USA > Indiana > Marion County > Indianapolis > Greater Indianapolis : the history, the industries, the institutions, and the people of a city of homes > Part 35
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gallant, faithful and able commanding offi- cer, ever retaining the respect and confidence of his men and showing generous considera- tion in providing for their wants. His regi- ment was prominently concerned in the bat- tle of Stone's River and Liberty Gap, and the battle of Chickamauga and Missionary Ridge. His regiment marched to the relief of the Union forces at Knoxville, Tennessee, and afterward joined General Sherman in the Atlanta campaign, in connection with which Mr. Erdelmeyer took part in the battles of Dalton,' Resaca, Dallas, Altoona Hills, New Hope Church, Marietta and the siege of At- lanta. In front of Atlanta the Thirty-sec- ond Infantry under command of Colonel Erdelmeyer was relieved of duty and was sent home to be mustered out, as its term of enlistment had expired on the 24th of Aug- ust, 1864. ' Its members returned to their homes and the honored colonel of the regi- ment received his honorable discharge under date of September 7, 1864. The record of its command was admirable throughout and the history of the war gives it a place among the most valiant of the many stanch and valiant regiments sent out from Indiana. It was especially well ordered in the matter of tactical skill and discipline and its colonel achieved a reputation as one of the able com- manding officers of the great war through whose integrity the Union was perpetuated. He has ever retained an inviolable interest in his old comrades in arms and signifies the same by his membership in G. H. Thomas Post, No. 17, Grand Army of the Republic, besides which he is a valued member of the Indiana Commandery of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States.
At the close of his long and gallant service as a soldier of the Republic, Colonel Erdel- meyer returned to Indianapolis and again turned himself to the gaining of those vic- tories which peace ever has in store "no less renowned than war". Here he engaged in the drug business as a member of the firm of A. Metzner & Company, in which he thus became an interested principal in January, 1865, and in which his coadjutor was Cap- tain Adolph Metzner. In 1868 Colonel 'Er- delmeyer purchased his partner's interest in the enterprise and thereafter he ; conducted the same in an individual way until 1873, when he sold the business. For a short pe- riod thereafter he gave his attention to deal- ing in real estate and he then resumed his association with the drug business by opening a store at 915 North New Jersey street, at which location he has been continuously en- gaged in this line of enterprise during the
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long years that have since passed. He is known as one of the reliable and substantial business men of the capital city and as such he commands the implicit confidence and es- teem of all who know him, while to him is accorded a full measure of respect and ad- miration by those who are in the least fa- miliar with his brilliant career as a soldier and officer in the Civil War. He has shown a lively interest in all that pertains to the welfare of his home city and has viewed with much of satisfaction the almost phenomenal advancement of the city along commercial and industrial lines.
While ever according a stanch allegiance to the Republican party, Colonel Erdelmeyer had not been especially active in the domain of "practical politics" and the only public office in which he has served is that of coun- ty treasurer of Marion County, of which he was incumbent for one term, having been elected to this office in 1868. The records of the county give unmistakable evidence that his administration of the fiscal affairs of the county was one of marked discrimination and effectiveness. The colonel is identified with the Masonic fraternity, in which his affilia- tion is with Centre Lodge, No. 23, Free and Accepted Masons, and he is a member of the German House, and the Indianapolis Turn- verein.
In October, 1864, was solemnized the mar- riage of Colonel Erdelmeyer to Miss Cathe- rine Hofmann, who was born in Germany and who was a daughter of Henry and Catherine (Lang) Hofmann. She proved a devoted companion and helpmate and the home life was one of idyllic order. The great loss and bereavement in the life of Colonel Erdelmeyer was that which came with the death of his wife, on the 7th of October, 1887. Of this union were born one son and three daughters: Francisca, who is now the wife of Louis F. Buschmann, a resident of this city; Cathe- rine, who is the wife of E. H. Meyer, a resi- dent of this city; Meta, who is the wife of E. H. Dehm, of this city; and Frank Wil- liam, who is engaged in the drug business at 1102 North Illinois street.
