Greater Indianapolis : the history, the industries, the institutions, and the people of a city of homes, Part 43

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 43

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In the year 1892 Mr. Golt was united in marriage to Mrs. Bettie B. Morris, a daugh- ter of the late David S. Beatty, who was a prominent and influential citizen of Indian-

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HISTORY OF GRLATER INDIANAPOLIS.

apolis. Mr. and Mrs. Golt have no children.

OREN S. HACK. In the capital city of In- diana are to be found not a few of the na- tive sons of the state who have here gained distinctive success in the various professions, and among the number is Oren S. Hack, who is one of the representative younger mem- bers of the bar of Indiana. He is engaged in successful practice in Indianapolis and is also incumbent of the office of assistant prosecuting attorney of Marion County at the time this article was prepared, in 1910.

Mr. Hack was born on a farm in Moral Township, Shelby County, Indiana, on the 1st of April, 1876, and is a son of John A. and Jane (Smith) Hack, the former of whom was born in Butler County, Ohio, whence he removed with his parents to Indiana when he was about twelve years of age, his father having been a native of Germany and having devoted his attention to agricultural pur- suits during the greater portion of his ac- tive career. Mrs. Jane (Smith) Hack was born in Shelby County, Indiana, to which state the family. of English lineage, re- moved from North Carolina in an early day. John A. Hack and his wife still maintain their home in Shelby County, where he is the owner of a well improved farm, to the work and management of which he still gives his personal supervision.

. Oren S. Hack was reared to maturity on the home farm and his boyhood days gained to him through personal experience an ap- preciation of the dignity and value of honest !oil, the while he was afforded the advantages of the district schools. His rise to a posi- tion of independence and definite success has not been one marked by apathy or sybaritic ease, for he has been significantly the archi- tect of his own fortunes and has builded the ladder on which he has risen to higher things. Through his own efforts he defrayed the expenses of his higher academic education and also of his education in the technical profession in which it has been his to gain no little precedence and success. In 1896 Mr. Hack was graduated in the Indiana Cen- tral Normal College, at Danville, from which he received the degree of Bachelor of Sci- ence. He then entered the law department of the same institution, where he completed the prescribed course and was graduated as a member of the class of-1898, with the degree of Bachelor of Laws. He was admitted to the bar of the state in the same year, but, desirious of still further fortifying himself in the knowledge of the science of jurispru- dence, he completed a post-graduate course in the department of law at the University

of Indianapolis, from which he likewise re- ceived the degree of Bachelor of Laws, in 1901. While a student in the Central Nor- mal he maintained and provided for a club of students, and through this means was en- abled to defray his expenses.

In March of 1899 Mr. Hack engaged in the active work of his profession in Indianapolis, and while he found it necessary to serve the novitiate which falls to the portion of every young disciple of Blackstone, he had the en- ergy and the ability to curtail the duration of this semi-obscurity and to make appre- ciable advancement in his profession, in which his success has been constantly cumu- lative. Upon coming to the capital city he was favored in being able to associate him- self in practice with Judge Leonard J. Hackney, formerly one of the associate jus- tices of the Supreme Court of the state, and this alliance continued until 1903, on the 1st of January of which year Mr. Hack en- tered into his present effective partnership with Elliott R. Hooten, with whom he has since been associated in his professional work, under the firm name of Hooten & Hack. Mr. Hack is known as a strong and versatile advocate at the bar and as a coun- seler his reinforcement is that of broad and exact knowledge of the law and of prece- dents. He served as deputy prosecuting at- torney of Marion County from January 1, 1907, to January 17, 1910, and for two years, under the administration of Mayor Holtzman, he was deputy city attorney of Indianapolis.

Mr. Hack is aligned as one of the zealous advocates of the cause of the Democratic party and is an effective exponent of its prin- ciples and policies. He was formerly presi- dent of the Indiana Democratic Club, and has given valuable aid in the manœuvering of party forces in various local and state campaigns. He is a Scottish Rite Mason and is also identified with the Murat Temple, Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, Knights Templars, and with the Knights of Pythias. He holds a mem- bership in the Second Presbyterian Church of Indianapolis, and his wife in the First Presbyterian Church, and he is a member of the Contemporary and the Commercial Clubs and also the German House, a representative civic organization of Indianapolis. Mr. Hack turned to the pedagogie profession as a means of preparing himself for the broader field of endeavor in which he gained a suc- cess worthy the name. He began teaching in the district schools when seventeen years of age, following the work in this field for two years and having been for four years a

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HISTORY OF GREATER INDIANAPOLIS.

teacher in the high school of the village of Boggstown, Shelby County.

