- nection he is identified with Marion County Democratic Club and the German American Democratic Club of this city. He and his wife hold membership in the First Lutheran Church, and, in addition to various social organizations, he is identified with the Scot- tish Rite and Shrine of the Masonic frater- nity, the Benevolent & Protective Order of Elks, the Knights of Pythias, and the I. O. H. F., and is a member of the State Veteri- nary Association.
In the City of Buffalo, New York, in 1874, Dr. Greiner was united in marriage to Miss Magdalena Pollock. who was there born, reared and educated, and of the six children
of this union four are now living,- Georgina is now the wife of John J. Ray, a represen- tative contractor and builder of Indianapolis ; Adolph died in infancy; Dr. Joseph Milton is associated with his father' in business, as already noted; Leonora is the wife of Fred- erick H. Nuerge, a successful contractor and builder of this city; Magdalena died in in- fancy: and Lonis Adolph, Jr., is also con- nected with his father.
CHARLES O. HARRIS, a popular citizen and native son of Indianapolis, is the present able incumbent of the office of chief deputy coun- ty treasurer of Marion County, and he is well entitled to the recognition accorded him in this sketch. Charles Orville Harris was born in Indianapolis, on the 11th of August, 1865, and is a son of Charles E. and Hannah W. (Yockum) Harris, both of whom are na- tives of Ohio, whence they removed to In- dianapolis, where they have maintained their home for fully half a century. Charles E. Harris is a scion of stanch Holland Dutch ancestry, and family tradition, well authenti- cated, records that four brothers of the name immigrated from Holland to America at a very early date, two of the number settling ·in Pennsylvania and the other two locating in the south. From one of the two who set- tled in Pennsylvania the subject of this re- view traces his lineage in direct line of descent. Representatives of the name left the old Keystone state and became pioneers of Ohio, and there Charles E. Harris, father of the subject of this review, was born and reared. There also was solemnized his mar- riage to Miss Hannah W. Yockum, and about 1861 they took up their residence in Indian- apolis, where they have since maintained their home, being numbered among the ven- erable and highly esteemed citizens of the fair capital city, which they have seen grow from a village to its present magnificent status. On the 25th of December, 1908, they celebrated their golden wedding anniversary, and the occasion was made a memorable one by the gathering of a large assembly of their friends and by. messages and other tokens of the high regard in which they are held in the city which has so long been their home. Mr. Harris is now living retired, after having for many years been engaged in business as a contractor and builder.
Charles O. Harris was reared to maturity in Indianapolis and here he completed the curriculum of the public schools, including a course in the high school. Soon after leaving school he became a traveling salesman for the Brooks Oil Company, of Cleveland, Ohio, and later he became traveling representative for
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HISTORY OF GREATER INDIANAPOLIS.
the W. B. Barry Saw Company, of Indian- apolis. In 1890 he assumed a similar posi- tion with E. C. Atkins & Company, the ex- tensive and well known saw manufacturers of Indianapolis, and after leaving the em- ploy of this concern he was for eight years incumbent of the position of inspector of rates, weights and commodities for the rail- road joint bureau covering these matters in Indianapolis. On the 1st of January, 1900, Mr. Harris accepted a position in the office of the treasurer of Marion County, and he has since been closely identified with its work, having retained his connection under the various regimes and having in this the best and all-sufficient voucher for his ability and for the inviolable confidence reposed in him. Since 1903 he has served as chief deputy treasurer, and he acts as general cashier for the office. He is one of the valued officials of the county and his courtesy and careful discharge of the responsible duties of his present office have gained to him unqualified commendation.
Mr. Harris has ever been a stalwart sup- porter of the cause of the Republican party and has been an active worker in its ranks. He is a member of the Marion and Commer- cial Clubs and is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias.
In 1885 Mr. Harris was united in marriage to Miss Edith Heitkam, of Indianapolis, and they have two children,-Fern and Albert. The pleasant family home, at 2427 Central avenue, is one notable for its gracious hos- pitality, and is a favored rendezvous for a wide circle of friends, both young and old.
MEDFORD B. WILSON. Among the monetary institutions which emphasize. and exert marked influence in conserving the financial stability and commercial prestige of the capital city of Indiana, a position of prominence and rela- tive priority is held by the Columbia National Bank, of which Mr. Wilson is president. He is known as one of the able and discriminating financiers of Indiana, where he has been actively identified with banking interests for virtually two score of years.
Mr. Wilson was born in the village of Pales- tine, Crawford County, Illinois, on the 8th of December, 1845, and is a son of Isaac N. and Hannah Harness (Decker) Wilson, honored pioneers of that section of Illinois, where they continued to reside until their death. The father became one of the prominent and influ- ential business men of Crawford County and was a citizen to whom was ever accorded the fullest · measure of popular confidence and es- teem. He was a native of Morefield, West Virginia, and his wife was born at Romney,
that state, about fifteen miles distant from his birthplace. The lineage of the Wilson family is of stanch Scotch-Irish derivation and the original progenitor in America was a clergy- man of the Presbyterian Church, who came from Belfast to the new world in the colonial epoch of our national history. In the ma- ternal line the genealogy of Medford B. Wilson is traced back to sterling Holland Dutch stock, and the Decker family was likewise founded in America in an early day. An uncle of Mrs. Isaac Wilson was on the first grand jury ever held in the territory. of Indiana. His name was Decker. The two priests who founded the Catholic University in Washington were also uncles of Mrs. Wilson. Isaac N. Wilson was reared in his native state and was a young man at the time of his parents' removal to Illinois, in 1816. To the same state his wife came with her parents in the following year, and their marriage was solemnized in that state. Isaac N. and Hannah H. Wilson became the parents of nine sons and one. daughter, of whom the subject of this sketch was the seventh in order of birth, and of the number three are now living.
Medford B. Wilson was reared to maturity in his native town, where he gained his early educational discipline, which included a course in a local academy. His father's financial status was such that the children were accorded excellent' educational advantages, and after leaving the academy Medford B. was matricu- lated in Vincennes University, at Vincennes, Indiana, where he was a student for two years. He then went abroad and entered the univer- sity at Marburg, Hesse Cassel, Germany, where he completed a four years' course in commer- cial law and was duly graduated. In the mean- while he had thoroughly familiarized himself with the German language, which he speaks with utmost fluency.
Mr. Wilson returned to the United States in 1870 and located in Sullivan, Indiana, in which village, the judicial center of the county of the same name, he established the first bank, which was at first known as the Sullivan County Bank and which was incorporated un- der the state banking laws. Eventually the institution was reorganized as the First Na- tional Bank, and Mr. Wilson continued presi- dent of the latter until his removal to Indian- apolis. having been thus concerned with bank- ing business in Sullivan County for more than twenty years, within which he established a high reputation for initiative and executive ability and sterling integrity of character.
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