Greater Indianapolis : the history, the industries, the institutions, and the people of a city of homes, Part 94

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 94

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Frederic Mason Loomis was born in the City of Providence, Rhode Island, on the 3rd of October, 1860, and is a son of George Brace Loomis and Harriet Amelia (Case) Loomis, both of whom were natives of Ben- nington, New York, where the former was born in 1833 and the latter in 1831. Their marriage was solemnized in their native city, and of their three children, the first, George B., died in infancy; Frederic M. was the next in order of birth; and Mary Esther, who became the wife of Henry C. Rogers, died at Indianapolis, in 1900. The devoted mother was summoned to the life eternal in 1881, and Mr. Loomis later contracted a sec- ond marriage, being united to Miss Sallie Burns, of Indianapolis, who still resides in Indianapolis. Two children were born of the second marriage-Grace B., who is now liv- ing in Indianapolis, and George D., who died in infancy.

George Brace Loomis long occupied a prom- inent position in the musical circles of In- dianapolis, where he was a successful and popular teacher of the "divine art". He had been afforded the advantages of an ex- cellent academy in his native town and later studied music in New York City, under the direction of the distinguished Lowell Mason. He became a specially able musician and was a teacher of vocal music he attained high reputation. After the completion of his stud- ies in the national metropolis he removed to Providence, Rhode Island, where he was a teacher of music for several years. He then removed with his family to Wooster, Ohio, where he continued his efforts in the same vocation until 1866, when he came to In- dianapolis, where he assumed supervision of the teaching of music in the public schools, having been recommended in flattering terms by his former instructor and valued friend, Lowell Mason, of New York City. He con- tinued at the Load of the music department of the public schools of Indianapolis for the

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long period of eighteen years, being en- thusiastic and indefatigable in his efforts and doing more to promote the development of musical taste and talent in the city than has any other one man. This statement is made without reservation and on ample authority. He was a man of gracions personality and is held in grateful memory by all who came within the sphere of his influence. He was a versatile and talented musician, being forti- fied in technical lines and also in the history of the art from the earliest period. He was a composer of no little ability and was edi- tor of a number of musical text-books, in the preparation of which he was materially assisted by his first wife, who was a woman of signal culture and one of much musical ability. Mr. Loomis was closely identified with all musical interests in Indianapolis and was a member of all the leading musical or- ganizations in the city, including the Choral Union and the Harmonic Society, of which latter. he was musical director. He was the first president of the Indiana Music Teachers' Association, and he served for a number of vears as chorister of the First Baptist Church, of which he was a zealous member. His voice was a fine lyric tenor. and he was much in requisition in connection with the representative social activities in which music played a part. He was a loyal and appre- ciative citizen, honored by all who knew him, and his political support was given to the cause of the Republican party. He retired from the office of director of music in the public schools in 1882, and thereafter he gave his attention to private musical work until his death, which occurred in this city in 1887.

Frederic Mason Loomis, the immediate sub- ject of this review, was afforded the advan- tages of the public schools of Indianapolis and was graduated in the Shortridge high school as a member of the class of 1879. In this connection it is interesting to note that his only daughter, Louise L., was graduated in the same school as a member of the class of 1909. ' After leaving school Mr. Loomis served an apprenticeship of four years at the machinist's trade, in the shops of the firm of Chandler & Taylor, and thereafter he was employed in a clerical capacity for four years in the saw manufactory of E. C. Atkins & Company. At the expiration of the period last noted Mr. Loomis became incumbent of the position of bookkeeper in the local of- fices of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company and in 1883 he became bookkeeper in the Fletcher Rank. now known as the Fletcher National Bank, with which institution he was

identified in this capacity for twelve years, at the expiration of which, in 1895, he be- came bill clerk in the offices of the Indian- apolis Gas Company, later being given charge of the company's books and finally, on the 1st of April, 1907, being promoted to his present responsible office of chief clerk. This prefer- ment was a fitting recognition of his able and faithful service in the interests of the com- pany, and he is known as one of the reliable and straightforward business men of the capi- tal city.

