Greater Indianapolis : the history, the industries, the institutions, and the people of a city of homes, Part 47

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 47

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).

Vol. II-15

868

HISTORY OF GREATER INDIANAPOLIS.

At the close of the war, Dr. Woollen as- sisted in reorganizing the Indianapolis City Hospital into a civil institution, after it had served its purpose as a military hospital, and was its superintendent for four years. From 1870 until 1882, he was engaged in the general practice of his profession in Indianapolis, and in the latter year, with a due apprecia- tion of the value of concentration in an ex- acting profession whose realm of activities and beneficence is ever widening, he took up the special study of diseases of the upper air- passages. In 1884-5 he took an extended course of instruction along this line in the post-graduate schools of New York, and he passed the first six months in the year 1886 in further post-graduate study along the same specific lines principally in the London Throat Hospital, as a protege of Sir Morell Macken- zie, where he completed the full course of study and clinical work, besides which he took an exhaustive special course under the pri- vate tutorship of Dr .. Mark Hovell, one of the leading specialists of London. In July, 1886, Dr. Woollen returned to America and re- opened his office in Indianapolis, where he entered upon the exclusive treatment of dis- eases of the nose, throat and ear. In this special field of practice he is a recognized au- thority and his success has been of the most unequivocal order. He controls a large and representative practice and in his chosen spe- cialty is one of the leading members of his profession in the entire Union.

Dr. Woollen has been a member of the In- diana State Medical Society since 1861, and was its secretary from 1870 to 1880. He be- came a member and secretary of the Indian- apolis Medical Association in 1865 which suh- sequently was merged into the Academy of Medicine, and he continued his identification with the same organization as continuous sec- retary until it was merged, in 1875, into the Marion County Medical Society, of which lat- ter he has since been president and an active and valued member. In 1889 Dr. Woollen was made professor of Rhinology and Laryn- gology in the Central College of Physicians and Surgeons, in Indianapolis, being the pio- neer in this department in Indiana, and amongst the earliest in the west, and this in- cumbency he retained for several years, with- in which he raised his professorial chair to a high standard. He has been a valued con- tributor to leading professional periodicals and has presented many papers before the professional organizations with which he has been identified. He is a member of the Amer- ican Medical Association, having been chair- man of section of nose, throat and ear, the

American Laryngological Association, and the American Academy of Ophthalmology and Oto-Laryngology. Since 1895 he has been medical director for the American Cen- tral Life Insurance Company, of Indianapo- lis.

As a citizen, Dr. Woollen has stood exponent of liberality and distinctive public spirit. He has shown special interest in the cause of education, and he has been for several years vice-president of Franklin College, at Frank- lin, Indiana, as well also as of the Crawford Industrial School, located at Zionsville, In- diana.

The great basic art of agriculture and its allied industries have never lost their inter- est for Dr. Woollen, and he takes great pride in his fine stock farm of 140 acres, which lies just north of the Indiana state fair grounds, about six miles distant from the city limits of Indianapolis. Here he has given special at- tention to the breeding of high grade regis- tered Jersey cattle. He is a member of the Indiana Jersey Cattle Club and the Indiana Dairy Association, and takes an active inter- est in both of these organizations.

Dr. Woollen is a stanch advocate of the principles and policies of the Republican party, with which he has been identified from his youth, and both he and his wife hold mem- bership in the First Baptist Church of In- dianapolis. He is a valned member of George H. Thomas Post, No. 17, Grand Army of the Republic, and also of the Indiana command- ery of Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States, of which he has -been vice- commander. His civic and social interests are further represented by his membership in the Indianapolis Commercial Club and the Columbia Club.

On the 4th of February, 1864, was solemn- ized the marriage of Dr. Woollen to Miss Mary Ann Smith, who was born and reared near Indianapolis, and who is a daughter of the late Judge D. R. Smith, one of the pio- neer influential and honored citizens of the capital city for many years prior to his death. Dr. Woollen and wife have never had any children.

