Greater Indianapolis : the history, the industries, the institutions, and the people of a city of homes, Part 96

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 96

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Ferdinand L. Mayer, whose name initiates this article, secured his preliminary education in the private schools of Indianapolis and a Moravian academic institution in Prangins. Switzerland, in which fair little republic .he remained for two years. after which he con- tinned his studies in Graylock Institute, at South Williamstown, Massachusetts. Mr. Mayer's business experience has been one of. close identification with the enterprise estah- lished by his father so many years ago, and he was admitted to partnership in the business in 1888, being a recognized authority in this field and being known as an aggressive and successful factor in local commercial circles.

Since the death of his father he has been senior member of the firm of Charles Mayer & Company, which title has been used for the past seventy years, and his brother is his able collaborator in the carrying forward 'of the large and prosperous business.

In politics Mr. Mayer is aligned as a sup- porter of the principles and policies for which the Democratic party stands sponsor, he holds membership in the Indianapolis Board of Trade, the University Club, the „,Commercial Club and the Merchants' Association Country Club, and both he and his wife are members of the Second Presbyterian Church. He is a member of the park board, having been ap- pointed by Mr. Bookwalter, and he ia one of the corporators of Crown Hill cemetery.

On the 23d of October, 1884, was recorded the marriage of Mr. Mayer to Miss Kate Lath- rop, who was born at Greensburg, Indiana, and who is a daughter of Levi and Eliza Lathrop, the father being deceased and the mother liv- ing in Indianapolis. Mr. and Mrs. Mayer have two children,-Ferdinand Lathrop and Kath- erine L.

JOHN J. BLACKWELL has passed the major portion of his life in Indianapolia, where he ia now engaged in the undertaking business, and where he long held positions of respon- sibility as an expert machinist. He is serv- ing as coroner of Marion County and was formerly a member of the city council, being held in unqualified esteem in the city which has long represented hia home.

John J. Blackwell is a native of Yorkshire, England, where he was born on the 4th of May, 1858, and he is a son of Thomas and Bridget (Hines) Blackwell, both of whom were born and reared in Ireland and both of whom maintained their home in Indianapolis for nearly half a century, ever commanding the high regard of all who knew them. Here the father died on the 22nd of January, 1909, and the mother passed away on the 24th of January, and both were buried the same day, so that after the long years of mutual devotion they were not long separated when the veil of the life eternal was lifted. Their marriage was solemnized in Yorkshire, Eng- land, and of their eight children, of whom the subject of this sketch is the eldest, seven are now living. Michael F. is a resident of Chicago, where he has been long connected with the business of the great Armour pack- ing concern ; James and Thomas, Jr., are resi- dents of Indianapolis; Anna is the wife of Frank Noonan, of Indianapolis; and the Misses Ellen and Bridget A. also maintain their home in this city.

Thomas Blackwell immigrated with his

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HISTORY OF GREATER INDIANAPOLIS.

family to America in 1864, in July of which year he made permanent settlement in In- dianapolis. Here he secured employment as a puddler in the large rolling mill of which the late Aquilla Jones was manager, and the two became the closest of friends, thus continuing until the death of Mr. Jones. Mr. Black- well was a man of most industrious habits and of inflexible integrity of purpose. His active career was one marked by consecutive application and in his chosen field of labor he proved himself useful and successful. It may be noted that he was the first man in Indian- apolis to operate what is known as a patent revolving puddling furnace, used in the man- ufacture of malleable iron. He continued to be engaged in active business until 1891, after which he lived virtually retired until his death. In politics he was a stalwart adherent of the Democratic party and both he and his wife were zealous communicants of St. John's Catholic Church. When Mr. and Mrs. Blackwell celebrated their golden wedding an- niversary, in 1908, Mr. Blackwell was as alert as some men of half his years, and he did not begin to visibly fail in health until about six months prior to his death. His wife had been in impaired health for a decade.

John J. Blackwell had barely initiated the work of the school room when his parents left his native land and emigrated to Ameri- ca, as already noted. He was six years old at the time and was reared to maturity in Indianapolis, where his educational advan- tages were those of the Catholic parochial schools. At the age of thirteen years he be- came office boy in the employ of Dean Broth- ers, manufacturers of pumps, and in their shops he served a thorough apprenticeship at the trade of machinist, in which he became a specially skillful and versatile artisan. In 1879, after the completion of his apprentice- ship, he went to Cleveland, Ohio, and there secured employment at his trade, in the shops of the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Rail- road. Then he went to Elmira, New York, where he was employed in the shops of the LaFrances Steam Fire Engine Company. In 1882 he went to New York City, where he secured employment in the extensive tool works of E. E. Garvin & Company, but in the autumn of the same year he returned to Indianapolis, where he assumed the position of superintendent of motive power for the Indianapolis Car Works, retaining this posi- tion until 1885, when he engaged with the Sinker & Davis Machine Works, with which he was identified until 1887, in October of which year he was appointed engineer of the United States government building in this