On the 16th of June, 1908, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Hack to Miss Elizabeth Miller, who has attained marked distinction as one of the brilliant coterie of Indiana au- thors. Under her maiden name she is well and widely known as the author of three es- pecially fine literary productions-books en- titled respectively Saul of Tarsus, City of Delight, and The Yoke. Mrs. Hack was born in Montgomery County, Indiana, and was reared and educated in Indianapolis. She is a daughter of Timothy and Samantha Miller, who are now living in the City of In- dianapolis. Mr. and Mrs. Hack have a win- some little daughter, Elizabeth Jane.

COL. CYRUS C. HINES was one of the most distinguished jurists that practiced at the bar of Indianapolis, and his name is endur- ingly inscribed on the pages of the city's history of jurisprudence. He was born in Washington County, New York, on the 10th of December, 1830, but at the age of twenty- four he came to Indianapolis, and from that time until his life's labors were ended in death he remained one of its truest and best citizens. He received his early educational discipline in his native state of New York, and later completed a course in the normal school at Lancaster, Massachusetts. After coming to Indianapolis he began the study of law under the able preceptorship of Simon Yandes, at that time one of the leading mem- bers of the bar of the state. After being admitted to the bar young Hines formed a professional partnership with his former pre- ceptor, under the firm name of Yandes and Hines, and under these conditions he con- tinued in the active practice of his profession until there came the call of higher duty, when the integrity of the nation was thrown into jeopardy through armed rebellion. He was among the first men in Indiana to tender his services in defense of the Union. In April, 1860, he enlisted in the Eleventh Volunteer Infantry, and some time later was detailed a member of the staff of Gen. T. A. Morris. After the Virginia campaign, in which he was an active participant, he was commissioned major of the Twenty-fourth Indiana Volun- teer Infantry, and in the spring of 1862 he received commission as colonel of the Fifty- seventh Indiana Volunteer Infantry, which was assigned to the Army of the Cumberland and of which he had command until the battle of Stone's River, when he was wounded in the right leg by a solid shot, the injury being so severe that he was thereafter unable to

ride a horse, under which conditions he was compelled to resign his commission.

After receiving his honorable discharge Colonel Hines returned to Marion County, where he was engaged in agricultural pur- suits until 1866, when he was elected to the bench of the circuit court and again took up his residence in Indianapolis, where he con- tinued on the bench for a period of six years, making an admirable record as a member of the judiciary of the state. Upon his retire- ment from this office he resumed the active practice of his profession, in which he became associated with Gen. Benjamin Harrison, later president of the United States, and with Al- bert G. Porter, under the firm name of Por- ter, Harrison and Hines. After the with- drawal of Mr. Porter from the firm William H. H. Miller became a partner, whereupon the title of Harrison, Hines and Miller was adopted. Colonel Hines continued in active practice, one of the leading members of the bar of the state, until 1885, after which he lived virtually retired until his death. His reputation as one of the distinguished legists and jurists of Indiana is a part of the his- tory of the administration of legal affairs in this commonwealth, and all his honors rest secure now that he has passed from the scene of life's endeavors. In politics he was a stanch exponent of the principles and policies of the Republican party, and he was long in- fluential and prominent in its councils.

Colonel Hines in his early manhood wedded Maria Fletcher, who was born in Indianapolis on the 29th of October, 1833, a daughter of Calvin Fletcher, one of the honored pioneers of Indiana and long known as one of the in- fluential citizens of Indianapolis, where he continued to reside' until his death. Of the son and daughter which graced the marriage union of Colonel and Maria Fletcher Hines the daughter died in infancy. The son is Fletcher S. Hines, one of the representative citizens of Indiana's capital city. The names of both Colonel Cyrus C. and Maria Hines have been added to the names of the honored dead, the former dying on the 6th of June, 1901, and the latter many years before, on the 9th of May, 1860, but in memory they both live.

