Greater Indianapolis : the history, the industries, the institutions, and the people of a city of homes, Part 7

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 7

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The history of Indiana records the cam- paign of 1852 as one in which Mr. McCarty made a most gallant and resourceful effort to maintain the prestige of the cause in which he was enlisted, and though he was defeated by Governor Wright, who, as has been said, "was an educated man, one of the best 'stump- ers' in the United States, and a man whose long familiarity with public life had made him a master of campaign tactics and a ready speaker who could command attention wherever he went". It is pleasing. to record that Mr.

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McCarty and Governor Wright maintained the most amicable relations throughout the spirited campaign in which they were enlisted as antagonists. They often journeyed from place to place in company and a mutual feeling of confidence and respect caused them invari -. ably to be courteous in personal intercourse and in partisan polemics. Apropos of their campaign the following pertinent statements are worthy of further perpetuation: "On the stump there was a great difference between them. The governor was a good talker and a good reasoner; Mr. McCarty was also a good talker but not so cogent in argument. He dealt in repartee and anecdotes and was par- ticularly happy in the application of the lat- ter. But the year 1852 was a bad one for Whig candidates, and Mr. McCarty was de- feated by the Democratic nominee". Having resigned his seat in the state Senate when he accepted the gubernatorial candidacy, he re- tired from public life after this memorable campaign and never again became a candidate for political office, though he continued to maintain a lively interest in all that touched the welfare of the state and nation.

Drawing still farther from the admirable sketch of the life of Mr. McCarty to which recourse has already been had, the following record is well entitled to a place in this pub- lication :

"Practical and great-souled, the interests of the community were his, and while he was am- bitions to acquire influence and independence he was wise, broad and humane enough to de- sire the success of all good people. By force of early circumstances he had but little oppor- tunity for learning, but he made the best use of what he acquired. He had a ready and comprehensive vocabulary and a simplicity of statement characteristic of great men in the various business and professional walks of life. Realizing his own deficiencies as a scholar, he did what he could in private life and public station to secure to others what he had been denied himself. When Mr. McCarty was nom- inated for governor, so well was his reputation for frankness established that the Indianapolis Sentinel had this to say of him: 'Like Henry Clay, everybody who knows Nicholas McCarty knows his politics-the same yesterday, today and forever'."

A few years afterwards, while a candidate for the Senate, he was asked in the course of the campaign, in two places outside the city. if he favored taxing the schools. In his speech in the Senate he said that he had lacked op- portunity for education when he was a boy and would never allow children to be deprived of the advantages he had missed, by favoring

a tax levied on schools. He had had but six months' schooling as a boy, so that all his splendid foresight and knowledge were gained by his own effort and through contact, and his career as a statesman showed how well he suc- ceeded in his personal education. - Though a hard political worker he was never known to seek office, every office which he held having sought him. In the Senate he was chairman of the committee on appropriations.

Mr. McCarty had the deepest reverence for the spiritual verities of the Christian faith, and he loved his fellow-men, in his intercourse with whom he was ever kindly, sympathetic and tolerant, though a natural hater of all meanness and deception. His life was one of signal purity and honor, and no citizen of Indianapolis or of the state has ever held or more fully merited the high esteem of the people and the affectionate regard of those who came within the sphere of his influence. His generosity was such as might have been expected of so noble a character, and he was ever ready to extend his aid and co-operation in the promotion of benevolent and charitable objects, in which connection it should be noted that he was one of those most prominently concerned in the establishing of the Indiana Orphans' Home. He "remembered those who were forgotten", and his private charities and tangible aid to those in affliction or distress were known only to himself and the recipients.

At the time of his death a meeting of the citizens of Indianapolis appointed a committee to draft appropriate resolutions, and from the same the following appreciative statements are taken:

"Resolved, That in the departure of our fellow-citizen. Nicholas McCarty, Esq., we realize the loss of one who since the early days of the city has deservedly ranked as a most worthy, generous and valuable man, and who by his affectionate heart, clearness of mind and strict integrity of purpose has warmly en- deared himself to all who knew him. In the important public trusts committed to him-as commissioner of the canal fund, effecting the first loan of the state, as senator of this county and in other engagements-he manifested re- markable judiciousness and ability. It was with reluctance he was drawn into the pursuit of official station, and with decided preference he enjoyed the happiness of an attached circle of family and friends. His hand and heart were ever at command for the need of the afflicted, and his counsel and sympathies were extended where they could be useful, with unaffected simplicity and modesty".

