USA > Indiana > Marion County > Indianapolis > Greater Indianapolis : the history, the industries, the institutions, and the people of a city of homes > Part 95
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As a just recognition of his professional
merit and worth and of his original methods, the degree of Doctor of Laws was conferred upon him by Wabash College, the first and only time in the history of this old institution that this honor has been given to a physician. Again and again Dr. Eastman was called upon to deliver lectures before medical con- ventions in this country, and in Milwaukee, in June, 1893, he was elected chairman of the section of diseases of women in the Amer- ican Medical Association. He was also se- lected as one of the limited number to con- tribute papers on gynecology and abdominal surgery at the meeting of the Pan-American Congress, which convened in Washington, D. C., in September, 1893, he having twice be- fore acceded to a similar demand with dis- tinguished credit to himself and to the un- bounded gratification of a large body of emi- nent physicians and surgeons before whom he appeared.
The record of Dr. Eastman's medical career would be incomplete if something were not said to show his ability as a teacher, as a speaker and as an exponent of medical sci- ence in its highest and best phases and it seems that this essential cannot better be conserved than by making extract from the opening address which he delivered before the students of the Central College of Phy- sicians & Surgeons in September, 1894. He said :
"On entering the medical profession, just as in other professions and other lines of business, we naturally ask ourselves what we may expect. Are we to succeed or not? It is the actual force of character that makes success, rather than an adaptation. There is a certain inherent force in everyone that can make some success in everything he under- takes to follow. There are men with heads large enough to make doctors, but compara- tively few with hearts large enough to make great doctors. There is one qualification nec- essary for a doctor. That is a large, a true, a warm, unselfish and loving heart. The man who goes into a sick-room with a gentle step and a tender expression, not only in word but in tone, with a heart filled with loving emo- tion, has the inborn qualities for a physician, without which you cannot succeed and with which you are sure to win. Then when the question comes to your mind, 'Shall I get something out of my profession'? let this be the reply, 'What will I put into my profes- sion'? If we haven't put .anything into a bank we cannot expect to check anything out. The reason, then, why some of the med- ical profession haven't gotten anything out of the profession by way of reputation or
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money is because suffering humanity and the profession couldn't get anything out of them. You never could and you never will be able to get blood out of a turnip. Persistent study is the very thing to develop and culti- vate what little genius you may have been born with. The men who have the most for- tunes in the medical profession are those who have the greatest capacity for earnest and diligent labor. . Some will say, a man can go into politics and make a greater name than in medicine. I question that, too. There are some names in medicine that will live forever. 'Shall not the labors of the states- man succumb to the pitiless logic of events, the voice of the orator become fainter with coming ages, the achievements of the soldier be found at last only in the libraries of mili- tary campaigns, while the names of Jenner, McDowell, Wells and Morton, like the surg- ing waves of the inviolate sea, shall be wafted to the utmost shores of time, hailed alike by all nations and all ages for having lessened the burden and lengthened the span of hu- man life'? Then I will place my profession by the side of any other profession or busi- ness, as far as getting bread and butter is concerned, and will place it far above them in honor on the tablets of time. I love all those devoted to the profession for one rea- son ; because whatever we do, whether we get any money for it or not, we have the con- sciousness of having done something to serve humanity and lessen the burden of human life. The physician who has the confidence of many happy homes wields a powerful in- fluence for good. How many of us remember the manly form and the strong intellectual face of the family physician by the side of that other sacred person, our mother. It is the sacred relation in the home that should teach us and make us feel that our service is a service for God, and that he serves God best who serves humanity most."
At this juncture it cannot be other than consonant to enter the following quotations from a sketch of the career of Dr. Eastman, written by ,Samuel E. Carp, M. S., M. D., of Indianapolis, published in the Medical and Surgical Monitor of June, 1902:
"In many respects, Dr. Joseph Eastman ex- isted in a sphere of his own. He was ambi- tions at all times to be a leader in every undertaking in which he was connected and to follow was entirely foreign to his nature. Among Dr. Eastman's friends and acquaint- ances were many eminent men, yet in them he did not find an ideal but sought the best from all available sources and laid out an avenue of his own.
