Greater Indianapolis : the history, the industries, the institutions, and the people of a city of homes, Part 68

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 68

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tion with farming and floriculture, from which he supplied an extensive and appreciative patronage. Though he was virtually an invalid for a number of years before his death, he did not abate his interest in his business affairs and gave to them his personal supervision, and he was recognized as one of the sterling and loyal citizens of Indianapolis, where he ever held a secure place in popular confidence and esteem.

James Austin Bruce was born on the old Bruce homestead, which is now within the city limits of Indianapolis,-at the corner of Twen- ty-fourth street and Park avenue, and the date of his nativity was September 27, 1859. He was one of the two sons of George and Dove (Reagan) Bruce, both natives of Ohio. His father was born in Butler County, that state, in 1802, and was a member, as the date indi- cates, of a family that was founded in that commonwealth before it was admitted to state- hood. The lineage is traced back to stanch Scottish origin. George Bruce was reared to maturity in the old Buckeye state and for many vears he was a successful buver of cattle, which he drove through from Ohio and Indiana to the market in Philadelphia, before the era of railroad transportation. He established his home in Center Township, Marion County, In- diana, in the pioneer days, and, as already in-

timated, the old homestead is now within the corporate limits of the city. Here he con- tinued to reside until his death, which occurred when he was eighty-two years of age; his de- voted wife preceded him to the life eternal, and of their children none are now living.

James A. Bruce was reared to maturity on the home farm which was the place of his birth, and after availing himself of the ad- vantages of the common schools he continued his studies in the old Northwestern Christian University, now Butler University, at Irving- ton, a suburb of Indianapolis, in which insti- tution he was graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. For several years he de- voted a portion of his time to the pedagogic profession, becoming one of the successful and popular teachers in the country schools of his native state for three terms. He then turned his attention to farming, and became the owner of a valuable farm property on Fall Creek, in Center Township, Marion County. His tastes and inclinations finally led him to en- gage in floriculture. He passed ten years on the farm and then returned to the city, where he devoted his attention to the management of "his greenhouses and attendant business during the remainder of his active career. He became the owner of much valuable real estate, includ- ing city property, and gained a competenc : through his well ordered endeavors as a re- liable and progressive business man. He was but fifty-three years of age at the time of his death, and upon the record of his life there rests no shadow of wrong or suspicion of in- justice, so that he well merited the confidence and esteem in which he was held in the com- munity that ever represented his home. He was quiet and unassuming in his character- istics, generous and tolerant in his judgment and devoted to his home and family. He was a stanch adherent of the Republican party and at one time he served as deputy assessor of Marion County. He was not formally identi- fied with any religious organization and held membership in no fraternal or social orders.

On the 10th of October, 1865, Mr. Bruce was united in marriage to Miss Margaret Thomson, who was born in the City of Cin- cinnati, Ohio, and who still resides in the at- tractive homestead in Indianapolis. She is a daughter of Quintin and Charlotte (Cathcart) Thomson, both of whom were born and reared in Ayrshire, Scotland. After coming to Amer- ica Mr. Thomson was engaged in the lumber business in Cincinnati for a number of years, and later he was identified with the fishing in- dustry at Put-in-Bay Island, Ohio. In 1860 he removed to Indianapolis, where he was en- gaged in the bakery business during the period

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of the Civil War. He finally removed to the State of Kansas and purchased a large cattle ranch, to the management of which he gave his attention until his death, in 1891, when more than seventy years of age. His wife died in 1886, and of their children three are now living, all in Indianapolis. Mr. and Mrs. Bruce became the parents of seven children, of whom only three are now living,-George Q., who is engaged in the real estate business; Dr. Charles L., who is engaged in farming in the famous Wood River valley of Oregon; and Margaret T., who remains with her widowed mother.

HARRY B. GATES. Numbered among the veritable captains of industry in Greater In- dianapolis, where he has varied and impor- tant capitalistic interests, is Harry B. Gates, who is president of the Climax Coffee & Baking Powder Company, one of the im- portant wholesale and jobbing concerns of the city, and who has been prominently identified with other lines of business enterprise in the capital city of his native state.