When the shadowy veil was lifted and the mortal put on immortality in the death of

Attordyke

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HISTORY OF GREATER INDIANAPOLIS.

Nicholas McCarty, on the 17th of May, 1854, there came to those most deeply bereaved a measure of consolation and reconciliation in having thus touched so noble, tender and true a life-a life unconsciously consecrated to all that is best and most ennobling in the scheme of human existence. In conclusion of this memoir is given brief record concerning the domestic life and relations of its honored sub- ject.

On the 27th of July, 1828, in Boone County, Kentucky, was solemnized the marriage of Nicholas McCarty to Miss Margaret Hawkins, daughter of Rev. Jameson Hawkins, one of the earliest clergymen of the Baptist Church in that section and several times a member of the legislature of Kentucky. Mr. and Mrs. McCarty became the parents of four children -Susanna, Margaret R., Nicholas, Jr., and Frances J. Mrs. McCarty, a woman of gentle and gracious character, survived her honored husband by nearly twenty years, having been summoned to eternal rest on the 18th of Feb- ruary, 1873. Concerning the children the fol- lowing data are entered:

Susanna McCarrty became the wife of Rev. Henry Day, for many years pastor of the First Baptist Church of Indianapolis, and she died August 30, 1873. Mr. Day died August 1, 1897, and they are survived by two chil- dren-Henry McCarty Day and Margaret Mc- Carty Day, of Indianapolis.

Margaret R. McCarty now maintains her home in Indianapolis, although a great portion of her time is spent in Los Angeles, where she has property. She married John C. S. Harrison, grandson of General William Henry Harrison and for many years engaged in the banking business in Indianapolis. Mr. Harrison died in Los Angeles, California, April 6, 1904, and he is survived by two of his four children-Nicholas McCarty Harri- son, of Indianapolis, and Cleves Harrison, of Los Angeles, California.

Nicholas McCarty, Jr., and his sister, Miss Frances J. McCarty, the youngest of the chil- dren, still maintain their home in Indianapolis, where all of the children were born and reared and where the family has ever maintained a high social position, well maintaining the honors of the name.

ADDISON H. NORDYKE. The throbbing pul- sations of the manufacturing industries of In- dianapolis are felt in all sections of the civil- ized world and the products of her magnificent institutions have carried her fame far and wide. In insuring this prominence and dis- tinctive prestige few concerns have contributed more conspicuously and worthily than that of the Nordyke & Marmon Company, whose en-

terprise is conceded to be one of the most im- portant of the kind in the middle west. The history of this company, of which Addison H. Nordyke was president and of which he was the virtual founder, is one of significance and interest, involving, as it does, the building up of a splendid industry from a nucleus of mod- est order, and bearing evidence of the well di- rected energies of men of courage, progressive ideas and marked administrative ability. The business has been established in Indiana's cap- ital city for more than thirty years and has rep- resented one of the forces that have brought about the magnificent industrial and commer- cial advancement of Indianapolis. Mr. Nor- dyke has long been known as one of the rep- resentative business men and influential citi- zens of Indianapolis, and none holds a more in- violable place in popular confidence and esteem. Though his service with the great concern with which he is identified is now largely one of ad- visory order, as he has relegated the practical details to the supervision of others, he is still alert in connection with the business life of the Indiana metropolis and continues to exemplify the fact that in his entire career there has been no element of futility or indirection of pur- pose. The Nordyke & Marmon Company for many years gave production to milling machin- ery alone, but it now manufactures also the Marmon automobiles, which have gained an established place among those conceded to be of the highest type.

