Greater Indianapolis : the history, the industries, the institutions, and the people of a city of homes, Part 38

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 38

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

On the Ist of January, 1876, Mr. Griffith removed from New York to Indianapolis, and here he continued to maintain his home until his death, fully thirty years afterward. Here he organized the firm of Griffith Brothers, wholesale milliners, and his associates in the enterprise were his two brothers, George F. and William H. In 1880 the Dayton busi- ness was consolidated with that in Indian- apolis, and at this time George F. Griffith withdrew from the firm, to which Claude T. Griffith, elder son of the subject of this mem-

oir, was admitted as a member in 1885. William H. Griffith died in 1898, and Carl V. Griffith, the younger son, then became a mem- ber of the firm, whose personnel thus consti- tuted Theodore E. Griffith and his two sons. Mr. Griffith continued to be actively iden- tified with the enterprise until his death, and the large and representative business con- trolled by the firm today stands in evidence of his capacity as an executive, his progres- sive ideas, and the invincible integrity of purpose upon which alone can public confi- dence and support be founded.

For many years the headquarters of the firm of Griffith Brothers was at 232 South Meridian street, and after the building was destroyed by fire, on the 19th of February, 1905, the business was removed to the present eligible and spacious quarters, at Nos. 24 to 32 West Maryland street, where is utilized a floor space of fully forty-five thousand square feet. In a figurative sense, Mr. Grif- fith literally built the ladder upon which he climbed to a position of independence and definite success in connection with the practi- cal affairs of life, and upon no portion of his career rests the slightest shadow of wrong or injustice. He was a genuine, high-minded gentleman, a sagacious and alert business man, a public-spirited and loyal citizen, and a generous and noble character. His life work, in all its relations, adequately indicates the man, and this offers the best possible mon- ument to his memory. To those to whom he gave his close friendship the many lovable traits of his character were best known, but his unvarying courtesy won to him the es- teem of all with whom he came in contact. With him friendship was inviolable, and thus he did not extend too widely his circle of in- timates, but those he indeed "grappled to his soul with hooks of steel". In his home his interests eentered, and his devotion to his family was of the most idyllie and unselfish eharacter, so that to its members, while theirs was the greatest of loss and bereavement when he was summoned to the life eternal, so also is theirs the greatest measure of con- solation and reconciliation, in that they had so closely touched his noble and gracions per- sonality. He commanded the high regard of all who knew him, and while never in pub- lie office or civic prominence, it is certain that few men so placed were better known to the people of Indianapolis in general. In politics Mr. Griffith gave his allegiance to the Re- publican party and he was ever loyal to all the duties of citizenship. As a member and director of the Civic League he took an ac- tive part in its work, and he always stood

824

HISTORY OF GREATER INDIANAPOLIS.

ready to lend his aid and influence in behalf of measures and enterprises tending to ad- vance the general welfare and the progress of his home city. He was a charter member of the Commercial Club and also held mem- bership in the Columbia Club and the Board of Trade. Though not formally a member of any religious body, he had a deep reverence for the spiritual verities and was a regular attendant of the Second Presbyterian Church.

In 1865, at the age of nineteen years, Mr. Griffith was united in marriage to Miss Louisa Jane Hoover, who was born near Day- ton, Ohio. Mr. Griffith is survived by his widow and two sons-Claude T. and Carl V.

Claude T. Griffith was born in Dayton, Ohio, on the 18th of February, 1866, and was ten years of age at the time of the family removal to Indianapolis, where he duly availed himself of the advantages of the pub- lic schools, after which he entered historic old Phillips Exeter Academy, at Exeter, New Hampshire, as a member of the class of 1884. In the following year he took a position with the firm of Griffith Brothers, as already noted, and he is now the senior member of the firm and one of the representative business men of the capital city.

Carl Vernon Griffith was born in Dayton, Ohio, on the 8th of August, 1869, and-was reared in Indianapolis, where he completed the curriculum of the public schools, after which he was for a short time a student in the United States Military Academy, at Poughkeepsie, New York. Since leaving school he has been identified with the whole- aale millinery business founded by his father and he is now a member of the firm of Grif- fith Brothers. Both of the brothers are ad- herents of the Republican party and both are known as reliable and progressive business men, in which connection they are ably up- holding the high prestige of the honored name which they bear.