SOL S. KISER is a prominent business man and financier of Indianapolis, who is a mem- ber of the banking firm of Myer and Kiser. Born at Fort Recovery, Ohio, on the 23rd of January, 1858, he is a son of Gottlieb and Fannie (Steinfeld) Kiser, both of whom are natives of Hesse-Cassel. The father was born November 26, 1831, and the mother, January 13, 1833, their marriage, at Cincinnati, Ohio, occurring August 26, 1854. The seven chil- dren of this union were as follows: Caro-
line; Sol S., of this sketch; Frances, now the wife of Eli Segar; Simon L., Harter; Rosa, who married George A. Solomans, and Dr. Edgar F. Kiser. The parents are bothı resi- dents of Indianapolis, in which city Gottlieb Kiser was long engaged in the grocery busi- ness, from which he retired in 1905.
Mr. Kiser of this sketch received his edu- cation in the public schools of Fort Recovery, leaving Ohio in 1878, just before he had reached his majority, and locating in Union City, Indiana, where he engaged in clerical work for about three years. The year 1881 marked his location at Indianapolis and he clerked in a clothing store until 1886, when he established his mercantile business on West Washington street. In 1894 he entered the field of real estate and loaning in the firm of Myer & Kiser, which in April, 1906, was incorporated as the Myer-Kiser Bank and of which he is vice-president. His prom- inent and honorable standing in local busi- ness circles is fairly indicated by the fact that for the past nine years he has been a director in the Indianapolis Commercial Club, of which he was vice-president for two years. Mr. Kiser is among the foremost in the re- ligious, benevolent and charitable work of his people. Since 1895 he has been a most ac- tive member of the Jewish order of B'nai B'rith, having been president of the district organization in 1897. He is local director of the Cleveland Jewish Orphan Asylum; di- rector of the National Jewish Hospital for Consumptives at Denver, Colorado, and chair- inan of the local branch of the removal con- mittee of New York City.
On June 19, 1889, Mr. Kiser married Miss Dina Salzenstein. His wife is a native of Pleasant Plains, Illinois, and a daughter of Jacob and Hannah (Hexter) Salzenstein, both of whom were born in Hesse-Cassel, Ger- many. Mr. and Mrs. Sol S. Kiser are the parents of Julian J. and Ruth C.
ALLEN W. CONDUITT. A thoroughly rep- resentative business man and sterling citizen of Indianapolis is Allen W. Conduitt, who is a native son of the Hoosier state and a scion of one of its honored pioneer families. Like his father before him, he has been promi- nently identified with business affairs of broad scope and importance and he has ever stood exponent of progressive, liberal and public-spirited citizenship.
Mr. Conduitt was born at Mooresville, Mor- gan County, Indiana, on the 28th of August, 1849, and is a son of Alexander B. and Me- lissa R. (Hardwick) Condnit, both of whom were born in Kentucky and both of whom represented old Virginia families of English
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origin. From Kentucky the Conduitts and Hardwicks removed to Indiana in the pioneer epoch of the history of this commonwealth, with whose annals the names have long been identified. Alexander B. Conduitt was a boy at the time of the family removal from Ken- tucky to Morgan County, Indiana, in whose pioneer schools he gained excellent training in the fundamental branches of scholarship. As a youth he was employed as clerk in the gen- eral store of Samuel Moore, the founder of Mooresville, Indiana. Finally he became as- sociated with his brothers in purchasing the store and business of Mr. Moore, and he de- voted his attention to business with so much of assiduity that his health became seriously impaired, under which conditions he disposed of his mercantile interests, through which he had gained a very gratifying measure of suc- cess. He had in the meanwhile become the owner of farming land in Morgan County, and for the next several years he gave his active attention to agricultural pursuits. The outdoor life enabled him to fully regain his physical vigor, and he thus felt justified in again turning his attention to business af- fairs of a commercial order. Accordingly, in 1864, he removed with his family to In- dianapolis, where he identified himself with the wholesale dry goods business, in which he became associated with Willis S. Webb, Captain W. H. Tarkington, and Frank Lan- ders, under the firm name of Webb, Tarking- ton & Company. After the withdrawal of Mr. Webb the title became Landers, Con- dúitt & Company. Still later Mr. Conduitt withdrew from the business, to which the present firm of Hibben, Hollweg & Company is virtually the lineal successor. In 1870 Alexander B. Conduitt engaged in the whole- sale grocery trade, as a member of the firm of Conduitt, Daugherty & Company. There were various changes in the personnel of the concern and in 1875 the subject of this re- view became associated with his father in the business, whereupon the title of Conduitt & Son was adopted. They conducted a large and prosperous business until 1893, when they sold the same, being succeeded by the firm of Schnull & Company. For the ensuing decade Alexander B. Conduitt was retired from active business, and he died in July, 1903, when nearly eighty-five years of age.