It is pleasing to record that Addison Haynes Nordyke is able to claim Indiana as the place of his nativity, and he has never lacked in ap- preciation of the fine old Hoosier common- wealth. He was born in Richmond, Wayne County, Indiana, which was then a small vil- lage, on the 5th of May, 1838, and is a son of Ellis and Catherine (Haynes) Nordyke, both of whom were born in the State of Ohio. They became the parents of five children, of whom two are still living.

The lineage of the Nordyke family is traced back to stanch Holland Dutch origin, and the family was one of prominence in the Nether- lands, whence came the original progenitors of the American line. So far as authentic data indicate, the founders of the family in the new world were two brothers. These two brothers are descendants of Peter the Great by marriage. In Holland it was customary to refer to people as the South Dykes or the North Dykes, according to the part of the country in which they resided. By these appellations' they were known to each other except in the case of relatives or intimate friends. It was an easy matter in the Dutch tongue to drop the "th" in north and south and those of the north

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HISTORY OF GREATER INDIANAPOLIS.

became known as Nordykes and those of the south as Soudykes. One of the Nordykes, a widow, married Peter the Great. A son was born to them, who for some reason retained the name Nordyke. This son married and two of his sons emigrated from Holland and were the founders of the Nordyke family in America. One of these sons, Stephen Henry Nordyke, in company with three sons settled in Philadel- phia in the colonial epoch of our national his- tory. From Pennsylvania representatives of the family eventually penetrated into the wilds of the far west, as Indiana and other of the central states were then considered, being on the frontier of civilization, and with this and other states the family name has been worthily identified, in the promotion of material de- velopment and civic progress. The parents of Addison H. of this review passed the closing years of their lives in Richmond, where the father died at the age of sixty-seven years and the mother at the age of eighty-four. The father was a devoted member of the Friends church and the mother of the Methodist. In his political proclivities the father was a Whig and later a Republican. He was a man of sterling integrity of character and strong men- tality, making his life count for good in all its relations. He long followed the trade of mill- wright and through his earnest and well di- rected efforts gained a fair measure of temporal success.

Addison H. Nordyke was reared to maturity in his native town of Richmond, and there re- ceived the advantages of the common schools- a discipline which he has since most effectively supplemented by personal reading and study and by long and intimate association with men and affairs. While a youth he began a practical apprenticeship at the trade of mill- wright, under the direction of his honored father, with whom he also learned most ef- fectively the milling business as conducted at that period. For some time he was asso- ciated with his father in the operation of a grist mill at Chenoa, Illinois, and in connec- tion with the erection of this mill he gained his initial experience in the building and equipping of mills,-a line of enterprise in which he was destined ultimately to attain great success and precedence. For a number of years he was associated with his father in the erection of mills throughout Indiana and neighboring states, and the business thus os- tablished was virtually the nucleus around which has been built up the large and im- portant industrial enterprise now conducted by the Nordyke & Marmon Company. The orig- inal business was conducted under the firm name of E. & A. H. Nordyke, and the head-

quarters of the same were in Richmond, In- diana, where the original manufactory was es- tablished. In 1866 Daniel W. Marmon pur- chased an interest in the business, whereupon the firm name of Nordyke & Marmon was adopted. The firm built up a large and sub- stantial business in the erection and equipping of mills, and the splendid development of the enterprise eventually rendered it expedient to incorporate the same under the laws of the state, which action was taken in 1871. In 1876, to facilitate the business still further, the same was removed from Richmond to In- dianapolis, where were afforded superior trans- portation and commercial advantages, under the influence of which the industry rapidly assumed greater and greater precedence, until it has become one of the most important of its kind in the country. At the time of the removal to Indianapolis the present corporate title of the Nordyke & Marmon Company was adopted, and the operations of the concern are based on a capital stock of one hundred thousand dollars. The plant of the company is located at the corner of Morris street and Kentucky avenue, where large and substantial buildings are utilized. The grounds occupy thirteen acres, mostly covered with buildings equipped with the highest type of mechanical appliances required in the production of mill- ing machinery. The institution has gained a high reputation for the superiority of its products, and many of the best mills in the middle west and elsewhere have been equipped by this concern. Mr. Nordyke was president of the company from the time of its incor- poration until 1902, and Mr. Marmon con- tinued to be identified with the business un- til his death. Since 1909 the company has given much attention to the manufacturing of the "Marmon" automobiles, and the same have met with the favorable reception which their merits justify. Since his retirement from the presidency of the Nordyke & Marmon Com- pany Mr. Nordyke has devoted his attention largely to the handling of high-grade securi- ties, in which line of operations he maintains his offices in the Union Trust building.' His life has been one of signal honor and integ- rity of purpose, and his ability and powers were most fruitful in the upbuilding of the fine industry which perpetuates his name. He has stood exponent of loval and public-spirited citizenship. and is today one of the honored and well known citizens of Indianapolis. His political support is given to the Republican party, he is identified with various fraternal and civie organizations, and he and his wife hold membership in the Tabernacle church, of