HENRY RUSSE. The great empire of Ger- many has contributed a most valuable ele- ment to the cosmopolitan social fabric of our American republic, which has had much to gain and nothing to lose from this source. Among those of German birth and ancestry who have attained to success and precedence in connection with civic and business affairs in the capital city of Indiana is Henry Russe, a citizen of sterling character and one to whom is accorded the highest confidence and esteem in the community which has so long represented his home" and the field of his earnest, honest and successful endeavors. He has served in offices of public trust, has been a power for good in the field of practical

philanthropy, has been one of the world's noble army of workers, and has gained suc- cess and independence through his own well- directed endeavors, having come to America as a stranger in a strange land, unfamiliar with the language of the country and un- fortified by financial resources. His career thus illustrates how much may be accom- plished by one animated.by integrity of pur- pose, courage, self-reliance and deteriminate · ambition. Every page' of his life history is open and free from blemish, and it is a mat- ter of satisfaction to the editors and pub- lishers of this work that they are able . to here enter at least brief record concerning his life and worthy services. A wealth of incident and incentive lies in the career of the immigrant boy who came to America to work out his own way and who stands today as one of the best known and most honored citizens of Indianapolis, though his course has ever been marked by personal modest and unostentatious effort to be of aid to his fel- low men in less fortunate circumstances. Surely the man and his work merit considera- tion.

Henry Russe was born in the little city of Osnabrueck, kingdom of Hanover, Germany, on the 17th of April, 1849, and was the fourth in order of birth of the nine children born to Herman and Engel (Schuette) Russe, both of whom passed their entire lives in Germany, where the father was a farmer and general merchant and where he served for a number of years as a minor governmental officer. The family name has long been identified with the annals of Hanoverian history, and the line is one of the sturdiest German type. Of the children, three are now living, and of the entire number two besides the subject of this review became citizens of the United States.

Henry Russe was reared to manhood in his native place, and was afforded the advan- tages of the local schools, gaining a fair edu- cation in his native language. After leaving school he assisted his honored father in the work and management of the latter's store until he had attained his legal majority, when, in 1869, he severed the ties which bound him to home and fatherland and set forth to seek his fortunes in America, to whose develop- ment and progress those of his race have contributed in most generous measure. He embarked at Bremen on the steamer "Her- man", which dropped anchor in the port of New York in February of the year mentioned. Mr. Russe did not long tarry in the national metropolis but made his way to Indiana, where he was employed for a few months as a

825

HISTORY OF GREATER INDIANAPOLIS.

laborer on the "Panhandle" Railroad, now a part of the Pennsylvania Lines. He came to Indianapolis in 1870, and here he has since maintained his home, the while he has ad- vanced from a position of obscurity to one of substantial prestige as a business man and representative citizen. The mental and moral fiber of the young German was well able to withstand the tension of the intervening years of earnest toil and endeavor, and the strength of his character, his persistence, energy and ability, enabled him to move forward, step by step, to the goal of his worthy ambitions. For a time after establishing his home in In- diana Mr. Russe found it necessary to secure employment as a farm hand in Richmond, and later he was employed in a local brick yard and in a pork-packing establishment, having a due appreciation of the dignity of honest toil and turning his hand to such work as he could secure, with no handicap of false pride or vanity. His early efforts and the vicissitudes which he encountered have doubt- less been the cause of his lively sympathy for those in misfortune or need, and he has done much to aid those who have felt the lash of necessity even as did he in those early days. Finally Mr. Russe secured employment as en- gine wiper in the local yards of the "Panhan- dle" Railroad, and later he was advanced to the position of locomotive fireman, in which capacity he worked for two years, at the ex- piration of which he became car inspector for the same road, a position which he retained until 1874, when, during a strike of the rail- road employes, he refused to obey orders and take out and run an engine, thereby antago- nizing his fellow workmen, and because of such action his wages were reduced, under which conditions he resigned his position with the "Panhandle" and entered the employ of the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis Railroad Company ("Big Four"), which he served in the capacity of car inspector for the ensuing sixteen years, proving a faithful and valued employe.