In his earlier years Alexander B. Conduitt had figured prominently in public affairs in the state, having been a leader in the coun- cils of the Democratic party in Indiana. He was a member of the state constitutional con- vention of 1852. later served two terms as representative of Morgan County in the state
legislature, and in 1862 he was the nominee of his party for representative in Congress from his district ; though he entered the race in opposition to a heavy Republican majority, he ran far ahead of is ticket and missed election by a merely nominal majority. He was an able business man, a public-spirited citizen and his life was lived upon the lofti- est plane of integrity and honor, so that he ever held as his own the unqualified confi- dence and respect of his. fellow men. His cherished and devoted wife preceded him to the life eternal, her death having occurred in 1898, at which time she was eighty years of age. Both were affiliated with the Methodist Church. Of their nine children seven at- tained to years of maturity, and of the num- ber two sons and two daughters are now liv- ing.
Allen W. Conduitt, whose name initiates this article, secured his preliminary educa- tional discipline in the common schools of Morgan County and was sixteen years of age at the time of the family removal to Indian- apolis. He thereafter continued his studies for two years in the old Northwestern Chris- tian University, now Butler College, at Irv- ington, this state, and upon leaving this in- stitution he secured employment in the whole- sale dry goods establishment in which his fa- ther was an interested principal. He was thus engaged for two years, at the expira- tion of which, in the latter part of the year 1868, he became associated with his brother Henry in the general merchandise business at Switz City, Indiana, from which place they later transferred their headquarters to Mooresville, their native town. In 1875 Allen W. disposed of his interest and returned to Indianapolis, where he became junior member of the wholesale grocery firm of Conduitt & Son, with which he thus continued until 1893, as has been noted in a preceding paragraph. For a time thereafter Mr. Conduitt gave his attention to contracting for street-improve- ment work, and in 1903 he engaged in the wholesale coal business, with which he has since been prominently identified, as an in- terested principal in the Cochrane Coal Com- pany. He was also one of the organizers and incorporators of the Conduitt Automobile Company, engaged in the sale of high grade automobiles in Indianapolis. He is well known as an aggressive and substantial busi- ness man and as a citizen of the utmost pub- lic spirit, taking a deep concern in all that makes for the civic and material progress and prosperity of his home city.
In politics Mr. Conduitt has ever accorded a stanch allegiance to the Democratic party,
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and while he has not been ambitious for pub- lic office of any order, he had the distinction of being chosen president of the Indianapolis board of public works at the time of its initiation, under the law creating this depart- ment of the municipal government. He re- tained the office under the administration of Mayor Thomas L. Sullivan and had much to do with shaping and defining the policies un- der which this department has continued to afford so effective service. He has long been affiliated with the time-honored Masonic fra- ternity, in which he has completed the round of the York and Scottish Rites, having his maximum affiliation in the former as a mem- her of Raper. Commandery No. 1, Knights Templar, and in the latter having attained to the thirty-second degree in the Consistory of the Valley of Indianapolis. He is also iden- tified with Murat Temple, Ancient Arabic Or- der of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. He is a charter member of the Commercial Club and is actively identified with its affairs, having been the first to be elected vice-presi- dent of this representative organization, which stands sponsor for the highest civic ideals. Mr. and Mrs. Conduitt are members of St. Paul's Episcopal Church.
On the 11th of January, 1870, Mr. Con- duitt was united in marriage to Miss Eliza- beth Thornburg, who was born and reared in Morgan County, this state, and who is a daughter of the late John H. Thornburg, a successful farmer and honored citizen of that section of the state. Mr. and Mrs. Conduitt have two children-Mabel, who is the wife of John A. Boyd, and Harold A., who is en- gaged in the real estate business in Los An- geles, California.
WINFIELD MILLER was born, in Reading Pennsylvania, April 23, 1852. He is the son of John M. Miller and Anna E. (Swartz- welder) Miller, the former born of English and Welsh ancestry in Berks County, Penn- sylvania, and the latter of German and Scotch parentage in Lancaster County, Penn- sylvania. both coming from pioneer families of that state.
Winfield Miller is one of seven children, and one of the four now living, the others being: Scott, who is a resident of Livingston County, Missouri; Rosa V., who remains at the parental home near Braymer, Missouri, and Anna Evlyn, who is the wife of Eli T. Messenbaugh, of Braymer, Missouri.
