Greater Indianapolis : the history, the industries, the institutions, and the people of a city of homes, Part 91

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 91

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WILLIAM H. JUNE

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HISTORY OF GREATER INDIANAPOLIS.

John H. June, the second son, was for seven years traveling passenger agent for the Union Pacific railway system, and left the same to take up the work of manager, while Homer H. June during the years that the business has been carried on in Indianapolis has always been connected with the same. William H. - June died at Indianapolis on the 23d of March, 1901. He was always of a very cheerful dis- position and popular with and charitable in all his actions and deeds. His wife, Elizabeth Greenfield Fitchey, who was born at or near Belfast, Ireland. died in Indianapolis in 1898.

JAMES T. LAYMAN. Indianapolis has made definite and substantial progress along indus- trial and commercial lines within the past quarter of a century, and its precedence in a relative way is a source of gratification to those who have aided in conserving this re- sult. Among the number a place of promi- nence and honor must be accorded to James T. Layman, who has long held a secure place as one of the alert and essentially progres- sive and representative business men of the capital city, who has served in offices of high public trust, who has ever been an exemplar of loyal and enlightened citizenship, and who has so ordered his course as to retain the in- violable respect and confidence of the com- munity which has represented his home and been the scene of his productive endeavors for more than two-score of years. Further and emphatic interest attaches to his career as one of the leading business men of Greater Indianapolis from the fact that he is a na-, tive son of Indiana, a scion of one of its sterling pioneer families, as well as on the score that he gallantly went forth from his native commonwealth as a valiant soldier of the Union in the Civil War. In connection with the wholesale hardware trade he has been conspicuously concerned with the up- building of one of the most extensive enter- prises of this order in the state and through this medium has contributed materially to the commercial prestige of the city, the while he has shown a deep and abiding interest in all that has tended to conserve the civic prog- ress of the Indiana capital.

James Townsend Layman was born on the paternal farmstead, in Warren Township, Putnam County, Indiana, on the 4th of Sep- tember, 1844, and is a son of Dr. Daniel W. and Mary H. D. (Townsend) Layman. His father was an able and successful physician and surgeon and followed the work of his profession, with all of zeal and self-abnega- tion, for more than sixty years, besides which he gave a general supervision to his farming interests. He is a scion of an old and honored

family of Virginia, in which state he was born on the 24th of September, 1808. He received excellent educational advantages in both academic and professional lines, and in 1831, shortly after his graduation in Jeffer- son Medical College, Philadelphia, Pennsyl-' vania, he came to Indiana and took up his residence in Putnamville, Putnam County, where he continued to maintain his home un- til the close of his long and useful life. He died in Putnamville in 1887,. at the age of seventy-nine years. He was a man of high intellectuality and of exalted character, and he was an influential factor in the public af- fairs of Putnam County and the congression- al district. His father, John Philip Layman, who had been a miller in the beautiful She- nandoah Valley of Virginia, came 'to Indiana in the late '30s and settled in Putnam Coun- ty, where he passed. the residue of his life, having been eighty-three years of age at the time of his demise. He was a son of Anthony Layman, who was born in 1753, near York, Pennsylvania, of German ancestry, and the original orthography of the name was Leh- man. Anthony Layman is the first of the family in America concerning whom authen- tic record can now be found. He was a loyal soldier in the Continental line in the War of the Revolution, in which he served as a mem- ber of Captain Peter Decker's company, of Reading, Pennsylvania, in the Fifth Penn- sylvania Battalion, commanded by Colonel Robert Magaw, of Carlisle.

Mrs. Mary H. D. (Townsend) Layman, mother of him whose name initiates this re- view, was of stanch English lineage and was born in Kentucky, in 1812. She died in 1879, at the age of sixty-seven -years. Her father, James Townsend, was a native of Maryland, where he was reared and educated and where he became a man of prominence and influ- ence, as did he later in Kentucky, to which state he removed with his family and a num- ber of slaves about the year 1808. He lo- cated in Union County, that state, where he founded and laid out the town of Morgan- field, which was made the judicial center or county seat of that county. He continued his residence in Kentucky, until 1829, when he decided to remove to Indiana and to grant freedom to his slaves, but the greater number of them showed their affection and loyalty by accompanying him to the new home. He set- tled in Putnam County, where he laid out the town of Putnamville, and he became one of the most influential citizens of that sec- tion of the state. While a resident of Ken- tucky he had served in both branches of its legislature and after coming to Indiana he

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HISTORY OF GREATER INDIANAPOLIS.

represented Putnam County in the legisla- ture, in 1837-8. He finally removed to Clay County, where he died in 1851, at the age of sixty-five years. His daughter Margaret Elizabeth became the wife of William Eagles- field, who became a resident of Indianapolis in the early pioneer days and to whom a memoir is dedicated on other pages of this work.