Mr. Loomis received from his father excel- lent instruction in music and is a talented vocalist, possessed of a basso voice of excel- lent range and timbre. He has, for varying intervals, been a member of the choirs of virtually all of the leading churches of In- dianapolis and has otherwise been a promi- nent and valued figure in local musical cir- cles. Besides the instruction received from his father he also had the advantage of study of vocal music under Ora Pearson and Alex- ander Ernstinoff, of Indianapolis. He was a member of the Indianapolis Choral . Union, the Harmonic and Lyra Societies, and at pres- ent is identified with the Masonic Male Quar- tet, in which last mentioned he is first bass.

In politics Mr. Loomis is aligned as a stal- wart in the ranks of the Republican party, his religious faith is that of the Baptist Church, of which he is a member, and in the Ma- sonic fraternity he has attained to the thirty- second degree in the Ancient Accepted Scot- tish Rite, being affiliated with Indiana Sov- ereign Consistory. His ancient-craft affilia- tion is with Ancient Landmarks Lodge No. 319, Free & Accepted Masons, besides which he holds membership in Murat Temple, An- cient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine.

On the 20th of March, 1888, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Loomis to Miss Louise Weegmann, who was born and reared in In- dianapolis and who is the only surviving child of Carl Herman Weegmann and Lizette (Rau) Weegmann, both of whom were born in Germany and both of whom passed the closing years of their lives in Indianapolis, where the father died at the age of sixty- three years and the mother, also a talented musician, at the age of forty years. Mr. Weegmann was a successful teacher of music and also a composer of musical scores for the piano and pipe organ, and for many years he was prominent in the musical work of various churches in Indianapolis. He was one of the organizers of the Indianapolis Maen- nerchor and was a valued figure in connec- tion with musical affairs in the city. Mr. and

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Mrs. Loomis have two children,-Louise L., who was graduated in the Shortridge high school in the class of 1909, as already noted, and George Brace, who is now a student in No. 10 public school.

THOMAS A. DAILY is a prominent lawyer at the bar of Indianapolis, a former legislator of ability and a party worker. He was born in Mount Hope, Kansas, September 9, 1876, a son of William A. and Mariah E. (Craig) Daily, and a grandson on the paternal side of Samuel O. Daily, a native son of Brookville, Indiana. The latter moved to Decatur Coun- ty, Indiana, and afterwards to Missouri just before the outbreak of trouble between the north and south, and was a "Douglas" Dem- ocrat. His son, William A. Daily, was born in Greensburg, Indiana, in 1845, and during many years was a prominent banker at Mount Hope, Kansas. During the Civil War he saw active service with the Fifty-third Regiment, Missouri Volunteers, in Missouri. After the close of this conflict he entered the employ of the Santa Fe Railroad Company as land agent in Kansas, later became identified with banking, real estate and farming, and has lived retired since 1893, his home since 1899 having been in Indianapolis. He is a mem- ber of the G. A. R. Post, of Mystic Tie Lodge, No. 398, A. F. & A. M., and of the Republi- can party. Mrs. Daily was born in Roches- ter, Missouri, and died in the year of 1884, the mother of seven children, of whom five are now living.

Thomas A. Daily after an excellent train- ing in the public schools of Mount Hope and in Christian Brothers College at St. Joseph, Missouri, graduated from the Indiana Law School at Indianapolis with its class of 1899. While attending law school he was also in the offices of Judge Daniel Wait Howe and Oliver H. Carson, and following his graduation he began practice as a member of the firm of Hanna and Daily. His partner, Charles T. Hanna, was appointed judge of the Superior Court April 1, 1907, and served until the 11th of November, 1908. Upon retiring from the bench Judge Hanna and Mr. Daily again be- came associated under the old firm name of Hanna & Daily, which partnership- still con- tinues.

Mr. Daily is a stanch Republican and served in the regular and special sessions of the Sixty-fifth General Assembly, where he enjoyed the confidence of both speaker and members, and his committee assignments were among the most important, including a. member of the committee on railroads and of the committee on corporations, serving as chairman of the latter. He is now a mem-

ber of the State Board of Pardons, appointed by Governor Hanly, and he is a member of the Marion and Commercial Clubs, of the Knights of Pythias and the Odd Fellows lodges, and of the Central Christian Church.