FLETCHER S. HINES, who is one of the rep- resentative citizens of Indiana's capital city, which has been his home during the major portion of his life thus far, is a substantial capitalist of the state, and his interests are varied and important, including the owner- ship of what is uniformly conceded to be the finest country estate in Marion County.

Mr. Hines was born in the City of Indian-

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HISTORY OF GREATER INDIANAPOLIS.

apolis, Indiana, on the 21st of May, 1857, a son of Colonel Cyrus C. and Maria (Fletcher) Hines, who are represented on other pages of this work. He was reared and educated in the city of his birth, and here he has attained to prominence in industrial, commercial and civic affairs, while he has at the same time admirably upheld the prestige of the honored name which he bears, being progressive and public spirited as a citizen and being held in unequivocal esteem in the community which has represented his home from the time of his nativity. He is now president of the Peacock Coal and Mining Company, whose properties are located in Pike and Gibson counties, Indiana, and he has attained a high degree of success and a wide reputation as a breeder of Polled Durham cattle of the high- est type. He is a member of the American Polled Durham Association, and takes a deep interest in the breeding of cattle of this type. having always many fine specimens on his admirably improved farm of three hundred and twenty acres, located eight miles north- east of Indianapolis and recognized as one of the finest farms in the county, as has al- ready been stated. Mr. Hines was formerly the chief stockholder in the Indianapolis, Shelbyville and Southeastern Electric Rail- road Company, and was the chief promoter of its organization and of the building of its valuable lines. In politics he gives a stanch allegiance to the Republican party, is identi- fied with representative civic and fraternal organizations, and both he and his wife hold membership in the Episcopal Church.

In 1880 Mr. Hines was united in marriage to Miss Mary Cronise, who died in 1890, and who is survived by one daughter, Marie, now the wife of George H. Morrison, of Shreve- port, Louisiana. In 1896 Mr. Hines married Miss Mary D. Johnson, and they have two children, Harold and Barbara.

SAMUEL O. PICKENS. Since 1886 a leading practitioner at the Indianapolis bar and for several years an able prosecuting attorney for the Fifteenth judicial circuit of Indiana, Samuel O. Pickens is a native of Owen Coun- ty, this state, born April 26, 1846. His par- ents, Samuel and Eliza (Baldon) Pickens, were natives of Kentucky, in which state the father followed farming for many years. Samuel O., of this sketch, received his earlier education in the common schools of Owen County and at the Academy at Spen- cer, Indiana, afterward becoming a student in the law department of the Indiana State University, from which he graduated in 1873, and immediately began practice in Spencer. He soon came into notice as an energetic and

successful lawyer, and while residing in that city was twice elected prosecuting attorney for the Fifteenth judicial circuit composed of Morgan, Owen and Green counties, this of- ficial service covering the years 1877 to 1881. Since the latter year he has held no political office, although he has been active and in- fluential in the affairs of the Democratic party. In November, 1886, Mr. Pickeus, be- came a resident of Indianapolis, where he has since resided, engaged in a successful prac- tice, and is now the senior member of the well-known firm of Pickens, Moores, David- son and Pickens.

In 1872 Mr. Pickens married Miss Virginia Franklin, daughter of Judge William M. Franklin, of Spencer, Indiana. Five chil- dren have been born to their union, of whom Virginia is deceased, and the following are living: Rush F. Pickens, who is now a prom- inent contractor of Indianapolis; Mary, wife of H. C. Adams, Jr., of that city; Owen, who is the junior member of the above named firm; and Marguerite, living with her parents. Mr. and Mrs. Pickens are both members of the First Baptist Church, of which he has been a trustee for a number of years. The former is also an active member of the Uni- versity, the Country, Commercial and In- dianapolis Democratic Clubs. He is also chairman of the board of trustees of the Crawford Baptist Industrial School of Zions- ville, Indiana, and a member of the state executive committee of the Indiana Young Men's Christian Association.

