Greater Indianapolis : the history, the industries, the institutions, and the people of a city of homes, Part 71

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 71

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ALFRED M. GLOSSBRENNER. In reviewing the record of the life and achievements of Alfred M. Glossbrenner, the vice-president and manager of the Levey Brothers and Com- pany, Indianapolis, and a former legislator, it is found that the course he has followed has gained him respect and admiration, for

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it was in comparative obscurity that he start- ed out on life's journey for himself. Domi- nated by a progressive and enterprising spirit, energy and industry stood him instead of capital and crowned his efforts. with pros- perity.

Mr. Glossbrenner has spent his life in the State of Indiana. He was born in its town of Jeffersonville August 15, 1869, and with the exception of six years he spent in its public schools he is entirely self-educated. Moving with his parents and their family to Indianapolis in January of 1882, he here found employment as a newsboy, later as a cash boy in a large store, and while begin- ning this upward climb on life's ladder he lost no opportunity to gain knowledge, his evenings being devoted to the study of book- keeping and accounting and other branches of learning which were denied him at school. After a year's residence in this city he se- cured a somewhat humble position in an of- fice, and while thus employed spent five nights of the week in the study of commercial law and other branches intended to fit him for a business life. On attaining the age of eighteen he secured the position of bookkeep- cr and general office man with the printing house of Levey Brothers and Company, a corporation which had moved from Madison to Indianapolis and embarked in the printing business here on a small scale. Young Gloss- brenner at once made himself valuable to the concern by directing his entire energy to the improvement of its business, and his advanee- ment with the house was steady and even until he finally became the secretary and treasurer of the company and lastly and at present its vice-president and manager. Dur- ing these years the business of the corpora- tion has grown to splendid proportions, com- mensurate with the life and standing of its official head.

Throughout nearly his entire identification with Indianapolis Mr. Glossbrenner has ex- hibited an interest in political activity, and his influence in the councils of the Repub- lican party have been far-reaching and effect- ive. In 1898 the legislative nomination was' tendered him without his seeking it, and ac- cepting the honor, although at a sacrifice to his business interests, he conducted a good campaign and was elected to the Sixty-first General Assembly. During this session he was known as an active, careful and influential member, honored for his steadfastness of pur- pose and rigid adherence to his convictions, and his influence was felt in the promotion of many good measures. To him belongs the dis- tinction of being the first to suggest the name

of Albert J. Beveridge as an available can- didate for United States Senator, and he as- sisted materially in organizing and directing the campaign which terminated in the election" of this senator on April 28, 1906. Mr. Gloss- brenner was appointed by Mayor Charles A. Bookwalter a member of the City Sinking Fund Commission in October, 1908, and by re- appointment is the present incumbent of that office. He is a Scottish Rite Mason, a Noble of the Mystic Shrine, a Knight Templar, an Odd Fellow, a Knight of Pythias, and a mem- ber of the Commercial Club, a member and was the treasurer of the Marion Club four years, having held this office longer than that of any other of its members, and is a member of the Columbia and other Republican clubs and the Governing Committee of the Board of Trade. Few men are leaving an example more worthy of emulation than he, and he enjoys a place in the business, political and social life of Indianapolis accorded to but few.

Mr. Glossbrenner married Miss Minnie M. Stroup, of Waldron, Indiana, November 14, 1894, and they have three sons, Daniel Inde- pendence Glossbrenner, born July 4, 1896; Alfred Stroup, June 6, 1901, and George Levey, September 15, 1904.

EDWARD J. ROBISON was born in Bedford, Cuyahoga County, Ohio, on the 18th of Sep- tember, 1855, and is a member of one of the representative families of the historic old Western Reserve. He is a son of Decker David Robison, who was born in the State of New York, and of Harriet (Young) Robison, who was born in the Province of Ontario, Canada, whither her parents removed from New York State. The genealogy of the Robi- son family is traced in the direct agnatic line to stanch Scotch ancestors, with an intermin- gling of English and German strains in later generations. The Young family is of English lineage. The parents of the subject of this review were married in Bedford, Ohio, and his father became one of the prominent and influential business men of that place; there he maintained his home until his death, at the early age of thirty-eight years, his wife sur- viving him by about seven years. He con- ducted a prosperous business as a buyer, packer and exporter of beef, with which line of enterprise he was identified at the time of his death. Of the two sons and three daugh- ters born to these parents, all of whom are now living, he whose name initiates this arti- cle is the second child and the second son.