Dr. Daniel W. and Mary H. D. (Town- send) . Layman became the parents of six children, concerning whom the following brief record is entered: John died in in- fancy; Catherine married Robert S. Dorsey and both died in Indianapolis; Mary E. be- came the wife of James G. Kingsbury, and they were residents of Danville, Illinois, at the time of her death; Theodore D. died in Indianapolis when forty years of age; James T. is the immediate subject of this sketch; and Columbia I. is the wife of William J. Kercheval, now deceased. Though actively engaged in the practice of his profession, Dr. Daniel W. Layman resided upon and super- vised the operation of his fine farm, lying contiguous to the village of Putnamville, and on this fine old homestead his children were born and reared.

James Townsend Layman, to whom this re- view is dedicated, was reared to the sturdy and invigorating discipline of the farm and thus learned those lessons of self-reliance, courage and ambitions which are ever granted to those who "in the love of nature hold communion with her visible forms". His preliminary education was secured in the primitive subscription schools of the locality and period, and he well recalls the old log school-house, with its puncheon floors, slab benches and yawning fireplace. After com- pleting the curriculum of the common schools Mr. Layman continued his studies for one year in the old Asbury University, now known as DePauw University, at Greencastle, Indiana. Radical, indeed, was the change that came in the affairs of the young student soon after he left this institution, for his pa- triotism was quickened to responsive protest when the integrity of the Union was placed in jeopardy through armed rebellion, and in July, 1862, he became captain of Company K, Fifty-fifth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, having been the prime mover in the recruit- ing of his company, with which he served three months in Kentucky, after which he as- sisted in raising Company C,' One Hundred and Fifteenth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, in June, 1863. In this command he served as first lieutenant of his company until March, 1864. His regiment was with General

Burnsides' army in eastern Tennessee and southwestern Virginia during the fall and winter of 1863-4. He participated in the Knoxville campaign, living up to the full ten- sion of the strenuous service and enduring his full quota of hardships, including picket duty on the memorably cold New Year's night of 1864. His term of enlistment expired and he received his honorable discharge on the 25th of February, 1864. For some time thereafter he found it necessary to give his attention principally to recruiting his physi- cal energies, which had been greatly pros- trated by his arduous service in the army. Mr. Layman has ever continued to show a deep interest in his old comrades and has been active and prominent in the affairs of the Grand Army of the Republic, in which his affiliation is with George H. Thomas Post, No. 17, of Indianapolis. He is also a valued member of the Indiana Commandery of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States.

Mr. Layman's business career in Indianap- olis had its inception on the 13th of Febru- ary, 1865, when he entered into partnership with his brother-in-law, Robert S. Dorsey, and engaged in the wholesale and retail hard- ware trade, with headquarters at 64 East Washington street. The enterprise was con- ducted under the title of Dorsey & Layman until the retirement of Mr. Dorsey, in 1870, after which Simeon B. Carey became an in- terested principal and the name was changed to the Layman & Carey Co., which title was retained until 1903, since which time it has been the Layman-Carey Company. The con- cern is incorporated under the laws of the state and controls a substantial and exten- sive trade throughout the large territory nor- mally tributary to Indianapolis as a dis- tributing center. The upbuilding of the splendid enterprise has been in large measure due to the able and discriminating efforts of Mr. Layman, and the concern is now one of the oldest and best known business houses of the Indiana capital. The business has been confined exclusively to the wholesale trade for the past thirty-eight years, at and near the present location, at 111-115 South Merid- ian street.