city, an incumbency which he retained for one year. In 1888 he became superintendent of the O. R. Olson Bolt & Machinery Works, and with this concern he continued, as a val- ued executive and technical official, until July, 1891, when he resigned to engage in business for himself. In that year he estab- lished a general undertaking and funeral-di- recting business, and with this line of enter- prise he has since been identified. His well appointed establishment is located at 128-130 West Ohio street, and its facilities are in all respects of the most approved order. In 1893- 4-5 Mr. Blackwell was retained in service by various fire-insurance companies in the capacity of expert machinist, and while ac- tively engaged in the assigned duties of this office he received for his services fifty dol- lars a day.

As a citizen Mr. Blackwell has shown a loy- al interest in all that has tended to advance the welfare of his home city, and his politi- cal allegiance has been given without reserva- tion to the Democratic party, of whose cause he is a stalwart advocate. In 1887 he was elected a member of the board of aldermen of Indianapolis, as representative of the Six- teenth, Twenty-second, Twenty-fourth and Twenty-fifth wards, and in this election he received a larger majority than did any other candidate on the ticket. Since his retirement from office the city government is maintained under a new and more effective charter. On the 3rd of November, 1908, he was elected county coroner, in which office he has given most able and faithful service. He and his wife are communicants of the Catholic Church, being identified with the parish of St. John's, and he is a member of the An- cient Order of Hibernians, the Improved Or- der of Red Men, the Knights of the Macca- bees, and the Fraternal Order of Eagles.

On the 18th of October, 1882, Mr. Black- well was united in marriage to Miss Nora Haggerty, who was born in the village of Franklin, Johnson County, Indiana, on the 26th of March, 1862, and is a daughter of Patrick and Catherine (O'Donald) Haggerty, both natives of Ireland. Her father, now eighty-seven years of age (1909), still 're- sides in Indianapolis, and his devoted wife passed to the life eternal in 1881. They be- came the parents of eleven children, of whom only four are now living. Mrs. Blackwell was the fourth in order of birth. Patrick Haggerty came to America in 1854 and soon after his arrival he located in Utica, New York, where he maintained his abode until 1856, when he removed to Franklin. John- son County, Indiana, and became roadmaster

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HISTORY OF GREATER INDIANAPOLIS.

for the Jeffersonville, Madison & Indianap- olis Railroad. In 1862 he removed to Indi- anapolis, and here he has ever since been en- gaged in the moulding-sand business, in the handling of which he has built up a pros- perous enterprise, having continued the same for nearly half a century. He is a stanch Democrat in his political proclivities and is a zealous communicant of St. John's Catholic Church, as was also his wife. Mr. and Mrs. Blackwell became the parents of eight chil- dren, of whom six are living, namely : Thomas J., Catherine M., Grace, Mary, John and Frances. Mary Theresa, twin sister of Mary, died at the age of fifteen years and one month; and Annie, the third in order of birth, died at the age of two and one-half years.

EDWARD WILSON BASSETT is the president of the Bassett Grain Company. He has been a resident of Indianapolis since 1892. When he came to this city he embarked in the grain business, and in 1898 he formed his present business association. The Bassett Grain Company are among the largest handlers of grain in Indianapolis, being both buyers and shippers. Edward Wilson Bassett was born near Battle Ground, on the southern border of White County, Indiana, June 20, 1864, a son of Oliver L. and Elizabeth J. (Montgom- ery) Bassett, the father born in Jefferson County, Indiana, in 1825, and the mother near Knoxville, Tennessee, in 1831. They were married near Madison, Indiana, in 1847, and of the seven children which blessed their marriage union Edward W. was the fifth born. Oliver L. Bassett, a carpenter and farmer, spent his early life in Madison Coun- ty, Indiana, from whence he later moved to White County, this state, where his children were born and where he spent the last years of his life, dying in 1875, while his wife, Eliz- abeth J., survived him until 1904. He was an acceptable member of the Methodist Episco- pal Church, and in politics was a Republi- can.

After an education in the village schools of Battle Ground, Indiana, Edward W. Bas- sett began teaching at the age of sixteen, and he continued in the profession until he had attained the age of twenty-two. From that time for about six years he was numbered among the merchants of Stockwell, and at the close of that period came, as above stated, to Indianapolis. He married Carrie E. Howard January 1, 1890. She was born at Stock- well, in Tippecanoe County, Indiana, a daughter of Nelson K. and Eliza P. (Miller) Howard. The father, born in Indiana, en- listed during the Civil War in Company A,

Fortieth Regiment of Indiana Volunteers, and he was severely wounded at the battle of Kenesaw Mountain, a bullet passing through his body and lungs and rendering him an in- valid during the remainder of his life, his death occurring in 1874. The two children born to Mr. and Mrs. Bassett are Esther M. and Edwin H. Edward W. Bassett is prom- inently connected with the Masonic fraternity, holding membership relations with Mystic Tie Lodge, the Indianapolis Chapter, Raper Com- mandery, Indiana Consistory and Murat Tem- ple. He is also a member of the Columbia, Commercial and Canoe clubs and of the Board of Trade, and his politics are Repub- lican.