Mr. Gates was born in Fayette County, In- diana, on the 5th of September, 1858, and is a son of Alfred B. and Elizabeth M. (Mur- dock) Gates, the former of whom was born in Fayette County, this state, in 1822, before the county was organized under this title, and the latter of whom was born in Kentucky, in 1838. From the date and place of the fath- er's nativity it will be seen that the Gates family was founded in Indiana in the early pioneer epoch of its history, and the name has since been prominently identified with the progress and upbuilding of this sovereign commonwealth of the Union. In 1864 Alfred B. Gates removed with his family to the City of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he was engaged in business until 1868, when he re- turned to Indiana and located in Indianapo- lis, where he engaged in the retail grocery business. He later broadened the scope of his enterprise by the establishing of a whole- sale business in the same line, and he con- tinued to be identified in an active way with this substantial business until 1894, after which he lived retired until his death, which occurred in 1901. He was long one of the representative business men of Indianapolis and his course, characterized by inviolable in- tegrity and honor in all the relations of life, was so directed as to retain to him the un- qualified esteem of all who knew him. His venerable widow atill maintains her home in Indianapolis, and all of their four children are living, the subject of this review having been the second in order of birth. In politics Alfred B. Gates was a stanch adherent of the

Republican party, he was affiliated with the Scottish Rite bodies of the Masonic frater- nity.

Harry B. Gates was six years of age at the time of the family removal to the City of Philadelphia, and to the public schools of that city and Indianapolis he is indebted for his early educational discipline. In 1871 he found employment in his father's wholesale grocery and coffee establishment, and in 1882 he was admitted to partnership in the busi- ness, which was thereafter conducted under the title of A. B. Gates & Co. Upon his father's retirement from the business Mr. Gates continued to be identified with the same until 1894, when he disposed of his in- terests and organized the Climax Coffee & Baking Powder Company, of which he is president, to conduct the manufactory branch of their grocery business, and through his wise administrative policy and progressive ideas the enterprise has been pushed forward with ever increasing success, until it is now one of the leading concerns of the kind in the middle west, controlling a substantial trade throughout the territory normally tribu- tary to Indianapolis as a distributing center.

To Mr. Gates also belongs the credit of having been the organizer of the New Tele- phone Co. and the New Long Distance Tele- phone Company, in 1897, and it was mainly through his energy and aggressive manage- ment that the lines of these companies were installed and its plant established upon the highest modern standard. He became secre- tary of the companies and held this position until 1903, when he disposed of his holdings in the corporations. He is also president of the American Color Company, a successful concern engaged in the manufacturing of Easy Dyer; is director in the Columbia Na- tional Bank and other financial institutions. He gives his active support to all measures that tend to promote the progress and mate- rial and civic prosperity of his home city.

In politics Mr. Gates has ever accorded an unqualified allegiance to the Republican party, and he has taken a zealous interest in its cause. He was a delegate to the national convention of the party in 1900. Among the representative local organizations with which he is identified may be mentioned the Colum- bia, Commercial, Marion and Country Clubs, and the German House. He is also affiliated with Pentalpha Lodge No. 564, Free and Ac- cepted Masons, and Keystone Chapter No. 6, Royal Arch Masons.

On November 6, 1881, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Gates to Miss Carrie E. Pat- rick, daughter of the late E. W. Patrick, of

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HISTORY OF GREATER INDIANAPOLIS.

Evansville, Indiana, and she was summoned to the life eternal in 1901, being survived by one son, A. Bennett Gates, who married Miss Lena Hemmingway, daughter of Hon. James A. Hemmingway, United States Senator from Indiana. A. Bennett Gates is now associated with his father in the management of the Climax Coffee & Baking Powder Co.

GEORGE F. EDENHARTER, M. D. He whose name initiates this review has gained marked prestige and wide reputation through his able services as superintendent of the Central In- diana Hospital for the Insane, at Indianapolis. He has been most successful in the technical and administrative management of the noble institution over which he is placed in charge and has otherwise accomplished much for the care of the unfortunate wards of the state.