EDWARD F. GRAHAM. Prominently identi- fied with railroad interests in Indianapolis, Edward F. Graham is the incumbent of the responsible position of freight agent for the Vandalia Railroad Company. Edward Fin- ley Graham is a native son of the fine old Hoosier commonwealth and is a scion of one of the sterling pioneer families of this state. He was born on a farm in Dudley Township. Henry County, Indiana, on the 27th of July. 1859, and is a son of Benjamin M. and Mar-

869

HISTORY OF GREATER INDIANAPOLIS.

garet Ann (Beach) Graham, both of whom were born in the State of Ohio and whose marriage was solemnized in Indiana. The Graham family was founded in America in the Colonial period of our national history and early became identified with the annals of the State of Pennsylvania, from which one or more representatives of the name went forth to do valiant service as soldiers in the Continental line in the war of the Revolution. Benjamin M. Graham was a boy at the time of his parents' removal from Ohio to Illinois where he was reared to manhood and whence as a young man he came to Indiana and lo- cated in Henry County, where he engaged in agricultural pursuits and where his marriage occurred, his wife's parents having located in that county when she was a girl. About 1865, Benjamin M. Graham engaged in the general merchandise business at Spencer, this state, where he continued to maintain his home until his death, at which time he was about thirty-seven years of age. His widow still survives him and is now seventy-nine years of age. They became the parents of three sons and three daughters, all of whom are residents of Indianapolis, except John G., who died at the age of fifteen years. The mother herself has maintained her home in the Indiana capital since 1875.

Edward F. of this review was thirteen years of age at the time of his father's death and his early educational discipline was se- cured in the public schools of the village of Spencer where he also attended a well-con- ducted academy. In July, 1875, his mother came with her family to Indianapolis where she has since remained. In 1878 Mr. Graham identified himself with the railroad business and he has been continuously in the employ of the Vandalia Railroad Company during the long intervening years. His first service was in connection with the yard department of this road and finally he was appointed to a position as clerk in the local freight office where he won, through faithful and efficient service, consecutive promotion, and where he eventually became chief clerk. In 1902 he was appointed local freight agent for the company, in which office he succeeded the late Caesar A. Rodney. He has been in- variably courteous in his relations with the public, is well-known in railroad circles and commands the confidence and esteem of the community which has so long represented his home. He is a member of the Commercial Club and Marion Club and is affiliated with Star Lodge No. 7, Knights of Pythias, with Indianapolis Railroad Council No. 690 Na- tional Union, of which he has been treasurer

from the time of its organization. In poli- tics he accords unwavering allegiance to the Republican party and he and his wife are members of the Tabernacle Presbyterian Church, besides which he holds membership in the business men's bible class of the Cen- tral Avenue Methodist Episcopal Church.

On the 20th of March, 1907, was soleni- nized the marriage of Mr. Graham to Miss Florence Bell Combs, who was born in Whit- ley County, and reared in Indianapolis and who is a daughter of the late Jerome Frank- lin Combs, a representative citizen of Whitley County, a veteran of the late war and a mem- ber of the Forty-fourth Indiana Regiment.

C. LAWRENCE PRICE. Prominently identi- fied with a line of enterprise that has impor- tant bearing upon the progress and material prosperity of every community, that implied in real estate and building operations, C. Lawrence Price is recognized as one of the representative business men of the younger generation in the capital city, where he is associated with his brother, Lyman H., under the firm name of Price Brothers Co. They have built up a very successful real estate business, have erected a large number of resi- dence buildings and make a specialty of the rental department of their enterprise.

Mr. Price was born at Price's Mill, Wash- ington County, Indiana, on the 1st of Janu- ary, 1880, and is a son of Rev. Charles T. and Lydia A. (Garriott) Price, who now maintain their home in Indianapolis. The father was born in the City of Cincinnati, Ohio, on the 17th of April, 1847, and his wife was born in Washington County, Indiana, on the 5th of August, 1852. The names of their six children, all of whom are living, are here entered in respective order of birth : John M., Laura M., Lyman H., C. Lawrence, Mary A., and Carrie H. Charles T. Price is a son of John F. and Martha (Backus) Price, the former of whom was born in the State of New York and the latter in the City of Liver- pool, England. John F. Price became au extensive owner of property in Cincinnati, Ohio, where he continued to reside until 1854, when he removed to Washington County, In- diana, where he became a prominent business man and honored and influential citizen. He there operated both a flour mill and a saw mill, in connection with general farming, having been the owner of about seven hun- dred acres of land, from the timber on which he manufactured large amounts of lumber. He and his wife passed the remainder of their lives in that county, and both were zealous members of the Methodist Episcopal

870

HISTORY OF GREATER INDIANAPOLIS.

