Greater Indianapolis : the history, the industries, the institutions, and the people of a city of homes, Part 61

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 61

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Joseph F. Flack, born in Madisonville, Ohio, June 22, 1843, was but two years of age when brought by Harvey Hosbrook to his father in Indianapolis, the latter's home be- ing then on the corner of East and Market streets. When he reached the age of twelve years he became a member of the household of Percy and Phoebe Hosbrook, his aunt and

Joseph Black

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HISTORY OF GREATER INDIANAPOLIS.

uncle, with whom he lived until his marriage in March of 1867. From that time until 1874 he. followed agricultural pursuits, and then turning his attention to the manufacture of brick he made about fifty-five million, all of which were used in buildings in this city, a million and a half being consumed in the construction of the building for insane women in 1874. In 1895 he became associated with the dairy business, starting with seventy acres of land, and at one time he afterward farmed as high as five hundred, the most of this land being the old James Johnson farm, which he had entered in 1835. The farm was mainly covered with timber, and it became the property of Mr. Flack in 1885. He burned his brick with the trees when cut down, and the timber paid for the land. The first seventy-two acres he bought cost him but four hundred dollars an acre, and the tract was sold to Arthur V. Brown for seventy- eight thousand dollars. He embarked in his dairy business with four cows, but he rapidly enlarged the scope of his business and at one time had as many as four hundred and fifty cows in his pasture, while at the present time he has a herd of about three hundred. He owns four business corners in the city, the first having been purchased from. Schrader Bros., the second corner he bought of H. J. Milligan, the third of Attorney General Mil- ler, and the fourth from George J. Marott. He also bought an addition to the first from Mrs. Street. Mr. Flack is one of the promi- nent business men of Indianapolis, and he may well be proud of the success he has achieved in the world of finance.

On the 27th of March, 1867, Mr. Flack was married to Amanda Warman, who was born in Wayne Township, Marion County, Indiana, on what was then known as the National road, but the place is now within the city limits of Indianapolis. 2302 West Washing- ton street. She is a daughter of Henry and Nancy (Parsons) Warman, whose history is given in the sketch of E. Warman. A sister of Mrs. Flack, Phoebe J. Warman, is now living with the family on the old homestead. The two children of Mr. and Mrs. Flack are Vio;a, the wife of Harry M. Haldeman, and Warman. A daughter, Bertha, was also born of this union, but died when eighteen years of age. The family reside in the old home- stead at 2302 W. Washington street, Indian- apolis.

DAVID W. COFFIN. It was within the province of the late David Worth Coffin to have wielded a beneficent influence in the in- dustrial, commercial, civic and religious af- fairs of the City of Indianapolis, and he was

an exponent of that high type of manhood which ever stands indicatory of usefulness and subjective honor. He was a native son of Indiana and a scion of one of its sterling pioneer families. It can not be doubted that he contributed in generous measure to the development and upbuilding of "Greater In- dianapolis", for he was actively and promi- nently identified with local business interests for nearly half a century,-a period marked by generous and worthy accomplishment on his part. He was a man of broad and toler- ant views, generous, benevolent and philan- thropic, and his personality ever showed his high appreciation of his stewardship and his desire to aid and encourage his fellow men in their efforts to live up to those ideals which alone make life worth the living. In his death, on the 21st of March, 1910, there passed away one of the essentially noble, popular and honored citizens of Indianapolis, and it is most consonant that in this publi- cation be incorporated a brief tribute to his memory.

David Worth Coffin was born at Economy, Wayne County, Indiana, June 24, 1841, and was a son of the late Barnabas and Marian (Worth) Coffin, representatives of old and prominent Quaker families that came from North Carolina and settled in Wayne County in the early pioneer epoch of Indiana's his- tory. Barnabas Coffin eventually removed with his family to Indianapolis and became one of its substantial business men. Both he and his wife were birthright members of the Society of Friends and held to the simple and noble faith of the same until their death. The subject of this memoir gained his early educational discipline in the common schools of his native county and thereafter completed a course of study in "Friends Boarding School," now Earlham College, at Richmond, that county. Soon after attaining to his legal majority Mr. Coffin engaged in the dry goods business at Kokomo, this state, and soon after the close of the Civil War he re- moved with his young bride to Indianapolis, where he became one of the interested prin- cipals in the firm of Connelly, Wiles & Com- pany, the title of which firm was later changed to Wiles Brothers & Company. With this house, which was for many years one of the leading wholesale grocery concerns of the state, he continued to be actively identified and finally the name of the firm was changed to Wiles, Coffin & Company. He continued in the wholesale grocery trade for approxi- mately thirty years and retired therefrom about 1895, when he became the Indianapolis representative of the great sugar house of

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HISTORY OF GREATER INDIANAPOLIS.