In the ordinary affairs of life he always demonstrated a disposition to be firm in his convictions and when a conclusion was reached, whether it was characterized by haste or methodical efforts, if he believed it to be right, he was unwavering in its defense. It was characteristic of Dr. Eastman to extend a helping hand to the fallen, speak a word of encouragement to those groping darkly in the slough of despond, grant mercy to the erring one and throw the mantle of charity over the unfortunate. He despised envy, mal- ice and vice and held up to the admiration of the world the better and nobler elements of man's character. Dr. Eastman's responsibil- ities were indeed heavy, including his educa- tional work in medical circles and the dutics of a large practice in abdominal surgery. These at times seemed to entirely encompass his mind surrounded by a fine dignity and reserve which placed him in the false light as if one with a barrier between himself and others. But those who knew him best recog- nized the geniality of , his disposition, the warmth of his heart, and these readily burned the barriers away. For years the younger members of the profession have sought coun- sel and, 'in fact, the 'older ones have relied upon his wisdom and judgment and in every quarter his eminence and greatness has re- ceived recognition. The unusual success which crowned his life work, together with his ripe experience and kind heart enabled him to bring to the sick-room comfort, con- fidence and hope, whose brightness dispelled the shadow of gloom and despair."
Loyal and broad-minded as a citizen, Dr. Eastman never allowed extraneous interests to interfere with his devotion to his profes- sion. He never failed in any of the duties of citizenship and was a stanch supporter of the principles of the Republican party. As may well be imagined, he was well fortified in his views in regard to spiritual matters and he was a zealous member of the Central Christian Church, of which his widow also is a member. He was identified with George H. Thomas Post, Grand Army of the Republic, Indiana Commandery of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States, and with the Masonic fraternity, in which he had attained to the thirty-second degree of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite.
The life of Dr. Eastman was one of ideal character and there can be no wish to lift the gracious veil which guards the sacred precincts of the home. It is sufficient to give merely a brief statement concerning his do- mestic relation. In 1868 he was united in marriage to Miss Mary Katherine Barker,
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daughter of Thomas Barker, a representative citizen of Indianapolis. She still maintains her home in this city, as do also their two aons, Drs. Thomas B. and Joseph R., con- cerning whom individual mention is made on other pages of this work. A life of signal asefulness and honor was that of the subject of this memoir and it is fitting that in every work touching the lives and labors of the representative citizens of Indianapolis, there should be accorded a tribute to this distin- guished physician, one of the world's bene- factors.
JOSEPH R. EASTMAN, M. D. It was given to Dr. Joseph Eastman, the honored father of the subject of this review, to attain marked distinction in the medical profession in which his' reputation was of the highest, as is indicated in the memorial devoted to him on other pages of this work. By reason of the appearance of the said article it_is not demanded that further reference be made to the father or to the family history in the sketch at hand. He whose name initiates this sketch is the younger of the two sons of the late Dr. Joseph Eastman and he, himself, has added laurels to the family name in con- nection with the work of the noble and ex- acting profession to which he has devoted his attention and in which he is recognized as one of the leading physicians and surgeons of Indiana's capital city. Here he is iden- tified with the management of the Joseph Eastman Hospital, a finely equipped private institution founded by his father, and is also incumbent of the chair of clinical surgery in the Indiana University School of Medicine. Both as a practitioner and as an educator he has gained a position of prominence and his close observance of the unwritten code of eth- ics has given him the unqualified respect and confidence of his professional confreres. As an operator he is cool, painstaking and skill- ful.