JOHN B. ELAM began practicing law in In- dianapolis in April, 1872. Among his con- temporaries during the subsequent thirty- eight years he has ranked perhaps as the strongest trial lawyer in the city, and is also to be placed among the ablest representa- tives of the bar whom Indiana has produced in recent years. In former years he was as- sociated with the late Benjamin Harrison. Twenty-five years ago the firm of Harrison, Hines & Miller, in which he was a junior partner, and later the firm of Harrison, Mil- ler & Elam, had the choice of a wide range of legal practice in both city and state. Judge C. C. Hines was one of the eminent lawyers of his time, and former U. S. Attorney-Gen- eral Miller has likewise added lustre to the Indiana har. With these earlier associates Mr. Elam laid the basis for his success and has been engaged in much of the most im- portant litigation of the last twenty-five years.

He was born on a farm in Green County, Ohio, December 16, 1845. His parents were Ambrose and Susan (Babb) Elam, the for-

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HISTORY OF GREATER INDIANAPOLIS.

mer of Scotch-Irish descent, and the mother of English stock. Spending his boyhood on a farm, and attending country school, at the age of eighteen, John B. Elam enlisted in the Union army and served during the closing campaigns of the war. He was in the Sixth Corps of the Army of the Potomac, and in all the battles from the Wilderness to Ap- pomatox, being twice slightly wounded.

After he came home he entered Miami University, at Oxford, Ohio. Though the preparatory and classical courses were a six- year schedule, he completed them in a little more than four, and was graduated in 1870 as valedictorian of his class. He then entered the law department of the University of Michigan, being graduated in 1872, and in the spring of the same year began his ca- reer as a lawyer at Indianapolis.

He was soon appointed assistant prosecut- ing attorney. The regular incumbent of the office was disinclined to the trying of cases, and the bulk of this labor devolved on the assistant, who improved this opportunity to establish himself in his profession. He had the moral courage, the alertness and adapta- bility needed by a trial lawyer, and quickly made a local reputation in that office. Later, in 1878, he was elected prosecuting attorney of Marion County, and served four years. It chanced that an unusual number of im- portant cases, arousing much public interest, were tried in this term. This was the only office he has ever sought or held, but during that time he contended with some of the ablest legal tacticians of Indianapolis, and his successful experience as prosecutor has continued a strong factor in all his later ca- reer.

Soon after leaving office he entered the law firm already mentioned. Judge Hines soon retired, and the firm of Harrison, Miller & Elam continued until the senior member was elected president. In making up his cabi- net President Harrison chose his former law partner, W. H. H. Miller, as attorney gen- eral and since that time Mr. Elam has been associated with Mr. Ferdinand Winter and others as partners.

When he was elected prosecuting attorney some thirty years ago, his election was in recognition of his fitness for the office, rather than as a political reward. And since then, he has never sought political honors, al- though he has always identified himself strongly with the Republican party.

He is a Master Mason and a member of the George H. Thomas Post, G. A. R. In 1875 he married, at Oxford, Ohio, Miss Em- ma Lee. She was born in Franklin County,

Indiana, but her family belongs to the Vir- ginia Lees. Two sons were born of their marriage-Lee Elam, in business at St. Louis; and Harvey J. Elam, now practicing Jaw with his father.

HENRY W. BENNETT was born in the City of Indianapolis, August 26, 1858. He gained his early educational discipline in the public schools of Indianapolis and received his early business training in the establishment of D. Root & Company, with which manufactory his father was identified. This firm was suc- ceeded by the Indianapolis Stove Company, which was organized and incorporated in 1877, and the subject of this sketch became secretary and treasurer of the company at the time of its organization, though he had not yet attained his legal majority. His fine initiative talent and progressive ideas have been brought to bear in a most ef- fective way in the developinent of the enter- prise and the same now ranks high in com- parison with other manufacturing industries of its kind in the Union. The plant of the company is large and its equipment is of the highest order, while the output shows a con- stantly cumulative tendency, the products of the concern being sent into the most diverse sections of the Union. The administrative ability of Mr. Bennett has also been directed along other important channels, among the more noteworthy of which may be mentioned that of the State Life Insurance Company, of Indianapolis, of which old and popular institution, admirably organized and conduct- ed, he has been president since 1907, giving to its affairs the benefit of his experience as a practical business man and executive offi- cer.