WALTER KESSLER. Among those who are contributing their quota to the industrial prestige of the capital city of Indiana is num- bered Mr. Kessler, who is president of the Romona Oolitic Stone Company and also of the Indianapolis Drop Forge Company. He is an alert and progressive business man and although he is not at present engaged in pro- fessional work, he is a member of the bar of his native state and for five years was en- gaged in practice in Indianapolis.

Mr. Kessler was born at North Madison, Jefferson County, Indiana, on January 5, 1856, and is a son of Frederick and Johanna (Lorenz) Kessler, both of whom were born in Germany, but whose marriage was sol- emnized in America. They maintained their home for several years at North Madison, In- diana, whence they removed to Indianapolis in 1869. Here the father engaged in the re- tail grocery business, in which he gained a due measure of success. He died in 1888 at the age of seventy-five years. Of the four children the subject of this sketch is the only one living.

Walter Kessler gained his rudimentary edu- cation in the public schools of his native town and was thirteen years of age at the time the family removed to Indianapolis, where he has since maintained his home. Here he complet- ed the curriculum of the public schools and finally he was matriculated in Harvard Uni- versity in which he was graduated as a mem- ber of the class of 1878 and from which he received the degree of Bachelor of Arts. After his return to Indianapolis Mr. Kessler took up the study of law in the offices of the well-known firm of Harrison, Hines & Miller, and in 1880 he was admitted to the bar, after which he was actively engaged in the practice of his profession in Indianapolis for a period of five years. In 1885 Mr. Kessler effected the organization of the Romona Oolitic Stone Company and of this corporation he is both

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HISTORY OF GREATER INDIANAPOLIS.

president and general manager. The office headquarters of the company is in the Sacks building and the plants of the company are located in Monroe and Owens counties, In- diana. This is one of the leading concerns of its kind in the middle west and its business is of broad scope and importance. It may be noted that the company furnished the stone for the magnificent Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument in Indianapolis and it has sup- plied material for the erection of many fine buildings in most diverse sections of the Union. In the organization of this company Mr. Kessler was associated with Hervey Bates, Jr., and Volney T. Malott. In 1903 Mr. Kessler became one of the interested princi- pals in the Indianapolis Drop Forge Com- pany, of which he is president. This concern also offers a valuable contribution to the in- dustrial precedence of the capital city. In politics Mr. Kessler gives his allegiance to the old line Democratic party. He is iden- tified with various civic organizations of a representative character.

On the 30th of December, 1904, in Grace Church, New York, was recorded the mar- riage of Mr. Kessler to Miss Rose McNeal, of Indianapolis, who had been a successful and popular teacher in the city schools and who was graduated both in Butler University with the degree of A. B. and the University of Chicago with the degree of A. M.

EDWIN C. THOMAS, M. D., has been a resi- dent of Indiana from his boyhood days and has attained to success and prestige in the profession which was also honored and digni- fied by the services of his honored father, who was long numbered among the leading physicians and surgeons of Indianapolis and to whom a special memoir is dedicated on other pages of this publication, so that fur- ther consideration of his career or of the family history is not demanded in the present sketch.

Edwin Coupland Thomas, son of Dr. Will- iam H. and Ann M. (Coupland) Thomas, was born at Afton. Minnesota, on the 26th of November, 1856, and when he was seven years of age his parents removed from Min- nesota to Indiana, being residents of the city of Logansport during the major portion of the Civil War period. After the close of the war his father located in the village of Gal- veston, Cass County, of which Logansport is the judicial center, and there he was engaged in the practice of his profession until the spring of 1875, when he removed with his family to Indianapolis, where he passed the residue of his long and useful life. The sub- ject of this review is indebted to the public