Dr. Joseph Rilus Eastman was born at Brownsburg, Hendricks County, on the 18th of April, 1871, and was a child at the time of the family removal to Indianapolis. In the public schools of the capital city he received his early educational discipline, which was supplemented by a course of study in the preparatory school of Butler University, at Irvington, now an integral part of the city. In 1887 he was matriculated in Wabash Col- lege, as Crawfordsville, this state, in which he was graduated with first honors as a member of the class of 1891 and from which he re ceived the degree of Bachelor of Science, and an honorary degree of Master of Arts in 1905. Later it was his privilege to pursue the study
of medicine in the great universities vI Heidelberg, Göttingen. d Leipsic. In' 1897 he was graduated in the University of Berlin, magnum cum laude. His graduating thesis, entitled "The Origin of Corpora Amylacea in the Prostate", was printed in full in Amer= ican, German and French medical magazines. After his graduation Dr. Eastman returned to Indianapolis, where he has since been actively engaged in the practice of his profession and where his success has been of the most un- equivocal order, as may be well imagined when cognizance is had of his exceptionally advanced professional training and natural predilection for the profession that was so significantly dignified and honored by the life and services of his father. Since 1908 he has been professor of surgery in the Indiana Uni- versity School of Medicine and also surgeon of the Indianapolis city hospital and city dis- pensary. He is an appreciative and valued member of the American Medical Associa, tion, Western Surgical Association, the In- diana State Medical Society and the Marion County Medical Society. In addition to this he is identified ;with the Mississippi Valley Medical Association, of which he was former- ly vice-president, and is a member of the ex- ecutive committee of the American Urological Association. Dr. Eastman has been a fre- quent contributor to medical and surgical lit- erature for a number of years and in this connection his more important labors have been reports of his own work. He has orig- inated and perfected a number of surgical instruments that have gained recognition as valuable contributions to the surgical depart- ment .of his profession. To further fortify himself in the work and teaching of his specialty, that of surgery, Dr. Eastman has frequently dropped his regular duties and passed varying periods in study and investi- gation in the leading hospitals and medical colleges of Europe, where he has studied the work of many of the most eminent surgeons of the world. This discipline has proved a quickening influence and has enabled him to form an intelligent judgment in regard to the comparative values of American and foreign surgical methods. The doctor has been espe- cially successful and popular in connection with the educational work of his profession and his facility in the presenting of his lec- tures, his fine command of terse and classic English and his earnest desire to create definite ambition on the part of his students has made him one of the most valued mem- bers of the faculty of the Indiana University School of Medicine. He is a man of unfail- ing courtesy and most gracious address and
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he has a wide circle of friends in the city that has represented his home during the major portion of his life. Dr. Eastman pays an un- faltering allegiance to his profession and thus has never had aught of desire to enter the turbulent stream of practical politics, though he accords loyal support to the cause of the Republican party and is progressive and pub- lic-spirited as a citizen. His religious faith is that of the Protestant Church and he is identified with various civic and social or- ganizations of representative character. Dr. Eastman is the successor of his father in the management of the Joseph Eastman Hospital.
JOHN F. WILD. One of the essentially rep- resentative factors in the business and civic life of Indianapolis is John Franklin Wild, the executive head of the banking firm of J. F. Wild & Company, whose substantial and well ordered institution is conducted as a state bank. Mr. Wild is a progressive and successful business man and a loyal and pub- lic-spirited citizen. It has been his to attain prestige and definite material success in the state of his nativity, and he has so ordered his course as to retain the unqualified con- fidence and esteem of his fellow men.
John F. Wild was born in the attractive little City of Noblesville, Hamilton County, Indiana, on the 9th of September, 1860, and is a son of Leonard and Margaret (Barth) Wild, the former of whom was born in Ulm, kingdom of Wurtemburg, Germany, on the 3rd of November, 1834, and the latter was born near the historic and picturesque old City of Heidelberg, Germany, in the year 1840. The father died December 12, 1909, in Noblesville, where he was known as one of its most honored and influential citizens, and there his wife died on the 24th of March, 1879, their marriage having been solemnized in Noblesville, in 1857. They became the par- ents of four daughters and two sons, all of whom are living except one daughter, who died in infancy. Of the children the subject of this review was the second in order of bin.