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which Mr. Nordyke has been a trustee twelve years.

On the 24th of May, 1866; was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Nordyke to Miss Jennie E. Price, born in Baltimore, Maryland, but, reared in Richmond, Indiana, being a daugh- ter of Charles T. Price, who was a represen- tative business man of Richmond. Mrs. Nor- dyke was summoned to the life eternal on the 19th of July, 1881, and is survived by two sons,-Charles E., who was born March 28, 1867, and Walter A. who was born December 30, 1869. The sons are now actively identi- fied with their father in his present business. On the 12th of October, 1882, Mr. Nordyke was united in marriage to Miss Caroline M. Williams, daughter of Caleb Williams, of Niles, Michigan, in which place she was born and reared. Three sons have been born of this union and their names, with respective dates of birth, are here noted: Addison H., November 17, 1883; Horace W., September 21, 1886, and Robert S., September 2, 1892. Addison H. died in Indianapolis September 29, 1905. Horace W. was graduated in An- napolis Naval Academy in June, 1909. Rob- ert S. is a student in Shortridge.

HON. CALEB S. DENNY. The fact that Hon. Caleb S. Denny, of Indianapolis, has served for three times as mayor on the Law and Or- der platform is an index of one of the strong- est personal traits of character. Throughout his entire and long career as an active lawyer and public man, he has been one of the most stalwart advocates of law and order in the city and state. He is a native of Indiana, born in Monroe County, May 13, 1850, a son of James H. and Harriet R. (Littrell) Denny. There were eleven children in the family, of whom Caleb S. was the youngest. The original American ancestors were Virginians, some of whom participated in the Revolutionary War and nearly all of whom, strange to say, were opposed to slavery. James H. Denny, the father, was so opposed to slavery that he de- cided to make his home across the Ohio in Indiana. He first located in what is now Monroe County, and finally settled in Warrick County. The father of Caleb S. was born near Harrodsburg, Kentucky, where the grand- father was engaged in the general survey serv- icc and in 1850 James H., father of Caleb S. Denny, came to Indiana and located in Mon- roe County and with the family, three years later settled on a farm near Booneville, in Warwick County. Here his death occurred in 1861, just after the outbreak of the Civil War. One of his sons had already enlisted with the Union army, and most of the others followed him in the ranks in 1863, leaving

only Caleb S. at home to care for his widowed mother and the farm. In 1864, the farm was rented and the mother and her son located in Booneville, there awaiting the outcome of the war. At that time no school was in session, and Caleb was therefore apprenticed to the tinner's trade. His education at that time be- ing limited to a few winter terms of a few weeks each, his instruction being confined to simply reading, writing and arithmetic. After spending one year at his trade, he secured his mother's consent and entered the school which had then been organized at Boonville, in order to prepare for college. Finally in the fall of 1866, he entered the freshman class at As- bury, now DePauw, University, at Greencastle, Indiana, but after a course of two years was again taken out of school on account of a lack of funds. By no means discouraged, the young man immediaately commenced to teach school with the object of earning sufficient money to enable him to return to college; but while teaching he was tendered the position of assistant state librarian, which he accepted in 1870. This necessitated his removal to In- dianapolis, which city has since been his place of residence.