Mr. Daily married on November 22, 1905, Mary Bernice Swengel, the daughter of Wil- son S. Swengel, a former prominent attorney of Columbus, Indiana. He practiced before the bar of that city for forty years and more, winning in the meantime a high place for himself in his profession. He was a mem- ber of the Masonic fraternity, and affiliated with the Democratic party. His wife, be- fore marriage Sarah E. Hutchings, was born near Greencastle, Indiana, her husband hav- ing been born in Circleville, Ohio, and both are now deceased. Mrs. Daily was their only child, and her birthplace was the city of Co- lumbus. Two sons have graced the marriage union of Mr. and Mrs. Daily, Wilson S. and John H.

WILLIAM A. HOLT, the manager of the well known Dennison Hotel in Indianapolis, was born in the City of New York October 28, 1866, a son of Alexander S. and Marie E. (Page) Holt. Alexander S. Holt, who also had his.nativity in the City of New York, was an accountant. He enlisted during the period of the Civil War in the Fifth New York Heavy Artillery, and was five times wounded in the limbs at the battle of Fredericksburg, Virginia, this causing his honorable discharge from the army. He came to Indianapolis in 1868, shortly after the close of the war, and he died on the 14th of June, 1882, when sixty- five years of age, a member of St. Paul's Epis- copal Church. Mrs. Holt was a native daugh- ter of England, and died on the 17th of March, 1907, and their only daughter, Grace, died when but two years of age.

William A. Holt, the elder of the two chil- dren, came with his parents to Indianapolis in 1868, and after a training in the city schools started out in life as a newsboy, later becom- ing a messenger boy with the Western Union Telegraph Company, and still later a telegraph operator, continuing at the latter for three years. Accepting then a menial position at the old Bates House, he rose to the office of bell boy on May 6, 1882, was later made store keeper and clerk, and continued at the Bates House for eighteen years, or until engaging with Thomas Taggart as manager of the Grand Hotel in 1900. On the 1st day of May, 1905, he purchased the house of Mr. Taggart, but in August of 1908, owing to business reverses, discontinued its management and took over the management of the Dennison Hotel on the 1st . of September, 1908. He is a member of An-

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cient Landmarks Lodge No. 319, F. & A. M .; Keystone Chapter No. 6, R. A. M .; Raper Com- mandery No. 1, K. T .; Indiana Consistory, S. P. R. S., and Murat Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S. He is also identified with the fraternal order of Elks, Lodge No. 13, and with the Democratic party.

Mr. Holt married Isabella Appelby October 28, 1886. She was born in Troy, New York, October 17, 1867, a daughter of Robert F. and Sarah (Rea) Appelby. Robert F. Appelby came to Indianapolis in the early '70s, and after fifteen years or more in the furniture business he moved from here to Chicago, Illi- nois, and engaged in the same business. ' The four children of Mr. and Mrs. Appelby are Robert, William, Rosa and Isabella. Two children have graced the marriage union of Mr. and Mrs. Holt, Grace Etta and Helen Irene.

HARRY NEWTON HEMPSTEAD has become an acquisition to the business circles of the In- diana capital within the first decade of the twentieth century and now holds a secure place in popular confidence and esteem and as one of the loyal, progressive and public-spir- ited citizens of the Greater Indianapolis. He is treasurer and manager of the When Cloth- ing Company, one of the most important re- tail concerns in this line of enterprise to be found in the state, and he is known as an able administrative officer and as a business man of fine equipment.

Mr. Hempstead claims the old Keystone state of the Union as the place of his nativity, having been born in the City of Philadelphia, in 1868, his father having been principally one of close identification with the brokerage and steamship business of Philadelphia. After completing the curriculum of the pub- lic schools of his native city, including that of the high school, Harry N. Hempstead was matriculated in Lafayette College, at Easton, Pennsylvania, in which institution he was graduated as a member of the class of 1891 and from which he received the - degree of Bachelor of Arts. After preliminary busi- ness discipline in Philadelphia Mr. Hemp- stead finally took up his residence in New York City, where he was identified with the export and import shipping trade until 1901, when he came to Indianapolis to assume his present dual office with the When Clothing Company, of whose extensive business he has since been the general manager, besides being treasurer of the company. His policies in this connection are ever progressive and no similar establishment in any city of compara- tive population can claim more metropolitan

facilities or more effective service in all de- partments.