hard Wild was reared and educated in his native land, and when eighteen years of age he severed the ties that bound him to. home and fatherland and set forth to seek his fortunes in America, which has had much to gain and nothing to lose in the contribu- tions made to its social fabric by the great empire of Germany. Soon after his arrival in the new world Mr. Wild came to Indians and took up his residence in Hamilton Coun- ty, where he engaged in agricultural pur- suits. Later he engaged in the buying and shipping of grain, at Noblesville, and there
he also operated a flour mill during the early '60s. Later he established himself in the dry- goods business in that city, continuing to be concerned successfully with this line of en- terprise from 1874 until 1885, since which latter year he lived virtually retired from active business. He was a factor of impor- tance in connection with the civic and indus- trial development of Noblesville, where he maintained his home for over half a cen- tury, and no citizen of that section was held in higher esteem than this worthy pioneer. Though never a seeker of political prefer- ment, he was a stalwart supporter of the cause of the Republican party, and a zealous mem- ber of the Lutheran Church, as was also his cherished and devoted wife. He was a mem- 'ber of Noblesville Lodge, Free & Accepted Masons, of which he was past master and a thirty-second degree Scottish Rite Mason, and was also affiliated with Noblesville Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of which he was past noble grand.
John Franklin 'Wild, the immediate sub- ject of this review, was reared to maturity in Noblesville, where he was duly afforded the advantages of the excellent public achools, including the high school, in which he was graduated as a member of the class of 1879. While still attending school he had begun to assist in his father's dry goods atore, and at the age of nineteen years he was admitted to partnership in the business, under the firm name of L. Wild & Son, in 1879." He con- tinued to give his attention to the demands of this successful business enterprise until 1884, when he removed to Anderson, Indiana, where he engaged in the same line of busi- ness, under the title of J. F. Wild & Com- pany. In that city he built up a most pros- perous business and his finely equipped es- tablishment gained a secure hold upon popu- lar support and appreciation, so that the trade showed a constantly cumulative ten- dency. Mr. Wild retired from the dry goods- business in 1891 and engaged in the private banking business in Anderson, under the firm name of Campbell, Wild & Co., where they continued operations in this line until 1893, when they removed their business to Indian- apolis and . continued until May 23, 1901, when J. F. Wild bought Mr. Campbell's in- terest in the business and founded the bank- ing house of J. F. Wild & Company, which has built up a solid and popular institution, operated under the provisions of the state banking law and controlling a representative business in all departments. The bank is conducted with due conservatism and yet is maintained on a liberal and progressive pol-
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icy, and it is an acquisition of value in con- nection with financial affairs in the capital city.
Mr. Wild has thoroughly identified himself with the business and the generous civic and social interests of the beautiful capital city of his native state, and here his circle of friends is circumscribed only by that of his acquaintances. While never seeking to enter the arena of professional or "applied" poli- tics, he is aligned as a 'stanch supporter of the principles and policies for which the Re- publican party stands sponsor and takes a loyal interest in matters which touch public polity and welfare. He and his wife are zealous members of the First Presbyterian Church, of whose Sunday school he is su- perintendent. at the time of this writing, in 1910. He is one of the active and enthusias- tic members and supporters of the Indian- apolis Young Men's Christian Association, of which he is vice-president, besides. being chairman of the building committee and a member of the board of directors having in charge the erection of the fine new associa- tion building in this city. He is a member of the Columbia Club, and has attained to the thirty-second degree in the Ancient Ac- cepted Scottish Rite of the time-honored Ma- sonic fraternity. His Masonic affiliations are here briefly noted: Pentalpha Lodge, No. 564, Free & Accepted Masons; Keystone Chapter, No. 6, Royal Arch Masons; Raper Commandery, No. 1, Knights Templars; In- diana Consistory, Sublime Princes of the Royal Secret; and Murat Temple, Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine
On the 9th of September, 1891, was sol- emnized the marriage of Mr. Wild to Miss Minnie M. Hannah, who was born at Dublin, Wayne County, Indiana, September 9, 1865, a daughter of Fernandez H. and Matilda (Forrey) Hannah, both of whom were like- wise natives of Wayne County, and both of whom are now deceased. Of the three chil- dren, two daughters and one son, all of whom are living, Mrs. Wild is the youngest. Her father was a farmer in Wayne County, In- diana, until about 1867, when he removed to Chicago and engaged in the grain business, in which he there continued until his death. Mr. and Mrs. Wild have three children,- John E., Hannah F., and Forrey Neil.