In 1889 Mr. Russe resigned his position with the railroad company and engaged in the wholesale and retail grain and seed busi- ness, in which he has since continued and through which he has gained a large measure of success, his concern being now the oldest and one of the most important of the kind in the city and its operations being of broad scope and importance. Within later years he has not given so close personal supervision to the business, relegating this work to his sons, who were trained in the same and who are now associated with him under partner- ship relations, being numbered among the

popular and substantial young business men of the capital city. Mr. Russe was one of the organizers of the Standard Building & Loall Association, which was incorporated about 1887 and which was one of the first organiza- tions of its kind in Indianapolis. He was the first president of this association, and the same did a beneficent work under his admin- istration, in assisting those in moderate cir- cuinstances to secure homes of their own.

Appreciative of the advantages afforded him in the land of his adoption, Mr. Russe has ever been most loyal to its institutions and has been a public-spirited and progressive citizen, not hedging himself in with his own private interests and having been called upon to serve in public office in his home city. In June, 1892, he was elected a member of the Indianapolis board of education, and of this position he remained incumbent for six years, giving much time and study to conserving the best interests of public school work and rendering service whose value continues cumulative. He was president of the board in 1897-8, and retired from office with the hearty commendation of his associates and the general public. He is also a member of the Board of Trade, having joined in 1891. He was one of the organizers of the German Protestant Orphans' Home, and has been officially connected with the same during the long intervening period of nearly forty years. He is now a member of the board of trustees of the institution, as well as its treasurer, and his constant sympathy for the wards of the home has caused him to exert all his influence in promoting their welfare. He was also one of the organizers and charter members of the Deaconess Protestant Hospital, representing one of the noble semi-charitable institutions of Indianapolis, and he has been a member of its board of directors from the time of its founding. He was vice-president for some time and for the past several years has been business manager of the institution, to which office he now devotes the major portion of his time and attention. It is uniformly conceded that to his able and earnest services the suc- cess of this altogether worthy institution is in large measure due, and his interest in the same is of the most vital and insistent order. His private benevolences have been many and unostentatious, and knowledge of the same could not have been gained save through the appreciative words of those who have been recipients of his largess and kindly consid- eration. Mr. Russe has gained success but he has never lost appreciation of the responsi- hilities that such success entails, and he has shown a· high sense of his stewardship as a

826

HISTORY OF GREATER INDIANAPOLIS.

friend of humanity and as one whose heart is attuned to sympathy and generosity. None more than he has deeper reverence for the spiritual verities of the Christian faith, and for many years he has been a most devout and zealous member. as well as an official, of the Evangelical Zion Church of Indian- apolis, of which his wife is also a devoted adherent.

In politics Mr. Russe was aligned as a stanch advocate of the principles of the Democratic party until the national campaign of 1896, when he found his views at variance with the free-silver propaganda of the plat- form, and he has since maintained an atti- tude independent of partisanship, giving his support to the candidates and policies meet- ing the approval of his judgment and keep- ing in close touch with the questions and issues of the hour. For many years Mr. Russe was affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, in which he has passed the various official chairs of both the lodge and encampment. For many years he was also an active member of the Indianapolis Independent Turnverein. Concerning Mr. Russe one who is familiar with his career has written as follows: "He has been an active man in business, in public service, and in charitable and fraternal circles. He came to America a poor young man, with no capital other than pluck, industrious habits, honest energy and determination, a splendid work- ing capital. He worked and worked hard; he planned, and planned.well; he persevered, and succeeded. He sought to serve those about him and did faithful service. His de- votion to principle is inflexible. He is a strong man and a good citizen."