John M. Miller, father of him whose name initiates this review, was reared to manhood in Pennsylvania, where he received a com- mon school education and where he learned in his youth the trade of carpenter and joiner,
to which he devoted his attention for a num- ber of years, though after his removal to the West he became successfully identified with agricultural pursuits. In 1855 he removed with his family to Ogle County, Illinois, where he remained one year, at the expiration of which he took up his residence in Decorah, Iowa, which continued to be the abiding place of the family until April, 1865, when they removed to Caldwell County, Missouri, mak- ing the journey overland with teams. John M. Miller secured land and developed one of the valuable farms of that county where he has long been known as a citizen of promi- hence and influence and where he has ever commanded unqualified confidence and esteem. He has wielded no little influence in public affairs of a local order, and has been identified with the Republican party from the time of its organization, having voted for its first presidential candidate, John C. Fremont, prior to which time he was aligned as a supporter of the cause of the Whig party. In his early day he affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and has been a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church for sixty-five years. His cherished and devoted wife departed this life January 25, 1904.
The subject of this sketch was four years old when his parents removed to Decorah, Iowa. He received his early-education in the schools of that place, attending school little after the age of thirteen, at which age he went with his parents to the State of Mis- souri, where he. entered into the work and experience of a farmer's son. At the age of. seventeen' he became a successful teacher in the district schools of Caldwell and adjoin- ing counties, and later, at the age of twenty- four, became assistant principal in the high school of Hamilton, Missouri, teaching in that school for two years, after which he took up the study of law at Kingston, the county seat of Caldwell County, Missouri.
In November, 1878, he was elected Clerk of the Circuit Court and Ex-Officio Recorder of Deeds for the county. At the expiration of his first term in 1882 he was re-elected, holding the position for two full terms. In January, 1884, he was admitted to practice law in the courts of Missouri. From 1884 to 1886 Mr. Miller was associated with the financial correspondent, at St. Louis, Missouri, of The Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance Company in the farm loan business in the State of Missouri. In this connection he vis- ited forty-five counties, making reports of the soils, values and topography of the several sections coming under his observation. In
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HISTORY OF GREATER INDIANAPOLIS.
July, 1888, at Hamilton, Missouri, he entered the employ of The Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance Company, in whose interests he traveled throughout Missouri, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Ohio and Indiana in the capacity of special agent. In connection with this work he visited twenty-two counties in north- western Ohio in 1888, and in June, 1899, per- manently located in Indianapolis as the financial correspondent of the company for Ohio and Indiana, which position he con- tinued to hold for twenty-one years.
Aside from his extensive travels in a busi- ness way, Mr. Miller has made numerous trips of interest and profit while in search of recreation. He has distinctive versatility as a descriptive writer and in the Indianapo- lis Journal of Sunday, October 27, 1901, ap- peared an article from his pen describing most effectively a trip through the Rocky Mountains and the Yellowstone National Park.
In politics, Mr. Miller has adhered to the Republican party, in whose cause he has done effective service. He served as a member of the Republican State Central Committee of Missouri and Secretary of two state conven- tions of his party in that state.
Mr. Miller is one of the popular business men of Indianapolis, and this is signified by his membership in the Columbia Club, the Century Club and the Commercial Club, of which last organization he was elected presi- dent in February, 1910. He is a member of the Meridian Street Methodist Episcopal Church. At Kingston, Missouri, he was af- filiated with Kingston Lodge No. 118, Free and Accepted Masons, of which he is the past master, and at Hamilton, Missouri, was a member of Hamilton Chapter, Royal Arch Masons, of which he is past high priest.
Mr. Miller has been married twice, first to Miss Edith Elizabeth Filbey, at Chillicothe, Missouri, in October, 1880, who died March 14, 1895. He was married to Miss Lillie B. Landers on February 7, 1900. From the first marriage two sons were born, Blaine H. Miller, August 14, 1881, and Winfield C. Miller, December 7, 1884. Blaine H. Miller was city civil engineer of Indianapolis, In- diana, for the four years beginning January 1, 1906.