Edward J. Robison was eight years of age at the time of his father's death, and when he had attained to the age of fifteen years his

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devoted mother likewise was summoned to the life eternal. He grew to maturity in his native town and duly availed himself of the advantages of the public schools. He was matriculated at historic old Hiram College, at Hiram, Portage County, Ohio, in 1873 and from this college he was graduated in 1880, with the degree of Bachelor of Philosophy, having the distinction of being valedictorian of his class. It will be recalled that Hiram College, which was originally known as the Eclectic Institute, conducted under the aus- pices of the Christian, or Disciples', Church, was a school from which the martyred presi- dent, General James A. Garfield, was grad- uated and of which he later became the presi- dent. He and the father of the subject of this review were intimate friends and main- tained this relationship until the death of the latter.

When hut sixteen years of age Edward J. Robison entered the pedagogic profession, to which he devoted his attention for several years, teaching in the schools of his native state at intervals and thus securing the funds to defray the expenses of his collegiate course. After graduation he took up his resi- dence in the City of Cleveland, where he de- voted his attention to the study of law for the ensuing two years. During his college vaca- tions he had previously traveled as a sales- man for Van Antwerp, Bragg & Company, of Cincinnati, publishers of school books, and this concern finally made to him so flattering a proposition to re-enter their employ that he abandoned the reading of law and, in 1883, came to Indiana as representative of this publishing house. In 1886 he removed to In- dianapolis, and continued in the employ of Van Antwerp, Bragg & Company until 1890, when he severed his connection with this company to devote his attention to his pri- vate interests. He was one of the organizers of the Fidelity Building & Savings Union, of Indianapolis, of which he was secretary for seven years, handling its affairs with marked discrimination and ability and contributing materially to the upbuilding of a flourishing business. In 1898 he resigned his position with this corporation and engaged in general contracting, with which line of enterprise he has since been more or less actively identified.

In 1895 Mr. Robison was elected treasurer of the State Board of Agriculture, of which he was a member for several years. In 1897 he was elected a member of the Board of School Commissioners of the City of Indian- apolis, in which capacity he served until 1900. Mr. Robison has been a most zealous worker in the ranks of the Republican party, and in

1906 he was made the nominee of the party for the office of treasurer of Marion County. In the ensuing election he received a gratify- ing majority at the polls, and assumed the duties of the office on the 1st of January, 1908, having been elected for the regular term of two years. In 1908 he was nominated as his own successor, but he met defeat with the rest of the Republican county ticket in the regular election in the fall of that year. In the time-honored fraternity of Free Masonry Mr. Robison has attained to the Thirty-sec- ond degree of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite, being therein identified with the con- sistory of the Valley of Indianapolis. In the New York Rite circle his maximum affiliation is with Warsaw Commandery, No. 10, Knights Templar, at Warsaw, Indiana. He is also identified with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and with the Knights of Pythias. He is a member of the Columbia Club, the Mar- ion Club, the Commercial Club, the Board of Trade and the Indianapolis Maennerchor.

On the 19th of October, 1892, was solem- nized the marriage of Mr. Robison to Miss Helen Pettibone, of Cleveland, Ohio, and they have two sons, Bruce P. and Burke.

Mr. Robison and his wife are members of the Central Christian Church of Indianapolis, in which he is a deacon.

WILLIAM K. BELLIS stands as a worthy ex- ample of that element of aggressive and ver- satile business men who have contributed so much to the civic and material advancement of Indiana's capital city within the last two decades. He has here maintained his home since 1877, has been identified with the pro- motion of business enterprises of marked im- portance, commands high esteem in his home city and is here classified among the thorough- ly representative citizens.

William K. Bellis was born in the City of Richmond, Wayne County, Indiana, on the 5th of August, 1854, and is a son of Samuel and Mary K. Bellis, the former of whom was horn in Yorkshire, England, and the latter in Richmond, Indiana. Samuel Bellis was reared and educated in his native land, whence he came to America when a young man. He came to Indiana more than half a century ago and through his ability and well directed ef- forts gained prominence in the life insurance business, in connection with which he was finally advanced to the position of general manager of one of the leading life insurance companies with headquarters in Cincinnati. Ohio. He continued to be actively identified with this important line of enterprise through- out the major portion of his active business

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career. Both he and his wife are now deceased. Of their two children, the subject of this sketch is the younger and the elder, Winifred, is the widow of the late Horace Hotchkiss.