Dr. Edenharter claims as the place of his nativity, the old Buckeye state, as he was born in the city of Piqua, Miami County, Ohio, on the 13th of June, 1857. He is a son of John and Elizabeth (Roseberg) Eden- harter, both natives of Germany, the father having been born in Bavaria and the mother in Saxony. John Edenharter was reared and educated in his native land, where he learned the trade of cabinetmaker, which he there fol- lowed until about the year 1848, when he emigrated to the United States. He first took up his abode in the City of Cincinnati, Ohio, whence he later removed to Piqua, that state, and finally to Dayton, where he con- tinned to reside until about 1875, when he removed with his family to Indianapolis, where he maintained his home until death, in 1898, at the age of seventy-four years. His devoted wife was summoned to the life eter- nal in 1889, when about sixty-three years of age. They became the parents of three sons and two daughters, and of the two now liv- ing, Dr. George F. is the elder; Frank is a resident of Indianapolis and is a representa- tive member of its bar.

Dr. Edenharter gained his rudimentary education in the public schools of his native town, and he was about ten years of age at the time of the family removal to Dayton, Ohio, where he continued his studies in the public schools, making the best use of the advantages thus afforded him. In 1878 he came to Indianapolis, where his parents had taken up their residence about three years previously. Here he began to prepare him- self for the work in which he has gained so great distinction, finally being matriculated in the Medical College of Indiana, in this city, in which institution he was graduated as a member of the class of 1886 and from which he received his degree of Doctor of Medicine.

In 1904, in recognition of his ability and dis- tinguished services in the cause of humanity, and his efforts in behalf of higher medical education and research work, Wabash College conferred upon him the degree of Master of Arts.

Immediately after his graduation, Dr. Edenharter engaged in the practice of his profession in Indianapolis, and his novitiate was of brief duration, as he soon demonstrat- ed his powers and gained unqualified prestige as an able physician and surgeon and as one essentially devoted to its work. In the cap- ital city, he continued in active general prac- tice until recognition of his ability and high professional standing was accorded in a sig- nificant way, by his appointment, on the 7th of April, 1893, to the responsible office of Superintendent of the Central Indiana Hos- pital for the Insane, of which position he has since continued incumbent. His admirable administration has well justified the honor conferred and it is but consistent to say that no man in the history of the state has accom- plished a more humane and beneficent work in connection with the care and treatment of the insane,-the most pitiable of all govern- mental wards. The doctor was elected for a fifth term on the 26th of March, 1909. At the meeting of the Board of Trustees on the date mentioned, the following significant and ap- preciative resolution was adopted by that body :

"Resolved: That in the re-employment of Dr. George F. Edenharter as Superintendent of the Central Indiana Hospital for the In- sane, and at the beginning of his seventeenth year of continuous service as such, the Board of Trustees desire to and hereby do, spread upon the records of their meeting, held this day, their unqualified .approval and com- mendation of his administration. The wards of the state intrusted to this institution, re- ceive the most modern and progressive treat- ment known to hospital practice; in fact, the work being done here is so favorably received by the profession that many leading alienists of not only this country, but of other coun- tries, visit this hospital, and in written com- munications and otherwise, evidence their most hearty and enthusiastic approval of methods employed and results accomplished. These results are the outgrowth of the theo- ries and plans of Dr. George F. Edenharter put into practice, and in thus expressing our- selves, we are endeavoring to do but simple justice to him without over-laudation."

Commenting editorially on the above, The Indianapolis News of March 27, 1909, used the following language :

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HISTORY OF GREATER INDIANAPOLIS.