ROSCOE C. JESSUP. As senior member of the firm of Jessup & Antrim, engaged in the creamery business in Indianapolis, Mr. Jes- sup is numbered among the aggressive and enterprising business men and loyal and pub- lic-spirited citizens of the capital city and he is a native son of the county in which he now maintains his home. He was born in Decatur
Township, Marion County, Indiana, on the 12th of April, 1862, and is a son of Jackson L. and Malinda (Kellum) Jessup, both of whom are now deceased. The father was born in North Carolina and was the scion of sterling Quaker stock, his parents having been devoted members of the Society of Friends. When he was three years of age the family removed to Indiana and his father, Joseph Jessup, became one of the early set- tlers of Hendricks County, locating near the Marion and Morgan County line. There Jackson L. Jessup was reared to maturity and his active career was one of close iden- tification with agricultural pursuits. He was also a communist of the Society of Friends, of which he was a birthright member. His wife was a native of Hendricks County, this state. Her father, Jesse Kellum, was a pio- neer settler, having come hither from North Carolina, and he likewise was a member of the Society of Friends. Jackson L. and Ma- linda (Kellum) Jessup became the parents of seven children, concerning whom the follow- ing brief data are incorporated: Amanda, who became the wife of John Chawner, is now deceased; Oswald is engaged in the creamery business in Indianapolis; Sarah died in infancy and Orlando also is deceased; Kellum resides at West Liberty, Illinois; Ros- coe . C., the immediate subject of this review, was next in order of birth, and Cora Clifton is now the wife of John Q. Hitch, of Cham- paign, Illinois. The father died in 1890 at the age of seventy-eight years and the mother was of the same age at the time of her death, which occurred in 1905.
Roscoe C. Jessup was reared with the sturdy discipline of the home farm and was afforded the advantages of the public schools of his native county. He continued to be associated in the work and management of the home farm until he was twenty-five years of age when he went to the state of Illinois where he gained his initial experience with the creamery business. In 1889 Mr. Jessup came to Indianapolis, where he was employed in connection with the creamery business of R. W. Furnas for a period of about eight years. In 1897 he associated himself with A. W. Antrim and formed the present part- nership, under the title of Jessup & Antrim. The firm purchased a small creamery plant business and with the passing of years the enterprise has grown into one of much scope and importance. In 1904 the firm erected its present modern and substantial brick build- ing at 713-15 North Illinois street, Indian- apolis.
In politics Mr. Jessup gives his allegiance
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to the Republican party and both he and his wife hold membership in the Society of Friends.
In 1894 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Jessup to Miss Ella Haines and she was summoned to the life eternal in 1901, being survived by one child, Dorothy C. In 1907 Mr. Jessup wedded Mrs. Wilma J. (Wilson) Spray, no children having been born of this union.
HORACE F. WOOD. A native of Indiana's capital city and numbered among its sub- stantial and popular business men is Horace F. Wood, who condnets a finely equipped liv- ery establishment at 45-7 Monument place. Particular interest attaches to his connection with this line of enterprise from the fact that with the same both his father and grandfa- ther were identified, and the business has heen consecutively continued through three generations. Mr. Wood was born in the old family homestead at the corner of Massachu- setts avenue and Pennsylvania street, Indian- apolis, on the 30th of August, 1857, and is a son of John M. and Margaret A. (Gres- ham) Wood. His father was born at Mays- ville, Kentucky, in 1815, and was reared to maturity in that state, whence he came with his parents to Indianapolis in 1832. Here he attained to prestige as a representative busi- ness man and loyal. and progressive citizen, ever commanding a secure place in the con- fidence and esteem of the community. He' died in March, 1896. He was the son of John Wood, who likewise was a native of Kentucky and a representative of one of the old and honored families of the Bluegrass state. John Wood was an extensive dealer in horses at Maysville, Kentucky, shipping his stock prin- cipally to southern points and being a pioneer in this line of enterprise. He was the first to drive horses from that section to the city of New Orleans before the day of railroads or steamboats, and his son, John M., made fifteen trips on horseback to New Orleans be- fore he was twelve years of age. After com- ing to Indianapolis John Wood engaged in the livery business in the same location now utilized by his grandson, of this sketch, and he also operated a stage line between this city and Richmond, Indiana, in the '40s. Be- fore his death his son, John M., succeeded him in the livery business and the latter was in turn succeeded by Horace F. Wood, whose name initiates this sketch. John Wood died in this city in the year 1846, at his old home- stead on the corner of Virginia avenne and Alabama street, the residence being located on a large tract of land that is now occupied by a large number of houses and. business
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