In the year 1872 was solemnized the mar- riage of Mr. Russe to Miss Amelia Habeny, who was born and reared in Indianapolis, be- ing a daughter of the late Henry and Chris- tina (Limberg) Habeny, and who has proved to him a devoted companion and helpmeet. They became the parents of six children, of whom four are living: Harry and Paul are associated with their father in business, as already intimated; William is chief engineer at the Deaconess Hospital; and Julia, who remains at the parental home. Frederick died in infancy, and Edward passed away at the age of twenty-three years, as the result of illness contracted while serving as a mem- ber of the Indianapolis fire department.

JAMES E. LILLY. Of primary and most insistent relevancy to the industrial and gen- eral commercial history of "Greater Indian- apolis" is the record of the splendid corpor- ation known as the Eli Lilly Company, of

which the subject of this brief sketch is vice- president and treasurer. There can be no measure of inconsistency in saying that of all the great concerns that have contributed to the commercial advancement and prestige of the Indiana metropolis, none has been a factor of more distinct. importance than this company, whose establishment is one of the best of its kind in the Union, whose business ramifications have carried the name and fame of Indianapolis into the most diverse sections of the civilized world, and whose beneficent influence, by very reason of the products sent forth, has transcender the bounds of mere commercialism and made for the well- being of humanity. This statement will read- ily be understood when recognition is had of the scope of the magnificent enterprise of the company-manufacturers of pharmaceutical preparations, new chemicals, digestive fer- ments, gelatine products, etc., and importers of crude vegetable drugs, oils, etc., in orig- inal packages. With the development of this splendid business enterprise, James E. Lilly has been closely associated with his brother, Eli, who was the founder of the same, and both have long held precedence as representa- tive citizens of the Indiana capital.

James Edward Lilly was born in the beau- tiful old city of Lexington, Kentucky, on the 8th of July, 1844, and is a son of Gustavus and Esther E. (Kirby) Lilly, who removed from that state to Indiana when he was a lad of eight years, settling in Greencastle, where his father engaged in contracting. The parents passed the remainder of their lives in Indiana, where they cver retained the high re- gard of all who knew them. The son James E. was afforded the advantages of the com- mon schools of Greencastle, and when seven- teen years of age he signified his youthful loyalty and patriotism by tendering his serv- ices in defense of the Union, in response to President Lincoln's call for volunteers. In May, 1862, he enlisted as a private in Com- pany D, Fifty-fifth Indiana Volunteer Infan- try, with which he proceeded to the front, and upon the expiration of his term of three months, in November, 1862, he re-enlisted, be- coming a member of Company H, Forty-third Indiana Volunteer Infantry, with which he served until the close of the war and with which he took part in the various battles and minor engagements in which the gallant reg- iment was involved as a part of the Army of the Trans-Mississippi Department. He re- ceived his honorable discharge in July, 1865, as first lieutenant of his company. He signi- fies his continued interest in his old comrades in arms by retaining membership in the Mil-

JE Silly

827

HISTORY OF GREATER INDIANAPOLIS.

itary Order of the Loyal Legion of the Unit- ed States.

After the close of the war Mr. Lilly en- tered the employ of Cloud, Aiken & Com- pany, wholesale druggists, of Evansville, In- diana, with which concern he continued until 1870, when he then engaged in the manu- facturing of pharmaceutical preparations, in which line of enterprise he continued until 1876, when he became connected with the wholesale pharmaceutical house of William R. Warner & Company, of Philadelphia. In 1878 he came to Indianapolis, where he associated himself with his brother Eli in the manu- facturing of pharmaceutical preparations, and with this concern, under its various changes of title, he has since been actively identified in an executive capacity and as an interested principal. In 1881 he established the branch house in Kansas City, Missouri, of which he had the general supervision un- til 1889, when he returned to Indianapolis, where he has since given his time and atten- tion to the administration of the large and constantly expanding business now conducted under the title of The Eli Lilly and Company, of which, as already stated, he is vice-president and.treasurer. Mr. Lilly is essentially a loyal and progressive business man and public- spirited citizen, and he maintains a lively in- terest in all that tends to conserve the civic and commercial advancement of his home city, where his business and social relations have ever been of the most agreeable order and where he is held in unequivocal confi- dence and esteem. In politics he gives his allegiance to the Republican party, though never animated by aught of ambition for pub- lie office of any description.