William K. Bellis was afforded the advan- tages of the public schools of Richmond, In- diana, after which he was matriculated in Earlham College, a stanch educational insti- tution of his native city, in which he was grad, uated as a member of the class of 1874 and from which he received the degree of Bachelor of Arts. Soon afterward he initiated his busi- ness career by assuming a position as solicitor for the art department of the great publishing house of D. Appleton & Company, with which concern he continued to be identified for a period of three years, within which he traveled extensively and gained valuable experience in connection with men and affairs. He has been especially strong and versatile in connection with the promotion of important business en- terprises and on the 5th of August, 1884, his thirtieth birthday, he effected the organization of the Railroad Officials' and Employes' Acci- dent Association and the Reserve Loan Life Insurance Company, both of which have head- quarters in Indianapolis. He became secretary and treasurer of each of these corporations and the able administration of their affairs devolved much upon him. He proved equal to all the exacting responsibilities thus imposed and to him was in large measure due the upbuilding of the substantial business of the corporations. The Railroad Officials' and Employes' Accident Association, now the Continental Casualty Company of Chicago, covers more than one hundred and twenty-five different railroad sys- tems and has issued more than 200,000 policies the while it gives employment to more than three hundred persons. Besides being secre- tary and treasurer of the Reserve Loan Life Insurance Company. Mr. Bellis is also presi- dent of the Martinsville Sanitarium Company. which owns and controls what is familiarly known as the Martinsville Sanitarium. a most popular health and pleasure resort, located at Martinsville, Indiana. He has directed the affairs of this company with so much of discrim- ination and ability as to have brought the Springs resort into prominence as one of the most effective and popular of the kind in the Union. As a citizen, he is essentially progres- sive and public spirited and he takes a lively in- terest in all that touches the welfare of the city in which he maintains his home. Though never a seeker of political office, he is a stanch supporter of the principle and policies for which the Republican party stands sponsor and he is a valued member of a number of frater-

nal and civic organizations, including the Col- umbia Club. He and his wife hold membership in the Friends Church and their attractive home on North Meridian Street is the recog- nized center of gracious hospitality.

On the 22nd of February, 1877, Mr. Bellis was united in marriage to Miss Emma A. Brooks, who was born and reared in . Wayne County, this state, and who is a daughter of the late John Brooks, a substantial capitalist and banker of Washington, that county. Mr. and Mrs. John Brooks had three children born to them. Jesse W. Brooks, born in Wayne County, is now located at Martinsville, Indiana, as man- ager of the Martinsville Sanitarium; Emma Brooks Bellis, wife of William K. Bellis; Flora Brooks Worl, deceased wife of Martin Worl, a retired farmer, now residing in New Castle. Wilbur B. Worl, only child of Martin and Flora B. Worl, also resides in New Castle.

JOSEPH T. ELLIOTT. Far from uneventful has been the life history of Joseph T. Elliott, an honored citizen and representative busi- ness man of Indianapolis, in which city he has maintained his home for nearly sixty years. He served with marked gallantry as a soldier of the Union in the Civil War, and the same loyalty and patriotism have charac- terized his course in the "piping times of peace," in which connection may well be re- called the statement of Sumner, that "Peace hath her victories no less renowned than war." Mr. Elliott has been an influential factor in business affairs of importance in the capital city and his influence has ever been on the side of progress and civic righteous- ness. He is now head of the firm of Joseph T. Elliott & Sons. investment brokers and dealers in high-grade stocks and bonds, was for many years engaged in the abstract busi- ness in this city and for several years was president of the Marion Trust Company.

Joseph Taylor Elliott was born in Butler County, Ohio, on the 24th of January, 1837, and is a son of William J. and Mary (Tay- lor) Elliott. both of whom were likewise na- tives of Ohio and members of sterling pioneer families of the old Buckeye commonwealth. The Elliott family of which the subject of this review is a worthy scion was early found- ed in America and is one that has given to the work of the world men of force. ability and rectitude, as one generation has followed another on to the stage of life. The original American progenitor was of Scotch-Irish blood and became one of the early settlers in Pennsylvania. A number of representatives of the family were found enrolled as patriot soldiers in the War of the Revolution, and the annals of early history bear record of the

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worthy lives and worthy deeds of many scions of this sturdy stock.