While teaching school, Mr. Denny began the study of law under Judge John B. Handy of Boonville, continuing his professional stud- ies while acting as assistant librarian. In 1871 he entered the law office of Judge Solomon Blair, later studied with Test, Coburn and Burns, and in 1872 was admitted to practice in the county courts, and in the following year he became qualified to appear in the Su- preme and Federal courts. In the last named year he was also appointed assistant attorney- general of Indiana, and after serving as such for two years entered the general practice of law, forming a partnership with Judge James C. Denny, then attorney-general, which rela- tion continued for a period of two years. He then formed a partnership with Judge David V. Burns, which continued for a period of three years. In the fall of 1881, Mr. Denny was elected city attorney of Indianapolis, be- ing re-elected in 1884 and served only one year of his second term. The cause of his resignation was his election as mayor of In- dianapolis, the duties of which he assumed January 1, 1886. The issues of the campaign centered in the fight of the "Law and Order" party against the so-called "liberal policy", which Mr. Deniny asserted was one of license rather than of liberality. . The fight was bitter, but the Republicans triumphed decisively. After serving one year Mr. Denny was recom- inated by his party, and again elected, and retired from office with the confidence and

Vol. II-3

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admiration of the public at large. Mr. Denny then resumed private practice of his profes- sion, but in 1893 was prevailed upon to again become his party's candidate for mayor. He had been succeeded in that office by Hon. Thomas L. Sullivan, an able Democrat who had been twice elected by increased majorities, but Mr. Denny assumed the mayoralty for the third time by a majority of nearly thirty-two hundred, to the unfeigned surprise of both ties until July, 1893, when he located at In- dianapolis. Since becoming a practitioner in that city he has developed marked ability as a trial lawyer. While at Spencer he served for twelve years as attorney for the Indian- apolis and Vincennes Railroad, and for six years during the same period as attorney for the Louisville, New Albany and Chicago Rail- road. He is the senior member of the firm of Pickens, Cox and Kahn, whose general parties, all of which points to the fact of his. practice covers a broad field. His activities in the social and economic fields made him a leader in the fine work of the Indiana Tariff Reform League, which was organized in 1889. Mr. Pickens was not only a conspicuous con- tributor to the literature of the organization, but has taken a leading part in the practical reform of the state ballot law and the promo- tion of other radical legislation.

substantial popularity. Since completing his third term in the mayor's chair, he has con- tinued to practice law with credit and success. Since returning to active practice Mr. Denny has also served three times as county attor- ney. In 1908 he was presidential elector for the Seventh Congressional district. He is an active and strong figure in the fraternities of a, secret and confidential nature, especially prominent in the work of the Knights of Pythias in connection with the order he bore an influential part in the movement which led to the erection of the Knights of Pythias building in Indianapolis. He is also well known for his identification with the I. O. O. F. In his religions affiliations he is a Presbyte- rian.

July 15, 1874. Mr. Denny was married to Miss Carrie Wright Lowe, a daughter of George and Mary (Wright) Lowe, who were residents of Indianapolis, the father being a pioneer carriage manufacturer. To MIr. and Mrs. Denny, three children were born. as fol- lows: Mary, the wife of Joseph P. Elliott. Jr., of Riverside. California, has two sons and one daughter; Caroline, wife of Horace F. Nixon of Woodbury. New Jersey. a practicing lawyer in Camden, has three daughters : George L., in partnership with his father, is married and lives at 4169 North Pennsylvania avenue. his wife being Elizabeth Coleman Hollings- worth. of Baltimore, Maryland, whom he mar- ried in 1904. He has one son and two daugh- ters.

WILLIAM A. PICKENS. A leader in the practice of law at the Indianapolis bar. Will- iam A. Pickens has also represented an un- usually active force in the social and economic reforms of the city. He is a Hoosier of the pure type, born in Owen County. July 22. 1858, and brought up in the usual simple. hearty way on a prosperous Indiana farm. His higher education was conducted at the Indiana State University and at the Law School of the Columbian University at Washington, District of Columbia.

Mr. Pickens was admitted to the Indiana har at. Spencer, in June, 1881. and was en- gaged in practice in Owen and adjoining coun-

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Greater Indianapolis : the history, the industries, the institutions, and the people of a city of homes, Part 7

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