"Dr. George F. Edenharter has for five times been elected Superintendent of the Cen- tral Hospital for the Insane. He has served in that office for sixteen years. He is now, under the new law, elected for an indefinite period. This means as long as he prefers to hold the office. The people of all parties have recognized that in Dr. Edenharter the state has found a man of unusual executive abili- ties and devotion to the public service. Many suggestions have been made that his services be drawn on for larger duties. Possibly in the opinion of those who have the affairs of this hospital most at heart, there can be no greater service to the state than to see that the inmates have proper care and attention. At any rate, Dr. Edenharter has practically given his professional career to this work. The state owes inuch to such men as he. It knows that with such a man in charge, an institution will be administered with the highest degree of efficiency and success. To supervise such a hospital involves self-sacri- ficing labor and a lofty humanitarian spirit. Having found in Dr. Edenharter these quali- ties in eminent degree, it is fortunate that the state can command his services. The Board of Trustees did well yesterday in placing on its record a minute expressing ap- preciation of the spirit and methods that have made Dr. Edenharter's administration notable".

All who have been familiar with the work and services of Dr. Edenharter in his present office, as well as in the practice of his profes- sion in a private way, realize that he has been animated by the highest motives as a prac- tical humanitarian and that he has subordi- nated personal interests and self-advancement for the sake of serving humanity, in which connection his appreciation of the responsi- bilities and dignity of his profession has ever been of the most insistent order. For a period of two years, he was attending physi- cian and surgeon to the Marion County Asy- lum, and for one year held a similar posi- tion in connection with the County Work- house. He also served two years as Superin- tendent of the Indianapolis City Hospital, a position in which he gave distinctive evi- dence of his fine administrative ability and which he resigned to resume the office of which he is now encumbent, after having been re-appointed for a second term.

In a comparative or relative sense, the standing of the Central Indiana Hospital for the Insane is so high and its reputation so widely disseminated, that in this sketch there is eminent propriety in making somewhat specified mention of certain features of its

equipment and administration that have brought about its marked precedence among similar institutions, and also to note the part taken by the present superintendent in ren- dering its functions more comprehensive and efficacious. Apropos of these points are the following words of special commendation from an authoritative source :

"The work of the hospital has been greatly changed since the advent of Dr. Edenharter and has been advanced along much more scientific lines. The pathological laboratory and the new hospital for the sick insane have been constructed under his regime, and in their design, scope and appliances are re- ceiving the highest praise from many sources. Under his management, the institution has become essentially a teaching hospital, its facilities being extended alike to student and practitioner. One afternoon of each week, the students of the Indianapolis Medical Col- leges attend clinical lectures upon mental and nervous diseases and neuro-pathology, the vast number of patients in this institu- tion offering unexcelled clinical advantages. The pathological department was dedicated by the Marion County Medical Society De- cember 18, 1896, and in the address delivered by Prof. Ludwig Hektoen, M. D., of Chi- cago, were made the following appreciative statements :

" 'The present occasion marks a most sig- . nificant step in the advancement and im- provement of the humanitarian work in which institutions like the Central Indiana Hospital for Insane are engaged. The in- auguration, under the present auspicious cir- cumstances, of a fully equipped, substantial department of this hospital, built in accord- ance with the best modern views, reflects great credit upon the development of Amer- ican alienism, upon the intelligence of the Board of Control of this institution and of its Superintendent'."

In an address before the Marion County Medical Society, on the 5th day of December, 1899, Prof. C. B. Burr, M. D., of Flint, Mich- igan, spoke as follows :

"Indiana has done wisely in christening her institutions, 'state hospitals'. She has done wisely to emphasize the hospital idea by erecting in connection with the Central In- diana Hospital for Insane, this superb, and in many respects, unique, pathological labor- atory, which in the perfection of its design and equipment will ever remain a monument to the enthusiasm, sagacity and philanthropy of our esteemed confrere, generous host and worthy friend, Dr. George F. Edenharter".

Further words of earnest commendation

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were those uttered in an address delivered before the same society on the 5th of April, 1904, by Prof. F. W. Langdon, M. D., of Cin- einnati, who said:

"We shall see at a glance the importance of the laboratory for general pathology in institutions for the treatment of nervous and mental diseases. I congratulate you, members of the Indianapolis Medical Society, that you have in your midst a pioneer in this work in the West. How well it has been organized and how well it is fulfilling its mission it is not necessary for me to tell you. The Super- intendent of this hospital is building his monument from day to day and year to year, not alone in the material structures devoted to pathological - anatomy and the sick insane, but also by his devotion for the higher re- searches of neurologic and psychiatric medi- cine. These annual meetings of the leading medical society of Indiana under the roof of the most complete laboratory for psychiatric research of any hospital for the insane in our country are in themselves unique; they are also equally helpful and stimulating to the practitioner and the special students of nerv- ous and mental diseases".