Havemeyer, Elder & Company, whose inter- ests he effectively represented in this field for several years. Owing to impaired health he was not actively identified with business af- fairs during the last four years of his life. For a number of years he was secretary- treasurer of the Indianapolis Wholesale Gro- cers' Association and he also served for sev- eral years as secretary of the Indiana Com- mercial Travelers' Association. In the busi- ness community of the capital city no man held a higher degree of confidence and esteem and none enjoyed greater personal popularity.

Mr. Coffin was a man of affairs and achieved success in the business world, but his true individuality showed itself most significantly in connection with his ideals and labors as an earnest Christian gentleman-one of well fortified convictions and one intoler- ant of wrong and injustice in every form, but one who knew the frailty of human nature and was thus kindly and charitable in his judgment and ever ready to extend a helping hand to those "in any ways afflicted, in mind, body or estate". Those who sat in the shadow found in him a friend, as did also those whose errors he recognized but for whose salvation he hoped and prayed. Hc was specially interested in the youth and children of his home city and was a charter member and one of the organizers of the In -. dianapolis Boys' Club, an organization that has done much to aid and uplift boys depend- ent upon their own exertions or reared in im- poverished homes. Soon after coming to In- dianapolis he and his wife united with the Fourth Presbyterian Church, and he ever afterward was a most zealous and devoted worker in the same, taking an active interest in all departments of church work and con- tributing liberally of time, effort and money to the same. His religion was one of con- secration and his was the faith that makes faithful in all things. He was for many years an elder of his church and continued incumbent of this office until his death. For a number of years he was superintendent of the Sunday school of the Second Presbyterian Church. He took great interest in the work and upbuilding of the Mayer mission, in South West street and was also active in the support and direction of the work of the Boys' Club, previously mentioned. At one time he was treasurer of the Indiana Humane Society. He was a charter member of the Co- lumbia Club, but he severed his active asso- ciation with the same several years prior to his death. He also held membership in the Board of Trade and the Commercial Club, and ever showed a lively interest in all that

tended to advance the civic and commercial prestige of Indianapolis. He was a member of the Masonic fraternity, in which he at- tained the thirty-second degree of the An- cient Accepted Scottish Rite. In politics, though never an aspirant for public office, he gave a stanch allegiance to the Republican party. He was a man of broad mental ken and fine literary tastes, and he found his chief solace in the gracious associations of his home.

On the 4th of April, 1865, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Coffin to Miss Anna R. Morrison, who was born at Salem, Indiana, and who is a daughter of Hon. John I. and Catherine (Morris) Morrison. John Irwin Morrison was born in Chester County, Penn- sylvania, on the 22nd of June, 1806, and died at Knightstown, Henry County, Indiana, on the 15th of July, 1882. He was a man of fine intellectual attainments and was long a prominent and honored figure in connection with educational affairs in Indiana, where he took up his residence when a young man. He first settled in Washington County, where he assumed the position of teacher in the Walnut Ridge school. In the following spring he was elected principal of the Salem Grammar. School, at Salem, this state, and so notably prosperous wasthis institution un- der his supervision that it was finally evolved into a county seminary, for which a substan- tial and commodious building was erected. This seminary, of which he was principal, gained a reputation that extended throughout the west and in the same many men who were destined to achieve prominence in public and business life received instruction from Mr. Morrison, to whom they ever manifested a feeling of gratitude for his kindly encourage- ment and his effective labors as a teacher, as well as a guide, counselor and friend. Iu Washington County Mr. Morrison served as county treasurer and his hold upon popular confidence and esteem was further shown when he was called upon to serve in both branches of the state legislature. He was a delegate from Washington County to the state constitutional convention of 1850, and in this convention he was appointed chair- man of the committee on education. As such he was the sole author of the section of the constitution that provides for the election of a state superintendent of public instruction. From 1840 to 1843 he was a valued member of the faculty of the University of Indiana and was simultaneously president of its board of trustees. At the time of the Civil War he received appointment from President Lin- coln as a member of the board of enrollment