William J. Elliott was born in Butler County, Ohio, on the 27th of August, 1810, and he passed the closing years of his long and useful life in Indianapolis, where he died in 1890, at the venerable age of four-score years. Mrs. Mary (Taylor) Elliott, born in Preble County, Ohio, died in Butler County, Ohio, in 1849. William J. Elliott was a son of James Elliott, who immigrated from Penn- sylvania to Ohio in 1799, becoming one of the first settlers of Butler County, where he passed the residue of his life. In 1844 Will- iam J. Elliott was elected sheriff of Butler County, Ohio, and he remained incumbent of this office for two terms. In 1849, soon after the death of his wife, he removed to the City of Cincinnati, but in the following year he came with his family to Indianapolis, where he was engaged in the hotel business until 1863, having within this interval conducted two or more of the leading hotels of the city and having gained distinctive popularity in his chosen field of endeavor. In 1857, like many other business men, he met with finan- cial reverses, through which he lost the major part of his property. He was a war Demo- crat during the climacteric period leading up to the Rebellion, but he transferred his alle- giance to the Republican party and sup- ported Lincoln for the presidency at the time of the latter's second nomination. In 1863, as candidate on the Republican ticket, Mr. Elliott was elected recorder of Marion Coun- ty, and he remained incumbent of this office for eight years, having been re-elected at the expiration of his first term. He was a man of strong individuality and superior intel- lectual powers, taking a deep interest in the questions and issues of the hour and having been a close friend of Governor Morton dur- ing the Civil War, as well as after the retire- ment of that honored executive from the gubernatorial chair. After retiring from the office of county recorder he was identified with various lines of business enterprise for a number of years, and at the time of demise he was one of the venerable and hon- ored pioneer citizens of Indianapolis, where he ever held a secure place in popular confi- dence and esteem.

Joseph Taylor Elliott was about thirteen years of age at the time of the family removal to Indianapolis, where he was reared to ma- turity and where his educational advantages were those afforded in the common schools. His early business experience was that gained as clerk in his father's hotel, and in 1859 he became imbued with a spirit of adventure,

which found exemplification in his joining a company which made its way across the plains to Pike's Peak, Colorado, where the re- cent discovery of gold had become a lure to argonauts from the east. His success in the quest of the precious metal was of negative quality, and the year 1860 found him in- stalled as clerk in a hotel in Montgomery, Alabama. This was the year of Lincoln's campaign for the presidency and as the dark cloud of civil war had begun to obscure the national horizon Mr. Elliott's anti-slavery opinions caused him to become persona non grata in the south. He accordingly returned to Indianapolis, and in response to President Lincoln's first call for volunteers he tendered his services in defense of the Union. On the 19th of April, 1861, he enlisted as a private in Company A, Eleventh Indiana Zouaves, commanded by Col. Lew Wallace, Robert S. Foster being captain of Company A. Mr. Elliott received his honorable discharge on the 4th of August, 1861, at the expiration of his three months' term of enlistment. On the 5th of January, 1864, he again entered the service, enlisting as a member of Com- pany C (Capt. David D. Negley), One Hun- dred and Twenty-fourth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, of which John H. Ohr became col- onel on the resignation of Col. James Burgess. With this gallant command Mr. Elliott was destined to see much active and hazardous service, and his record was marked by many thrilling experiences and by signal fidelity to duty. He participated in the Atlanta cam- paign and was with Sherman's army until the fall of Atlanta and Jonesboro. On the 1st of September, 1864, he was commissioned second lieutenant of his company, and his regiment was a part of Ruger's Brigade, Cox's Division of the Twenty-third Army Corps, said corps having been in command of General Schofield. When General Hood's army advanced upon Nashville, Tennessee, Mr. Elliott and the other members of his company were captured by the enemy, on the 30th of November, 1864, near Spring Hill,- this occurring on the afternoon of. the last battle of Franklin. He and his comrades were incarcerated in the Confederate fortress at Columbia, Tennessee, until after the battle of Nashville, after which they fell back with the Confederate forces to Corinth, Missis- sippi, thence to Meridian, that state, from which place they were taken to Montgomery, Alabama. From this city they were taken to the historic prison pen at Andersonville, Georgia, where it was the misfortune of Mr. Elliott to be held in duress until the latter part of March, 1865, when he was released on