Broad-minded, liberal and progressive as a citizen and business man, Mr. Layman has naturally taken a loyal interest in public af- fairs of a local order, and he has ever been aligned as a stalwart in the-camp of the Re- publican party. He served as a valued mem- ber of the city council from 1877 to 1884, and from 1881 to 1884 was president of the board of aldermen. He has never' abated

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HISTORY OF GREATER INDIANAPOLIS.

his interest in municipal affairs and no mem- ber of the council or board of aldermen ever showed a higher sense of stewardship and civic loyalty than did he. In 1900 Mr. Lay- man received still more distinguished token of popular confidence and esteem, since in November of that year he was elected to rep- resent his district in the state Senate, in which body he served with marked ability for one term, of four years, proving a valuable working member both on the floor of the Sen- ate and in the committee room. He intro- duced a number of important bills and ably championed the same. Chief among these was that which was enacted as the Indiana game law of 1901 and which was amended, largely through his influence, in 1903. Of his senatorial career the following apprecia- tive words have been written: "Senator Lay- man's record in the Senate indicates fidelity to the public interest and places him among the ablest legislators whom Marion County has chosen to represent its people in the leg- islature."

Mr. Layman has been deeply appreciative of the high civic ideals of the Indianapolis Board of Trade and the Commercial Club, and is an active member of each of these organizations, as is he also of the Columbia Club. He is affiliated with Oriental Lodge, No. 500, Free & Accepted Masons, in which he has passed the various official chairs; and his other affiliations are with the Ancient Ac- cepted Scottish Rite of Masonry, where he has attained to the thirty-second degree, and thus holds membership in Indiana Sovereign Consistory, Sublime Princes of the Royal Secret. Both Mr. Layman and his wife are zealous members of the First Presbyterian Church of Indianapolis, and their attractive home is a center of quiet but generous hos- pitality.

On the 23rd of January, 1867, was solem- nized the marriage of Mr. Layman to Miss Cora Belle Parks, who was born at the old family homestead, Mont Umbra, on the Lick- ing River, near Carlisle, Nicholas County, Kentucky, and who is a daughter of Thomp- son S. and Elizabeth (Ingram Dorsey) Parks, who were representatives of old and honored families of the Bluegrass state where they continued to maintain their home until their death.

In conclusion of this article is entered a brief record concerning the children of Mr. and Mrs.' Layman: Elizabeth Dorsey, de- ceased, was the wife of Professor Henry S. Schell, a member of the faculty of Manual Training High School; James Thompson Layman is vice-president of the Layman- Vol. II-29

Carey Company, of which his father is pres- ident; Daniel Wunderlich Layman, M. D., who is a representative physician and surgeon of Indianapolis, is a graduate of Butler Col- lege and of the College of Physicians & Sur- geons in New York City, the medical depart- ment of Columbia University; Theodore Dwight Layman is secretary and treasurer of the Layman-Carey Company; Mary Mar- guerite is the wife of John W. Carroll, M. D., of Lynchburg, Virginia; John Townsend Layman died in infancy .; Katherine Kitchen is the wife of Harvey Elam, attorney of In- dianapolis and son of John B. Elam; and Miss Cora Belle remains at the parental home.

HENRY FRANK. The great empire of Ger- many has contributed to the complex social fabric of our American republic, and the City of Indianapolis has been signally fa- vored in having gained from this source a large quota of stanch and loyal citizens who have contributed materially to the civic and industrial advancement of the city. A prom- inent representative of this sterling class was the late Henry Frank, who was long promi- nently identified with local business' interests and who stood exemplar of the most progres- sive and loyal citizenship. He ever com- manded the highest degree of confidence and esteem in the community, and in his death, on the 20th of May, 1902, Indianapolis suf- fered a loss of one of its representative and honored .business men.

Henry Frank was born in Offenbach, Hesse Darmstadt, Prussia, on the 1st of April, 1827, and in his native place he secured his early educational discipline. In 1838 he came with his parents to America, and the family set- tled in Cincinnati, Ohio, where he was reared to manhood and where he was able to ef- fectually supplement his earlier educational training. In that city he learned the trade of cabinet making, to which he there devoted his attention until 1855, when he came to In- dianapolis and engaged in the manufactur- ing and selling of furniture. With this line of enterprise he continued to be identified during the residue of his long and useful life and developed the business into one of large scope and importance, both in the manufac- turing, wholesale and retail departments. The furniture manufactory thus founded by Mr. Frank was developed into one of the largest of its kind in the state, and eventually the factory and the land upon which it was lo- cated were sold to the Big Four Railroad Company for a consideration of one hundred thousand dollars.