In politics Mr. Hempstead is a stanch sup- porter of the cause of the Republican party, and as a citizen and business man he has gained a position of prominence in Indian- apolis, where he enjoys unqualified popular- ity.

On the 10th of October, 1894, Mr. Hemp- stead was united in marriage to Miss Eleanor Brush, daughter of John T. Brush, the hon- ored founder of the When Clothing Com- pany, of which he is still president, though he now maintains his home in New York City, where he has important business and capital- istic interests. Mr. and Mrs. Hempstead have two children, Gordon Brush Hempstead and John Brush Hempstead.

JOSEPH EASTMAN, M. D., LL. D. One of the most distinguished representatives of the medical profession in the State of Indiana and one whose fame in his chosen profession far transcends local limitations and pene- trates even into foreign lands, was the late Dr. Joseph Eastman, whose name shall be held in lasting honor as one of the ablest physicians and surgeons that ever gave loyal service in behalf of suffering humanity and whose life was characterized by the deepest human sympathy which overleaped mere sen- timent to 'become an actuating motive. In his profession he stood almost without a peer in his specialty and this position of eminence he attained entirely through his own efforts. Strongly in contrast with the humble sur- roundings of his youth was the brilliant posi- tion which he eventually filled in professional circles. He won for himself a place of prom- inence and honor as one of the world's hon- ored army of workers and in his youth made his way over obstacles seemingly insuperable, meeting to the full the test of fire to which a far-seeing Providence subjects those who are destined to succeed. He realized early that there is a purpose in life and that there is no honor not founded on worth and no re- spect not founded on accomplishment. His life and labors were worthy because they con- tributed to a proper understanding of life and its problems. The strongest characters in our national history have come from the ranks of the self-made men to whom adver- sity acts as an impetus for unfaltering effort and from this class came the distinguished subject of this memoir.

Dr. Eastman was born amid the Bleecker Mountains, in Fulton County, New York, on the 29th of January, 1842, and was a son of Rilus and Catherine (Jipson) Eastman. His ancestry on his father's side was identified

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with New England history from the earliest settlement of that section of the country. In the maternal line he was a representative of the sturdy German element that early settled in the Mohawk Valley of New York. His early educational privileges were meager and could probably have been summed up in a little more than three months' attendance at winter school and study at night. During much of his boyhood he was obliged to earn his own livelihood at whatever occupation he could secure. He possessed, however, a studi- ous nature and a strong desire to secure bet- ter educational facilities, and this led him to improve all his spare moments in an effort to gain knowledge. Of industrious habits, he required no urging to induce him to work hard, early and late, for work was to him the only means to success in life. Before he had attained the age of eighteen he had com- pleted the three-years' apprenticeship at the blacksmiths' trade and had become a pro- ficient worker in iron.

It was not long after this, however, that the sturdy spirit of the young man was aroused to action by the attempt at seces- sion made by the south, and his loyalty and patriotism were manifested in his enlistment in the Union service. He became a private of the Seventy-seventh New York Volunteer In- fantry and went forth to the defense of the Union, little knowing that this step was to influence his entire career. He participated to four of the leading battles of the war, but after the engagement at Williamsburg, Vir- ginia, he suffered an attack of typho-ma- larial fever and was sent to Mount Pleasant Hospital, in Washington, D. C. When he be- came convalescent. though he had not yet re- gained his usual health, Dr. Charles A. Mc- Call and Dr. Harrison Allen placed him on light medical duty in that hospital and later had him discharged from his regiment and appointed hospital steward in the United States army. It was in the performance of the duties of this office that he became cog- nizant of the ambition which later led him to eminence as a physician, and here he laid a most practical foundation for an exception- ally successful professional career. During his three years' service in the hospital in Washington, through the courtesy of Drs. MéCall and Allen, he was permitted to attend three courses of lectures given at the Uni- versity of Georgetown, at which institution he was graduated, with the degree of Doctor of Medicine, in 1865. He had his book at the bedside of the sick, and studied grammar, arithmetic, Latin and Greek in connection with his medical studies. He then passed the

army examination and was commissioned as- sistant surgeon of the United States Volun- teers, in which capacity he served with much credit until mustered out of the army, at Nashville, Tennessee, in May 1866.