In 1868 Mr. Lilly was united in marriage to Miss Matilda M. Dexter, daughter of Cap- tain Henry T. Dexter, of Evansville, Indiana, and she died in Kansas City, in 1884, being survived by one daughter, Mary D., who is now the wife of A. G. Kyle, of Harrodsburg, Kentucky. In 1890 was solemnized the mar- riage of Mr. Lilly to Miss Nora Robinson, of St. Charles, Missouri, who presides with gra- cious dignity over their beautiful home, which is a center of social hospitality.

HENRY A. MANSFIELD. If success be predi- cated from the mark of definite accomplish- ment in the. utilization of one's individual powers and ability, then Henry A. Mansfield has certainly achieved success. In the field of practical engineering work he gained marked prestige at an early age, and to-day he is a representative exponent of this line of business in the capital city. He held the office of city engineer of Indianapolis when

but twenty-two years of age, and the results of his able service in this capacity shall long be recognized and appreciated.

Mr. Mansfield finds a due measure of satis- faction in reverting to the old Buckeye state as the place of his nativity. He was born in Ashland, Ohio, on the 16th of November, 1868, and is the tenth in order of birth of the eleven children born to Martin H. and Anna (Saiger) Mansfield, both of whom were na- tives of Pennsylvania. The father was a man of marked mechanical ability and was the in- ventor of a number of practical devices, in- cluding a clover huller, in the manufacture of which he was engaged in Ashland, Ohio, for many years prior to his death, which oc- curred when Henry A. of this review was about ten years of age. The mother sur- vived a number of years and of the children seven are now living. Henry A. Mansfield was afforded the advantages of the public schools of his native town and after the com- pletion of the curriculum of the high school he secured employment in the engineering de- partment of the Pennsylvania Railroad, at Richmond, Indiana, where he remained one year, at the expiration of which he was trans- ferred by the company, in 1886, to Indian- apolis, where he has since maintained his home. He continued with the railroad com- pany until 1890, in November of which year he was elected city engineer of Indianapolis, to which responsible office he came admirably equipped, though, as already stated, he was but twenty-two years of age at the time, and he had the distinction of being the youngest man ever chosen to fill this position in the Indiana capital. He held the office, and most capably handled its affairs, for four years, during the administration of Mayor Thomas L. Sullivan, and the present effective sewer- age system of the city was devised and laid out by him, and approved by Rudolph Her- ing, consulting engineer, while the general engineering plans of the city are still those which were formulated by Mr. Mansfield.

Upon retiring from the office of city engi- neer Mr. Mansfield engaged in business as an engineer and contractor, in construction work and contracting along general engineering lines. In this enterprise, in which he has attained to marked success and being identi- fied with a large amount of important con- tract work in Indianapolis and elsewhere, he is now associated with D. V. Moore, under the partnership title of the Mansfield Engi- neering Company. This alliance was formed and the name adopted in 1899. In 1902 was effected the organization of the Moore-Mans- field Construction Company, and of this com-

828

HISTORY OF GREATER INDIANAPOLIS.

pany, whose operations have been of impor- tant order, Mr. Mansfield is president and treasurer. He may be consistently designated one of the aggressive and successful "cap- tains of industry" who are contributing to the upbuilding of the larger and greater In- dianapolis and as a citizen he is essentially loyal and public-spirited. He has been au advocate and a hard fighter for the improve- ment and development of Fall Creek, believ- ing. boulevards are a necessity in the city. He is a stanch advocate of the principles of the Democratic party and is a member of the Indiana Democratic Club. He is identi- fied with the Columbia Club, the Commercial Club and the Indianapolis Board of Trade, and in the time-honored Masonic fraternity he has attained the thirty-second degree of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite, besides being enrolled as a popular member of Murat Temple, Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

Greater Indianapolis : the history, the industries, the institutions, and the people of a city of homes, Part 38

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