In politics Mr. Frank gave an unwavering

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HISTORY OF GREATER INDIANAPOLIS.

allegiance to the Republican party, and he was ever alert in the support of all measures and enterprises that tended to advance the general welfare of his home city, though he was never a seeker of public office. Both he and his wife were members of the German Lutheran Church, and he was affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Improved Order of Red Men, and the leading civic organizations and German societies of Indianapolis. He was a man of indefatigable industry, of great business acumen, and gained definite success through his well di- rected endeavors. His genial personality gained to him a wide circle of friends and his home was the hallowed place in which his in- terests centered and in which his character showed its most attractive elements.

On the 15th of May, 1857, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Frank and Miss Johanna Sichting, who was likewise a native of Prus- sia, whence she came to America as a girl, in company with her relatives, William and Amelia Hellfacht. Her paternal grandfa- ther was court physician to King Frederick of Prussia for fifteen years and her maternal grandfather was one of the early settlers of Morgan County, Indiana. Mrs. Frank sur- vives her husband and still retains her home in the attractive family residence that is en- deared to her by the associations of the past. Of. the children of Mr. and Mrs. Frank, six are now living: William Robert. Minnie, who is the wife of Ferdinand Christman, of In- dianapolis; Emma, the wife of Hugo Hug: Clara, who married Horace Downing; and Ida, the wife of Edwin R. Gross.

GEORGE S. WILSON. The able and popular superintendent of the Indiana State School for the Blind, at Indianapolis, has been in- cumbent of this responsible office since the 5th of January, 1898. and has given a most discriminating administration of the affairs of the important and worthy institution. His devotion to the school has been of the most insistent order and he has accomplished a noteworthy work in promoting the efficiency of its various departments and in the making of the best possible provision for the instruc- tion and care of its student-wards.

George Spencer Wilson finds a due mede of satisfaction in reverting to the fine old Hoosier commonwealth as the place of his na- tivity, as he was born in the beautiful little City of Greenfield, Hancock County, Indi- ana, on the 10th of September, 1858. He is a son of John and Martha (Melton) Wilson, the former a scion of stanch Scotch-Irish stock and the latter a representative of an old and honored family of Virginia. The father

was born near Londonderry, Ireland, on the 11th of April, 1811, and was educated in his- toric old Oxford University, with the inten- tion of becoming a member of the clergy of the Established Church of England, but his vocal organs became disordered and on this account he found it imperative to abandon his plans for entering the Anglican priest- hood. He came to America in 1843 and in 1850 took up his residence in Greenfield, In- diana, where he was long engaged in teaching and farming. He passed the closing years of his life in Greenfield, where he died on the 8th of April, 1896. His wife, who was a native of Kentucky, died in 1895. Both be- came zealous and devoted members of the Presbyterian Church, and they were long numbered among the well known and highly honored citizens of Hancock County. They became the parents of six children, of whom one son and two daughters are now living. The father was a citizen of prominence and influence in his comunity and ever held the unqualified esteem of all who knew him.

George S. Wilson gained his early educa- tional discipline in the excellent public schools of his native city, and after complet- ing the curriculum of the high school he was matriculated in the University of Indiana. at Bloomington, where he pursued an elective course, taking up special studies and remain- ing a student of the university for a period of five terms.

Mr, Wilson early determined to adopt the pedagogic profession, and in this field, than which none is more important or offers more exacting responsibilities, he initiated his suc- cessful labors as a teacher in the district schools. His record of excellent achievement gained to him advancement in his profession, and in 1881 he became principal of the pub- lic schools of Cleveland, Hancock County, this state, which incumbency he retained for one year, at the expiration of which he as- sumed the principalship of the public schools of Charlottesville, Hancock County, where he remained two years. For the ensuing year he held a similar position at Fortville, Indiana, and he then had the distinction of setting at naught all application of the scriptural aphorism that "A prophet is not without honor save in his own country", for he be- came principal of the high school of Green- field, his native city, where he made a splen- did record for effective work as an educator and where his popularity was of . the most unequivocal order. He held this position for six years, and for the following seven years he held the position of superintendent of the public schools of Greenfield, in which connec-

Gomes taking

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HISTORY OF GREATER INDIANAPOLIS.

tion he not only heightened his reputation as an educator, but also proved his fine admin- istrative abilities.