From this time on the career of Dr. East- man was one of continued progress. Stead- ily he worked his way upward. 'Success is not a matter of talent or of genius; it is more often the reward of earnest, unfaltering la- bor, and especially is this so in the callings which are known as the learned professions. It was such continued and well directed effort that brought to Dr. Eastman his pre-emi- nence. He wisely chose the west as a field of labor, for this rapidly developing section of the country furnished excellent opportunities for ambitious young men. On his way home from the army he stopped at Indianapolis, and finally located in a village a few miles west of the city, where he followed general practice for a period of nine years and met with excellent success. This was the village of Brownsburg and there, in the varied prac- tice of a country town, he had an experience that well fitted him for further work in his chosen calling. Within the time of his resi- dence of Brownsburg he continued his stud- ies in his leisure hours and also attended Bellevue Hospital Medical College, in New York City, at which institution he received his second degree of Doctor of Medicine, in 1871. His abilities by this time had become known beyond the limits of his resident com- munity, and he was offered the chair of dem- onstrator of anatomy in the College of Physi- cians & Surgeons, at Indianapolis, by Drs. Parvin and Walker. The offer he accepted, and in 1875, he became a resident of the city which thereafter represented his home.

For more than a quarter of a century Dr. Eastman was one of the leading physi- cians of Indiana's capital, and as he ad- vanced farther and farther on the road to perfection in his profession, the circle of his fame broadened until he became a distin- guished representative of the nation in medi- cal science. For nine years he served as con- sulting surgeon to the city hospital, in a most creditable manner, and during that time de- livered courses of lectures on clinical sur- gery to the students. He was also for eight years the assistant of Dr. Parvin, the dis- tinguished obstetrician and gynecologist. In 1879 Dr. Eastman became one of the organ- izers of the Central College of Physicians & Surgeons, at Indianapolis, and was induced to accept the chair of anatomy and clinical surgery. After having taught anatomy in the two colleges mentioned for seven years,

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a special chair was created for him in the College of Physicians & Surgeons, of Indian- apolis, that of abdominal surgery and dis- eases of women, which he held continuously until his death, and during the last five years of his life he was also president of the col- lege. Not only in the opinion of the public, but in professional circles throughout the coun- try, Dr. Eastman was accorded a position of eminence that has been attained by few and he was recognized authority on all matters connected with gynecology and abdominal surgery. He visited the world-renowned med- ical institutions and hospitals of London, Birmingham, Paris, Strasburg, Munich, Vien- na, Leipsic, Dresden, Halle and Berlin, criti- cally examining the methods of the distin- guished operators in the departments of ab- dominal surgery and diseases of women. He also attended the International Medical Con- gress at Berlin. Hirst's Obstetrics, Volume II, page 267, 270, gives him credit for being the second in the world and the only Ameri- can surgeon who, in operating for extra- uterine pregnancy, has dissected out the en- tire sac which contained a living child, and saved the life of both mother and child ..

Dr. Eastman, whose success in the treat- ment of diseases of women and in the prac- tice of abdominal surgery soon became very marked, finally made these his specialty, and his practice along these lines so constantly increased that it eventually demanded almost his entire attention. He was the first in the state to lay aside general practice, limiting his work to abdominal and pelvic surgery. It was in 1885 that he took this step. His pri- vate sanatorium, which was the natural out- growth of this work in its rapid development, was established about 1884, and the building it occupies was completed in 1893, on archi- tectural lines then contemplated ; the property is now valued at sixty thousand dollars. The structure is modern in design and is in every way adapted to the special uses for which it is intended. It has about seventy-five rooms and its sanitary arrangements are complete and extensive. It is as nearly fireproof as possible and is provided with an elevator and with open fireplaces, which add greatly to the facilities for ventilation and enhance its healthfulness in no small degree. This sana- torium is a credit to Indianapolis and to its originator. In the practice of his specialty Dr. Eastman performed some of the most remarkable cures and operations on record. and these have been described and discussed at length in all the leading American and European medical journals.

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Greater Indianapolis : the history, the industries, the institutions, and the people of a city of homes, Part 94

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