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HISTORY OF GREATER INDIANAPOLIS.

commissioners for Indiana. While thus serv- ing he was nominated in the Union Republi- can convention of Indiana for the office of state treasurer, to which he was duly elected and in which he served one term. In assum- ing the duties of this office he removed to Indianapolis in 1865, and here he maintained his home until 1873, when he removed to Knightstown, Henry County, where he was appointed a member of the school board and where he continued to reside until his death. His cherished and devoted wife passed to the life eternal in 1886; both were devout mem- bers of the Friends Church and in politics Mr. Morrison was an uncompromising Repub- lican, having united with the party at the time of its organization. Of the nine chil- dren of Mr. and Mrs. Morrison three sons and four daughters are now living. Their daughter Sarah P. was the first woman to be graduated in the state university of Indiana.

Mr. and Mrs. Coffin became the parents of two children, Mrs. Minnie Murphy and Miss Florence, who * remains with her widowed mother in Indianapolis.

ARTHUR M. HOOD. Holding precedence in bis special line of professional work, Arthur M. Hood devotes his attention exclusively to patent and trade-mark law and is junior member of the firm of Bradford & Hood, pat- ent and trade-mark attorneys and solicitors, with offices in the State Life building, Indian- apolis. Mr. Hood not only gained practical experience in connection with applied me- ·chanics but in his preparation for his chosen profession he also gave particular attention to the special lines along which he has di- rected his efforts as a practitioner.

Arthur Merrill Hood was born in Indian- apolis, on the 25th of December, 1871, and is a son of Harrison P. and Vesta J. (Merrill) Hood, the former of whom was born in the historic old town of Salem, Massachusetts, on the 27th of February, 1841, and the latter near Lewiston, Maine, on the 1st of Febru- ary, 1840. The Hood family is of stanch English lineage and at least nine generations have been represented in America, with whose annals the name has been identified since the early colonral epoch. The original progeni- tors in this country settled in New England, and in that section of the country are still to be found many representatives of the name. It is a matter of record that the paternal ancestors of Arthur M. Hood bought the stretch of land known as Nahant Neck, Mas- sachusetts. They utilized the land for the raising of sheep and secured the property principally by reason of the fact that it was so nearly surrounded by water as to require

but little fencing. The maternal ancestry of Mr. Hood is of either Scotch or French ex- traction, presumably a blending of the two strains.

Harrison P. Hood, who attained to promi- nence and success as a patent solicitor, came with his family to Indianapolis in 1869 and here he continued in the practice of his pro- fession until his death, which occurred on the 7th of August, 1897. His widow still resides in this city, and it may be recorded that their marriage was solemnized in the City of Low- ell, Massachusetts. Harrison P. Hood was a valiant soldier of the Union in the Civil War, in which he served as a member of Company D, Twenty-sixth Massachusetts Volunteer In- fantry. He was a Republican in his political allegiance and was a member of Plymouth Church, Indianapolis, now known as the First Congregational Church, of which his wife also has long been a devoted member. They became the parents of four children, concern- ing whom the following brief data are en- tered : Ozni Porter Hood, who was born on the 15th of June, 1865, is now professor of engineering and electricity in the Michigan State College of Mines, at Houghton; Arthur M., whose name initiates this article, was the next in order of birth; Ernest K., who was born on the 1st of May, 1873, is manager of the Climax Machinery Company, of Indian- apolis; and Mabel Vesta, who was born on the 3rd of December, 1877, is the wife of L. Guy Long, of this city.

Arthur M. Hood is indebted to the public schools of Indianapolis for his early educa- tional training, which included two years of study in the high school. When but ten years of age he announced his intention of adopting the profession in which his father had gained success and high reputation, and in this am- bition he met with earnest encouragement from his father. Thus, at the age of fourteen years, he withdrew. from the high school to enter upon a thorough three years' appren- ticeship at the trade of pattern-making. He began his service in the shops of a leading machinery manufacturing concern in Indian- apolis, and within his three years of appren- ticeship he became skilled in pattern-making and machinery construction. This training was secured with the direct purpose of forti- fying him in the practical details of mechani- cal work, so that he might have the technical knowledge essential to success in practice as a patent lawyer. In September, 1889, Mr. Hood entered Rose Polytechnic Institute, in the City of Terre Haute, Indiana, where he completed the prescribed course in mechani- cal engineering and was graduated in June,

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HISTORY OF GREATER INDIANAPOLIS.