Amid the exactions of a very active and successful career as a business man, Mr. Ben- nett has found time to devote also to the du- ties of civic life and public affairs, and since 1890 he has been prominent in the councils of the Republican party in Indiana, where he has rendered effective service in the party cause. From 1898 until 1906 he held the of- fice of treasurer of the Indiana Republican state central committee, and he handled the fiscal affairs of the jurisdiction with marked discrimination and ability, thus conserving the successful manœuvering of the political forces- in the field. On the 25th of January, 1905, upon the recommendation of Senator Beveridge, Mr. Bennett was appointed post- master of Indianapolis, and of this position he continued incumbent until May 15, 1908, having given a most able and popular ad- ministration and having been postmaster at the time when the magnificent new govern-

Vol. 11-14

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HISTORY OF GREATER INDIANAPOLIS.

ment building in Indianapolis was completed and occupied. giving to the local postoffice the best of facilities.

On the 8th of October, 1890, Mr. Bennett was married to Miss Ariana Holliday, who was born and reared in Indianapolis, and who is a daughter of William J. and Lucy (Redd) Holliday. Mr. and Mrs. Bennett have two children, namely: Edward Jacque- lin and Louise.

HELENE E. H. KNABE, M. D. No insecure prestige and not small distinction have been attained by Dr. Knabe as one of the repre- sentative physicians and surgeons of Indian- apolis, where she is now engaged in the gen- eral practice of her profession, She has gained special recognition as a pathologist and bacteriologist and in the line of her pro- fession has held position of distinctive public trust.

Helene Elise Hermine Knabe was born at Ruegenwalder-Mnende. Germany, on the 22nd of December, 1875. Her father is a civil en- gineer by profession and is in the employ of the German government, engaged principally in the construction of public bridges and mechanical structures at various seaports. His ancestors conducted extensive enterprises in connection with commerce and industrial affairs, and the maternal ancestry of Dr. Knabe indicates more especially identification with ecclesiastical and military life. Among the distinguished representatives in the maternal line have been Rev. Heine, Major Von Tiede and Lieutenant-General Krolow. Emanuel Krolow, a brother of the last men- tioned, owned a large estate in western Prussia, and in recognition of his benevo- lences and many bequests to the poor, mem- orial services are held on the 2d of November of each year in several churches in Thorn and Rnegenwalde.

Being reared in the country and near the Baltic sea, Dr. Knabe naturally became a lover of all out-door sports, such as boating, fishing, etc. She was also a great lover of animals in her childhood days and had many pets in and about her home. She recalls with pleasure the many long rambles taken in her girlhood days, when she made her way along the shore of the sea or wandered in the great forests of the locality. Government forest reserves extended for miles and afforded her a field for youthful and appreciative explora- tion. Concerning this formative period of her life Dr. Knabe has spoken in the follow- ing words: "One who has spent his youth near a large body of water will always love the water most of all. and I am no exception to the rule. There is also an indefinable

charm in the woods, even in their most tem- pestuous moods, and this attraction nothing can surpass. Otherwise my early life was very little different from that of the average German girl of the middle classes. Strict discipline, household tasks growing harder with the years, and the companionship of the needle, good books and girls of my own age, filled up the years pretty well. Expertness in fancy work of all kinds, sewing, mending, etc., are considered essential to the training of a girl in Germany, aside from a fairly complete knowledge of German literature, etc. In my case dress-making was added to it, proving very helpful in later years. The motto that I heard most often was, 'You can not be a master in anything unless you know every detail of the work'. My ability to draw fairly well has been the means of assisting me materially,-first in the way of designing fancy work for myself and others, later, when in medical college and in the illustration of books. I always wished to be a doctor, but as the colleges in my fatherland were not open to women at that time, the idea had to be temporarily abandoned. When I was about sixteen years of age I heard some one, in telling about America, make the statement that in the United States young women were permitted to study medicine, and from that time my determination was fixed on the plan of coming to America as soon as an oppor- tunity presented. One lovely morning in June, 1895, my cousin, Augusta Knabe, who was visiting us for a farewell, started for America, presumably to return within one year. She decided to stay here, and on Octo- ber 31, 1896, I left home to come to the United States also. I arrived in New York on the 15th of the following November, and two days later joined my cousin in Indian- apolis, where I have since made my home. My cousin, Miss Augusta Knabe, has been a teacher of German in the public schools of Indianapolis for the past thirteen years, and we had our home together at 1151 Bates street, until 1906. since which time I have had my residence in the Ardmore apartments."

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Greater Indianapolis : the history, the industries, the institutions, and the people of a city of homes, Part 43

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