Church; in politics he gave nis support to the Whig party.

Rev. Charles T. Price was a lad of seven years at the time of the family removal tc Washington County, Indiana, where he was reared to manhood and where he early began to assist in his father's various business en- terprises. After availing himself of the ad- vantages of the common schools he was en- abled to pursue the higher branches of aca- demic study in Hartsville College. In Wash- ington County he identified himself success- fully with agricultural pursuits and con- tinued the milling business established by his father. He also became a contractor and builder, and in this line conducted somewhat extensive operations in Washington County. In Gibson Township, where he resided, he erected nine of the thirteen school buildings utilized, besides many other buildings, and in the village of Scottsburg, Scott County, he built the principal business blocks, which were not excelled until 1895. In 1896 he removed with his family to that village, where he lived retired until 1909, when he came to In- dianapolis, where he and his wife have since maintained their home and where they are held in high esteem. At the age of twenty- three years he was ordained a clergyman of the United Brethren Church, and in the same he has labored with all of earnestness and consecrated zeal, having in the past held several pastoral charges and still serving as a local preacher, in which connection he re- fuses to accept remuneration. He and his wife are most highly honored and valued members of the First United Brethren Church of Indianapolis.

C. Lawrence Price, the immediate subject of this review, gained his rudimentary edu- cation in the district schools of his native county, and supplemented this by a course in the high school at Scottsburg, in which he was graduated as a member of the class of 1900. He then entered Otterbein University, in the City of Columbus, Ohio, where he re- mained a student for three years. In 1901 Mr. Price came to Indianapolis and here as- sociated himself with his brother Lyman H. in the real estate business, in which they have brought to bear so much of discrimina- tion, initiative power and progressiveness that their success has been of the most un- equivocal type. Their books show at all times most desirable investments in both im- proved and unimproved city property, as well as farm lands, and they have made a specialty of building and placing in service both private dwellings and flat buildings, in which line about seventy-five excellent houses

stand to their credit at the time of this writ- ing, in 1909, besides seven or more flat build- ings. Mr. Price is a most enthusiastic and valued member of the local Young Men's Christian Association, and he was captain of one of the so-called "teams" that made the whirlwind campaign and raised in the short period of eighteen days the sum of two hun- dred and seventy-three thousand dollars for the erection of a new association building in Indianapolis. In politics he is a Republican and as a citizen he is essentially loyal, pro- gressive and public-spirited. Both he and his wife hold membership in the Tabernacle Presbyterian Church. He is also a member of the Commercial Club.

On the 2nd of October, 1907, was solem- nized the marriage of C. Lawrence Price to Miss Jessie Anderson, who was born in In- dianapolis, on the 7th of August, 1880, and who is a daughter of William O. and Zilpha (McCorkle) Anderson, both natives of the State of Ohio. Her father, who was one of the honored and influential business men of Indianapolis, where he was identified with the paper-manufacturing industry, died in 1908, at the age of sixty-nine years, and his widow still resides in this city. He is survived also by four children, of whom Mrs. Price is the youngest. Mr. Anderson was one of the organizers and pillars of the Tabernacle Presbyterian Church, in which he held the office of elder at the time of his demise. Mr. and Mrs. Price have a winsome little daugh- ter, Mabel Katherine.

Lyman H. Price, who is associated with his brother in business, as already noted, was born on the old homestead farm in Washing- ton County, Indiana, on the 22nd of Septem- ber, 1877, and he was graduated in the In- diana State Normal School at Terre Haute as a member of the class of 1890. He became a successful and popular teacher in the pub- lic schools of his native state, having devoted his attention to the pedagogic profession for nine years, during the last two of which he was principal of the high school in the village of Hartsville. On the 17th of October, 1904, he was united in marriage to Miss Harriet Buchanan, who was born in Aurora, Indiana, a daughter of Cornelius Buchanan.