1893, with the degree of Bachelor of Science. Mr. Hood was now ready to take up his tech- nical study of law, with particular reference to the department of patent and trade-mark practice. In October, 1893, he entered the law department of Columbian University (now George Washington University), in the City of Washington, D. C., and in this insti- tution he was graduated as a member of the class of 1893, with the degree of Bachelor of Laws. In June, 1898, his alma mater, Rose Polytechnic Institute, conferred upon him the degree of Master of Science.

In October, 1895, about five months after his graduation in Columbian University, Mr. Hood was appointed fourth assistant exam- iner in the United States patent office. He retained this position until July of the fol- lowing year, when he resigned the office, in which he had gained valuable experience. He then returned to Indianapolis, where he en- tered into partnership with his father and began the practice of patent and trade-mark law. He has confined his attention exclusive- ly to this one department of professional work, and has gained definite success in the same. He continued to be associated with his father until the death of the latter, in 1897, after which he conducted an individual practice until January, 1902, when he formed his present partnership alliance with Chester Bradford, under the firm name of Bradford & Hood. They control a large and substan- tial business in their special field and their clientage is of representative order. Mr. Hood has been admitted to the bar of the Supreme Court of the United States, the higher courts of the state of Indiana and the state of New Hampshire, and to various cir- cuit courts and courts of appeal in divers other sections of the Union. His professional labors have thus been somewhat widely dis- seminated, especially in the field of expert practice and counsel.

In a generic sense Mr. Hood is a stanch Republican, but in local affairs, where no is- sues are involved, he maintains an indepen- dent attitude. He is a member of the In-, diana Bar Association, is identified with the Century Club, and both he and his wife are members of the Second Presbyterian Church.

On the 16th of April, 1895, Mr. Hood was united in marriage to Miss Alice Burges Johnson, of Washington, D. C., in which city she was reared and educated. She is a daugh- ter of Arnold B. Johnson, who was at one time private secretary to Senator Sumner, and in his arms that renowned statesman breathed his last. Mr. Johnson is connected with the United States light-house service, in

which he was chief clerk for thirty-nine years. Mrs. Hood is of the ninth generation in line of direct descent from the historic Puritan characters, John and Priscilla Alden, and is also a descendant of Tristan Burges, an early justice of the Supreme Court of Connecticut. Mr. and Mrs. Hood have three children, whose names, with respective dates of birth, are here noted: Mary Arnold, March 7, 1896; Dorothy Merrill, October 25, 1899; and Harold Burges, September 24, 1902.

JOHN A. KURTZ. In no branch of science pertinent to practical industrialism and pub- lic utilitarian purpose's has been accomplished so wonderful a work as in the field of applied electricity, and through its mediums have been developed innumerable industrial enter- prises of importance. The city of Indianap- olis does not lag behind other leading com- mercial centers in the fostering of enter- prises of this character, and one that is worthy of special note is that conducted by the Hercules Electric Company, of which John A. Kurtz is president. In the well equipped plant of this corporation, at 2128 Northwestern avenue, are manufactured the Hercules ignition magnetos for stationary, automobile and marine gas or gasoline en- gines. The indubitable superiority of the Hercules magnetos constitutes the foundation on which has been built up a large and suc -. cessful industry that contributes materially to the commercial precedence of the capital city, and in the promotion of this enterprise Mr. Kurtz has been the dominating factor, being known as one of the progressive and essentially representative business men of Greater Indianapolis.

Mr. Kurtz was born at Blairsville, Indiana County, Pennsylvania, on the 4th of March, 1850, and is a son of the late John G. Kurtz, who likewise was a native of the old Keystone state and a scion of one of its honored pioneer families of German lineage. The subject of this review was afforded the advantages of the public schools of his native state, where he gained also his early business experience. In 1873, at the age of twenty-three years, he came to Indianapolis, where for a number of years he was identified with the wholesale saddlery business of the Gordon-Kurtz Com- pany. This concern, in which he became a stockholder, was later reorganized as the In- dianapolis Saddlery Company, and Mr. Kurtz continued as one of the interested prin- cipals in the same, still retaining his inter- est up to the present time.