On the 5th of January, 1898, Mr. Wilson was appointed to his present important office of superintendent of the Indiana State School for the Blind, and the best evidence of his able and faithful service is that of- fered in the high standard of the work ac- complished in the institution and the dis- tinctive advancement made in the same dur- ing his administration, which has extended over a period of more than a decade. He has gained the high commendation of the state official who has general direction of the affairs of the school and also the most unqualified popular approval.

Though never active in the domain of prac- tical politics Mr. Wilson gives allegiance to the cause of the Republican party, and both he and his wife hold membership in the Pres- byterian Church. He is a member of that representative organization, the Columbia Club, of Indianapolis, and in the time-hon- ored Masonic fraternity, of which he is deep- ly appreciative, he has attained to the thirty- second degree in the Ancient Accepted Scot- tish Rite, besides being affiliated with the ad- junct organization, the Ancient Arabic Or- der of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. He also holds membership in the Knights of Pythias.

On the 1st of February, 1894, was solem- nized the marriage of Mr. Wilson to Miss Daisy D. Steele, who was born at Greenfield, and who is a daughter of Hans and Eliza A. (nee Milleard) Steele. Mr. and Mrs. Wil- son have four children-Miriam, Ione, George S., Jr., and Helen Louise.

HON. CONRAD BAKER, who died at his home in Indianapolis April 28, 1885, had the dis- tinction of being a close associate of the heroic Oliver P. Morton, the war governor of In- diana. Conrad Baker enlisted as colonel of the First Indiana Cavalry, Twenty-eighth In- diana Volunteers, and was mustered as such. He was noted for his ability in law and his stainless manhood. and turned the last page of his life record as a devoted husband and father and modest Christian. This true gentleman, who so honored himself, his state and his coun- try, was born in Franklin County, Pennsyl- vania, on the 12th of February, 1817, and oh- tained his higher literary education at the Pennsylvania College, Gettysburg. He after- ward studied law in the office of Stevens and Smyser of that place, the senior member of which firm was Thaddeus Stevens, the noted Whig and Republican and the prime mover in Congress in the impeachment of President An-

drew Johnson. Mr. Baker was admitted to the bar in the spring of 1839 and spent the first two years of his practice at Gettysburg. Moving westward in 1841, he settled at Evans- ville, Indiana. There he resided for more than a quarter of a century, earning high honors at the bar, on the bench, on the field of battle and in civic life, being finally called to Indian- apolis to assume the governorship of Indiana resigned by Oliver P. Morton, who had been elected to the senate of the United States.

At that time Governor Baker's public career had been progressing for twenty-two years, hav- ing had its beginning in 1845, when he was elccted to represent Vanderburg County in the general assembly. He served one term in the lower house; in 1852 became judge of the court of common pleas having jurisdiction over Van- derburg and Warrick Counties; resigned from the bench after a service of eighteen months, and in 1856, without solicitation or even knowledge, was nominated by the Republicans for the lieutenant governorship with Oliver P. Morton as head of the ticket. In that cam- paign the Democrats were successful. In 1861 Mr. Baker was commissioned colonel of the First Cavalry, Twenty-eighth Regiment of In- diana Volunteers, and served as such for three vears. He commanded either his own regi- ment or a brigade on the battle fields of Mis- souri, Arkansas and Mississippi, and then, un- der orders from the secretary of war, reported at the provost marshal's office at Indianapolis. He was at once detailed to the important task of organizing the bureau in his state, perform- ing the duties of provost marshal general, super- intendent of volunteer recruiting and chief mustering officer until August, 1864, when, at the expiration of his military term, he was relieved from further service at his own re- quest. A few weeks afterward, with his regi- ment, he was mustered honorably from the service. In 1864 the Republican state con- vention again nominated him lieutenant gov- ernor, although he had not been a candidate even indirectly, the head of the ticket being a second time his old political associate and. friend, Mr. Morton. The Republican's scored a decisive victory. In 1865 it became evident that Governor Morton's health was being un- dermined by the stress of the excitement and burdens of the war, and, after calling a special session of the general assembly he left for an European trip. During his absence of five months Mr. Baker ably performed the duties of the chief executive, and in February, 1867, upon the election of Governor Morton to the United States Senate, became tlie head of the state administration in fact. This, as stated, was the occasion of Governor Baker's perma-

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Greater Indianapolis : the history, the industries, the institutions, and the people of a city of homes, Part 91

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