ROBERT C. LIGHT, M. D., is one of the fa- vored mortals whom nature has launched into the world with the heritage of sturdy ances- try, with splendid physical and mental pow- ers and with energy enough for many men. His versatility has been exemplified in a way unmistakably patent to all, for not only has he attained to precedence and definite suc- cess in his exacting profession, but he has

نـ

Relight

871

HISTORY OF GREATER INDIANAPOLIS.

also been a forceful initiative power in con- nection with industrial enterprise and busi- ness affairs. Measured by its accomplishment his life thus far has signified much, and he is in the very prime of his sturdy and useful manhood. He has been a promoter of public utilities of great value, has given his resource- ful interposition in connection with divers' undertakings and measures which have mate- rially conserved the progress of Indianapolis and the state of Indiana, and he is now not only one of the representative physicians and surgeons of Marion County, maintaining his residence and professional headquarters in the beautiful suburb of Broad Ripple, and his business office in the State Life building, In- dianapolis, where he conducts a large and im- portant business in the handling of munici- pal and corporate bonds. He well represents the type of loyal and progressive citizens whose efforts have conserved the magnificent development of "Greater Indianapolis", and he is eminently entitled to consideration in this historical work.

Dr. Robert Colman Light claims the fine old Bluegrass state as the place of his na- tivity, since he was born in the village of Grundy, Pulaski County, Kentucky, on the 3rd of June, 1856. He is a son of James and Nancy (Graves) Light, and in the ag- natic line he is a scion of one of the old and patrician families of Virginia, where the fam- ily was founded in the early colonial era of the Old Dominion, where was cradled so much of our national history. The line is traced back to stanch English derivation, and there is a definite tradition in the family that war- rants Dr. Light in claiming descent from the grandfather of George Washington. The doc- tor's father often referred with pride to this matter of distinguished lineage. The family name has been prominently identified with the annals of Virginia, North Carolina and Kentucky.

James Light was born in the state of Vir- ginia, on the 25th of June, 1810, and when he was twelve years of age his parents removed to Kentucky, where he was reared to matur- ity on the home farm and was afforded the advantages of the common schools of the pe- riod. Upon attaining his legal majority. he engaged in the general merchandise business, in which he was very successful, acquiring considerable wealth and making large invest- ments in land and slaves. The abolition of slavery practically swept away his fortune and he felt to the utmost the ravages inci- dental to the Civil War, but his courage, thrift and ability proved adequate to enable him largely to recoup his fortunes after the

close of the great internecine conflict between the states. In politics he was originally a Whig, but he finally became a stanch advocate of the principles and policies of the Repub- lican party, of which he continued an ad- herent until his death. In 1867 he removed from Kentucky to Indiana and purchased a farm near the village of Lebanon, Boone County, where he retained his residence for a number of years, after which he sold the farm and settled in Clinton County. There his loved and devoted wife died in 1879, at the age of fifty years. In 1881 he became an honored inmate of the home of his son, Dr. Robert C. Light, at Broad Ripple, where he continued to reside and where he was ac- corded the utmost filial solicitude during the remaining days of his long, useful and hon- orable life, which came to its close in October, 1899, at which time he had attained to the patriarchal age of eighty-nine years. At the time of the administration of General Benja- min Harrison as president of the United. States, Mr. Light was appointed postmaster at Broad Ripple, a position of which he contin- ned incumbent for a period of five years. Both he and his wife were devout members of the Baptist Church. Of their children five are now living, and concerning them the following brief data are consistently recorded in this sketch : John M. is a resident of Somerset, Kentucky; Elizabeth is the wife of Dr. Theo- dore F. Holmes, of Clinton County, Indiana ; Mary Ann became the wife of James Doolan and is now deceased; Amanda is the wife of Thomas Thurman, of Sheridan, Indiana; El- len is the wife of John Bradley, and resides in the state of Oklahoma; and Robert C. is the immediate subject of this review. The devoted mother was a native of Kentucky, where she was born and reared, as was also her father, William Graves, who reared a large family of children and who died at the venerable age of ninety-five years, having devoted his active career to agricultural pursuits.