In 1905 Mr. Kurtz effected the organiza- tion of the Hercules Electric Company, of which he has since been the president, and

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HISTORY OF GREATER INDIANAPOLIS.

through his well directed energies and excel- lent administrative ability, assisted by his son, T. H. Kurtz, who is secretary and general manager, and Mr. Herman Hess, superinten- dent, the admirable products of the concern have gained a wide sale and met with un- qualified appreciation. The "Wizard" tubu- lar magnetos and other designs manufactured by the company represent a noteworthy ad- vance in the line of electric sparking appli- ances, and the efficiency of the device has proved its best advertiser, creating a demand that is constantly expanding in scope and im- portance. It is now within the province of this article to enter into details concerning the superior products of the Hercules Elec- tric Company, but the literature issued by the corporation affords all requisite informa- tion, including the unqualified commendation of those who have utilized the devices turned out in its factory.

In politics Mr. Kurtz gives his support to the Republican party, and is identified with various fraternal and social organizations in his home city, and here he is recognized as a substantial and successful business man who has gained advancement through his own well directed endeavors and whose course has been such as to retain to him the high regard of those with whom he has come in contact in the various relations of life.

On the 22nd of November, 1879 Mr. Kurtz was united in marriage to Miss Katherine Blake, daughter of William Blake, of Indian- apolis, and they have five children, namely : Stewart .H., Mary J., Lila F., Helen H. and Margaret M.

PETER LIEBER. It is a well recognized fact that the great empire of Germany has contrib- uted a most valuable element to the cosmopol- itan 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 suc- cess and precedence in connection with business affairs in the capital city of Indiana and who have honored the state by their lives and serv- ices is Peter Lieber, who was prominently iden- tified with industrial and civic affairs in In- dianapolis for more than a quarter of a cen- tury and who was a citizen of sterling character, honored by all who knew him. It is fitting that in this publication there be incorporated a brief review of his career, though he now maintains his home in his native city of Dus- seldorf, Germany, where he served as United States consul for fifteen years, honoring both his native land and that of his adoption through his able handling of the affairs of this diplomatic post. He manifested his loyalty

to the Union by serving as a soldier in the Civil War and in the "piping times of peace" the same spirit of loyalty dominated him and made him representative of the best type of citizen- ship.

Peter Lieber was born in Dusseldorf, Ger- many, on the 27th of May, 1834, and is a son of John and Caroline Lieber, both of whom passed their entire lives in that section of the German empire, where the respective families have been established for many generations. Mr. Lieber received the advantages of the excellent schools of his native city and also attended an institution of higher learning in the City of Achen. When about nineteen years of age he severed the ties which bound him to home and fatherland and set forth to seek his fortune in America. He first located in the city of Cincinnati, Ohio, whence he later removed to. Hamilton, that state. In his native land he had learned the trade of brush-making, and at Hamilton he became foreman in a brush fac- tory, in which he had the supervision of the work of about three hundred workmen. In Cincinnati he had united with the Social Turn- verein and after remaining about one year in Hamilton he joined a large party of other members of this order and went to the State of Minnesota, where the company of sturdy Germans founded the social settlement or col- ony of New Ulm, which has figured promi- nently and honorably in the annals of that commonwealth. In New Ulm Mr. Lieber en- gaged in the general merchandise business and also in dealing in furs, which he purchased from the Indians. He also gave his attention for some time to the development of a farm in that locality. At the time of the Civil War Mr. Lieber tendered his services in defense of the cause of the Union, having enlisted, in 1860, in the Twenty-second Minnesota Bat- tery of Light Artillery, with which he served until the close of the war, when he received his honorable discharge. He was with his com- mand in the south and participat d in a num- ber of engagements with the enemy during the closing period of the great conflict through which the integrity of the Union was pre- served. In Indianapolis he was a valued mem- ber of George H. Thomas Post, No. 17, Grand Army of the Republic, and he ever took a lively interest in the affairs of the old "boys in blue", who had defended the republic on the sanguinary battle fields of the south.

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Greater Indianapolis : the history, the industries, the institutions, and the people of a city of homes, Part 61

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