Endorsements of like nature might be in- definitely multiplied were the essential limi- tations of this article not circumscribed, and it is but consonant that there be reproduced one more such mark of appreciation and one of somewhat more intimate order, since it was contained in a personal letter received by Dr. Edenharter from that distinguished physi- cian and educator, Dr. U. O. B. Wingate, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, after a visit to the in- stitution in the year 1900:

"I feel it my duty and it is a great pleas- ure, I assure you, to express my congratula- tions to you on the splendid arrangements you have provided by way of bacteriological, chemical and pathological laboratories at that institution, as well as many other improve- ments which you have been engaged in con- structing. I know of no other hospital for the insane in this country for which there has been supplied such grand facilities for studying the obscure and sad diseases that are found in all hospitals for the insane, and not since the time when Pinel and Esquirol worked their great reforms in the treatment of the insane, have there been greater steps taken for the benefit of this unfortunate class than you have taken in providing such com- plete scientific methods for studying and un- derstanding mental diseases. You have, my dear doctor, reared a monument to your repu- tation and name more lasting than bronze or

marble, and you merit not only the approba- tion of every intelligent citizen of Indiana but your work is entitled to the greatest praise by the medical profession throughout the country and the unfortunate insane and their friends should rise up and call you blessed, and I am sure they would if they could understand, as those of our profession do, what a great and lasting benefit will re- sult from your splendid efforts".

There is all of consistency in giving a high place of representation to Dr. Edenharter as one of the really great practical philanthro- pists of our country, and it is fortunate that the State of Indiana has been able to enlist his interposition in the management of the noble institution of which he is the executive head and to whose most effective development to the highest state of efficiency he has given the best of himself and his fine professional and administrative powers. His work has its practical value in another direction, since it is certain to prove cumulative in the curing and preventing of insanity and the various types of neurotic discases and thus cannot but save to the State of Indiana large ex- penditures in the future. He has not con- fined his attention to the one great hospital of which he is superintendent and which has an average enrollment of fully two thousand patients, but through personal initiative and influence he has accomplished a noteworthy work in the promotion of measures looking to affording still further and more enlightened provisions for the care of the unfortunate. He wielded much influence in the legislature of 1905 in connection with the proposition to create a new district for the insane popula- tion, to supplement the hospitals already es- tablished and to be known as the Southeast- ern Hospital. The suggestion for the found- ing of the new hospital was made by him; and he was also an uncompromising advocate for amending the bill providing for an epi- leptic village in such a way as to provide for the hopeful or curable cases rather than for the incurably insane epileptics assigned to the regular hospitals for the insane. Though his suggestions met with strong opposition from various sources, it is gratifying to record that all of them were adopted by the general as- sembly.

Dr. Edenharter is identified with repre- sentative professional organizations, includ- ing the Indianapolis Medical Society, the Marion County Medical Society, the Indiana State Medical Society, the American Medical Association, the American . Medico-Psycho- logical Association, and the New York Medico-

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Legal Society, of which last mentioned he is vice-president for Indiana.

In politics, the doctor is found aligned as a stanch supporter of the principles of the Democratic party, and he represented the Eighth ward in the Indianapolis City Coun- cil from 1883 to 1887, in which latter year he was made the nominee of his party for the office of Mayor. He received a flattering en- dorsement at the polls but was unable to over- come the very considerable and normal Re- publican majority and thus met with defeat. It is significant of his personal popularity that two years later he received the unani- mous vote of both the Republicans and Demo- crats in the City Council for the office of Superintendent of the City Hospital, an in- cumbency of which mention has already been made in this context.

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Greater Indianapolis : the history, the industries, the institutions, and the people of a city of homes, Part 68

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