Dr. Robert C. Light was a small boy at the time of the family removal from Ken- tucky to Boone County, Indiana, where he secured his early educational discipline in the district schools, in the meanwhile lending his quota of aid in the work of the home farm. He continued his academic studies in a pri- vate way and in the public schools and final- ly formulated definite plans for his future career, deciding to prepare himself for the medical profession. He began his technical study under effective preceptorship, later at- tended the Indiana Medical College, in In- dianapolis, and finally entered the celebrated Rush Medical College, in the city of Chicago,

872

HISTORY OF GREATER INDIANAPOLIS.

in which institution he was graduated as a member of the class of 1879 and from which he received his degree of Doctor of Medicine. He forthwith took up his residence in the village of Broad Ripple, an attractive suburb of Indianapolis, and there he has since main- tained his home, while he has gained much of success and prestige in the practice of his profession, to which he still continues to de- vote considerable attention, notwithstanding the variety and importance of other interests that place strenuous demands upon him. He is identified with the American Medical As- sociation, the Indiana State Medical Society and the Indianapolis Medical Society.

In the field of practical industrialism and promotive enterprise, Dr. Light has attained distinction and success, and in this domain he has found ample scope for the exercise of his splendid initiative powers, progressive ideas and administrative ability. In the State Life Building in Indianapolis he maintains a business office, and here he gives special at- tention to handling of municipal and corpor- ation bonds of the highest grade, his opera- tions involving large and important transac- tions, in connection with which he has main- tained the highest reputation for fair and honorable methods as well as for marked ability in the placing of securities. He has taken a deep interest in the development and progress of Indianapolis, as has he also in the welfare of his attractive home town of Broad Ripple. He was among the first pro- moters to become actively identified with the development of the natural-gas resources of Indiana, was the organizer of the Broad Rip- ple Natural Gas Company, of which he be- came secretary, and while he was incumbent of this executive office the first natural gas was delivered by this company to the City of Indianapolis, which latter had recourse also to other sources of supply. Dr. Light also organized the Broad Ripple electric railroad, and its line had the distinction of being the first electric interurban railway to be con- structed and placed in operation in the United States. He has watched with much of satisfaction the magnificent development of this method of traffic and transportation, through which Indianapolis has become one of the most important. centers of electric in- terurban communication in the Union. Of distinctive prescience and mature judgment in the exploiting of business enterprises, Dr. Light has been identified with various other important undertakings, notable among which was establishment of the fine amusement re- sort known as the "White City", which is located at Broad Ripple and which is the

greatest amusement resort in the state and one which draws a large and appreciative patronage from the capital city, of which Broad Ripple is practically an integral part, though not a corporate division of the city.

Though never desiring the honors or emoi- uments of political office, Dr. Light is a stal- wart in the local camp of the Republican party, and in Indianapolis he holds member- ship in the Marion and Columbia Clubs, rep- resentative civic organizations of the capital city and the state. He is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity and with both the lodge and encampment of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. His religious faith is indi- cated by his membership in the Lutheran Church.

Dr. Light has been thrice married. On the 15th of January, 1873, was solemnized his marriage to Miss Caroline Robbins, daughter of George W. Robbins, of Clinton County, Indiana, and her death occurred in the fol- lowing year. She is survived by a daughter, Lola Montz, who is the wife of George T. Kilpatrick, of Broad Ripple, and who is the mother of two children-Robert and Lillian. Mrs. Light was a devoted member of the Bap- tist Church. On the 15th of January, 1882, Dr. Light wedded Miss Cynthia Hubbard, who was born and reared in Marion County and who was a daughter of John Hubbard. Three children were born of this union- Robert Sherman, who died at the age of ten months, and Vallie N. and Mason Blaine, who remain at the paternal home. Mrs. Light was summoned to the life eternal on the 24th of December, 1897, having been a devoted member of the Lutheran Church. On the 3rd of July, 1899, Dr. Light married his present wife, whose maiden name was Anna M. Springer. She was born and reared in Marion County and is a daughter of Jacob and Martha (Van Sickel) Springer. Mrs. Springer still survives and resides in East Irvington.

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 47

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