WILLIAM HOLTON DYE was born in Indian- apolis October 3. 1863. He is a son of John T. and Annie Glenn (Holton) Dye. He re- ceived his education in the public schools of Indianapolis, and Shattuck School, Fari- bault, Minnesota, and later entered Indiana
University, and then the Law Department of the University of Virginia at Charlottesville.
Mr. Dye was admitted to the bar of In- diana in 1883 and engaged in active practice of his profession in the United States, Cir- cuit, District and Supreme courts. In 1898 he became interested in Dakota and Montana, where under adverse circumstances he has made a success of his business. He stands well in his community and has the respect and confidence of his clients and business as- sociates.
On the 22nd of January, 1889, Mr. Dye was united in marriage to Miss Minda Bean, of Bradford, Vermont. Mrs. Dye is a woman of estimable qualities and enjoys unquali- fied popularity in literary and social circles of Indianapolis.
Mr. and Mrs. Dye have one son, John T. Dye, Jr., who was born October 23, 1891, and who is completing his school course in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
FERDINAND L. MAYER, the senior member of the firm of Charles Mayer & Company, im- porters of art ware, fine china, silverware, jew- elry, toys, etc., with headquarters at 29-31 West Washington street, is recognized as one of the representative business men of Greater Indianapolis, and in the enterprise noted is as- sociated with his younger brother, Charles, while the business is conducted under the title given by their honored father, the late Charles Mayer, who long held prestige as one of the loyal and public-spirited citizens and promi- nent business men of the Indiana capital, where he ever commanded the high regard of all who knew him.
Ferdinand L. Mayer is a native of Indian- apolis, where he was born on the 9th of De- cember, 1860, and he is a son of Charles and Mathilda L. (Lempp) Mayer, both natives of Wurtemburg, Germany, where they were reared and educated and where their marriage was solemnized. The father, was born on the 18th of May, 1820, and his death occurred in In- dianapolis on the 26th of December, 1901. His wife was born in the year 1830 and died November 20th, 1900. They became the par- ents of seven children, of whom three are now living, Ferdinand L. being the eldest of this number; Charles is associated in the business founded by their father, and Mathilda is the wife of Gustav A. Schnull, who is engaged in the wholesale grocery business in Indianapolis.
Charles Maver came to America when he was eighteen years of age and established his home in Indianapolis in 1838. Later he re- turned to Germany. married and came back to Indianapolis. Here, in 1840, he established the business now conducted by his two sons, and
twork May
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thus he was one of the pioneer business men of the city at the time of his demise. From a modest nucleus he built up an enterprise of wide scope and importance, and the same holds precedence as one of the most comprehensive and important in its line in the middle west. The firm are importers of the highest grades of china, cut glass, fine cutlery, jewelry, etc., and the business has ever been conducted along conservative lines and according to the strictest principles of integrity and honor, so that the house has an enviable reputation as one of the oldest and most substantial in the City of In- dianapolis. The sons literally grew up in the business and have well upheld the prestige of the honored name which they bear, standing exponent of progressive and well ordered busi- ness ideas and of the most loyal and liberal citizenship. Charles Mayer was a man of fine intellectuality and fine business ability, but he did not hedge himself in with the narrow hounds of personal advancement, but stood forward as a citizen who was ever ready to lend his aid and co-operation in the support of measures and enterprises tending to conserve the material and civic progress of his home city, to whose industrial upbuilding he con- tributed in no small measure. Though never a seeker of public office, he gave a stanch allegiance to the Democratic party and main- tained a lively interest in the questions and issues of the hour. He was deeply appreciative of the spiritual verities and attended the Sec- ond Presbyterian Church. He was affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and at the time of his death was, in point of years of identification therewith, the oldest member of Center Lodge No. 18, of this fra- ternal order. He was a man of specially re- fined tastes and was a lover of nature in all of her "visible forms", taking much interest in the cultivation of trees and flowers and having had at his home, at the corner of North and Illinois streets, the first private floral con- servatory established in the city.
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