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parole, with a number of other prisoners. They were provided with transportation by rail through Montgomery and Selma, Ala- bama, to Meridian, Mississippi, from which point they were transferred on foot to the parole camp at Vicksburg, that state. While there waiting for exchange they received the news of the assassination of President Lin- coln, and several days later Mr. EHiott was one of about nineteen hundred prisoners who were placed on the ill-fated steamboat "Sul- tana", with Columbus, Ohio, as theír destina- tion. On the morning of the 27th of April, 1865, eleven miles above Memphis, Tennessee, one of the boilers of the overladen transport vessel exploded and the boat burned to the water's edge, entailing the loss of at least fifteen hundred lives, including passengers and prisoners of war. Mr. Elliott was one of the few that escaped, and it is needless to say that the disaster is one that will ever remain fresh in his memory. His description of the catastrophe is most vivid, and his own escape was almost miraculous. He was asleep on the floor of the cabin deck at the time of the ex- ploaion and with many others threw himself overboard into the icy water. After assisting ,others in their efforts to secure precarious refuge on floating wreckage, he himself, clad only in his underclothing, swam along the side of a portion of the floating stairs of the wrecked steamer. On this he and three com- panions floated down the river, and two of the men finally transferred themselves to a large tree that floated near their apologetic raft. He never learned whether or not they escaped with their lives. His one companion finally could hold on no longer and sank to a watery grave. Mr. Elliott drifted from one swift current to another for a distance of about fourteen miles, and finally, when about three miles south of Memphis, he was rescued unconscious by a boat sent out from a gun- boat. He was more nearly dead than alive when carried to the deck of the gunboat, where he was wrapped in a blanket and laid in front of the boilers near the furnace fire. He later resigned his blanket to another un- fortunate who was rescued in a similar way. Left with nothing in the clothing line, Mr. Elliott was provided with a suit of red flan- nel, by some Sisters of Mercy, and with a pair of trousers and a jacket by one of the officers of the gunboat. He landed at Memphis, and while walking barefooted and bareheaded through the streets of that city a merchant provided him with a hat, and a little later the attendants at the Gayoso Hospital showed their sympathy and kindness by 'securing for

him shoes and stockings, and he has ever been mindful of their kindness.

Upon arriving in Indianapolis, en route to Columbus, Ohio, he was permitted to remain in the former city, through the kindly inter- vention of Governor Morton, but the war closed and peace was declared before his ex- change was effected. On the 31st of August, 1865, he was mustered out of the service, re- ceiving his honorable discharge.

In 1866 Mr. Elliott engaged in the abstract business in Indianapolis, and with this im- portant line of enterprise he continued to be actively identified until 1900, when he sold the business, which he had developed into the best and most successful in the city. Since 1904 he has been the senior member of the firm of Joseph T. Elliott & Sons, which con- ducts a large and substantial business in the handling of stocks and bonds and other high- grade securities. Mr. Elliott has been promi- nent in the business activities of Indianapolis for many years, and his record is one marked by worthy accomplishment and by that ster- ling integrity of purpose that ever begets ob- jective confidence and esteem. He waa elected president of the Marion Trust Company in 1899, and retained this incumbency until 1904, since which time his business interests have been primarily represented in the opera- tions of the firm of Joseph T. Elliott & Sons. In politica Mr. Elliott is arrayed as a stalwart supporter of the principles and policies for which the Republican party stands sponsor, and though he has never been a seeker of of- fice he has ahown a lively interest in all that has tended to conserve the progress and pros- perity of his home city. On the 1st of Jan- uary, 1906, he was appointed a member of the board of publie works of Indianapolis, for a term of four years, and served as presi- dent of that body, giving careful and dis- criminating attention to the administration of this important department of the munici- pal government. He is a valued and appre- ciative member of George H. Thomas Post No. 17, Grand Army of the Republic, and a member of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States, besides which he is identified with various civic organizations of representative order, and both he and his wife hold membership in the Meridian Street Methodist Episcopal Church.

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Greater Indianapolis : the history, the industries, the institutions, and the people of a city of homes, Part 71

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