schools of Indiana for his preliminary edu- cational discipline, and he finally completed the curriculum of the high school in Indian- apolis. At the age of eighteen years he began reading medicine under the able preceptor- ship of his honored father, and after devoting his attention to technical study under the favorable condition for a period of two years he was matriculated in the Indianapolis Col- lege of Physicians.& Surgeons, in which well ordered institution he was graduated as a member of the class of 1878, on the 1st of March of which year the college conferred upon him his well earned degree of Doctor of Medicine. During the intervening period of more than thirty years Dr. Thomas has been engaged in the active and successful practice of his profession in Marion County, and he has at all times kept in close touch with the advanced thought, methods and sys- tems employed in both medical and surgical science, fully appreciating the progress made and availing himself of such professional agencies as have met the approval of his judgment. In initiating the active work of his chosen profession the doctor established his residence and headquarters in the vil- lage of Mount Jackson, near Indianapolis, where he remained about five years. For about twelve years thereafter he was estab- lished in practice at Haughville, Marion County, from which place he returned to Indianapolis and since which time he has fol- lowed the work of his profession in this city, where he has met with unequivocal success and built up a large and representative prac- tice. For the past several years he has made a specialty of the treatment of diseases of the heart, though he still controls a large general practice. He is a member of the Indianapolis Medical Society, the Indiana State Medical Society and the American Medical Association.

In politics Dr. Thomas is aligned as a loyal supporter of the cause of the Republi- can party, and as a citizen he ia essentially progressive and public-spirited. He and his wife are members of the South Street Baptist Church, and he is affiliated with the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows and the Knights of Pythias.

On the 26th of November, 1879, Dr. Thomas was united in marriage to Miss Mary E. Dotey, who was born and reared in In- dianapolis and who is a daughter of John and Naomi (Ranch) Dotey, who later be- came residents of Johnson County, this state, where they passed the residue of their lives and where the father was a prosperous farmer and highly honored citizen. Dr. and

WILL.AM H. LAYCOCK

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HISTORY OF GREATER INDIANAPOLIS.

Mrs. Thomas have three children, Hewitt H., who is a musician of talent and local prominence and who is assistant editor of Rough Notes, an insurance paper published in Indianapolis; and Naomi and Claudia U., who remain at the parental home and are prominent and popular in the social life of the capital city.

BLAINE H. MILLER was city engineer of In- dianapolis from 1906 to 1910, and is now general manager of The Bedford Power Co. He was born at Kingston, Missouri, August 14, 1881, and the history of his parents and their family is given in the biographical sketch of his father, Winfield Miller, in this work. The son 'received a splendid educa- tional training in the common and high schools of Indianapolis and in the Massachu- setts Institute of Technology at Boston, Mas- sachusetts, completing the civil engineering course in 1903. He then secured a position with the Big Four Railroad Company in the bridge and maintenance-of-way departments; later was associated with the same railway in the real estate and tie department, and still later was with the Columbia Creosoting Company. On the 1st of January, 1906, Mr. Miller was appointed the city engineer of Indianapolis by Charles A. Bookwalter, where he served till January 1, 1910. He is a mem- ber of the University Club, the Marion Club, and the Maennerchor.

Mr. Miller married, June 27, 1906, Corella L. Taylor, who was born in Toledo, Ohio, a daughter of Major and Martha (Bowers) Taylor, prominent residents of the city who are also mentioned in another part of this work. Mr. Miller has fraternal relations with Indianapolis Lodge No. 56, K. of P., and in politics he votes with the Republican party.

THOMAS B. LAYCOCK. No slight distinction is that applying to Thomas B. Laycock through his association with the important commercial and industrial activities of Indianapolis, and he is to be noted as distinctively one of the able and versatile "captains of industry" in the Indiana metropolis-a firm believer in the larger and greater Indianapolis and a citizen of unalloyed progressiveness and public spirit. He was the founder of the T. B. Lavcock Man- ufacturing Company, of which he is secretary and treasurer, and besides being identified with this successful and extensive concern, which contributes materially to the commercial precedence of the capital city, he is also the one to whose energy and initiative is due the establishing of the unique plant known as the Industrial building, owned and controlled bv the Laycock Power House Company, of which he is president. He is one of the representa-

tive business men of Indianapolis, and his suc- cess in the industrial world is the more notable from the fact that he had previously given his attention for a number of years to an entirely different line of endeavor, having gained pres- tige of no uncertain order as one of the able and successful members of the Indiana bar. Many men excel in achievements along some given course, but to few is it given to follow entirely diverse lines and stand well to the front in each. In the career of the subject of this sketch is given striking illustration of such accomplishment. As a lawyer he won pronounced prestige and public recognition ; as a business man and manufacturer he has pro- duced results of a most positive character; and as a public official he has served with marked ability.

Thomas Benton Lavcock was born in Cali- fornia, Campbell County, Kentucky, on the 26th of October, 1854, and is a son of William H. and Minerva Boone (Dawson) Laycock. His father was a representative of one of the honored pioneer families of Ohio, in which state he was born on the 17th of July, 1829, and the mother was born in Campbell County, Kentucky, in the year 1832; she died in In- dianapolis in 1890. Of the six children of this union the subject of this sketch was the second in order of birth, and of the number three others are now living-Olive, who is the wife of Isaac W. Ruffin, of Indianapolis; Alice, who is the wife of Jasper Searla, of this city; and Cora, who is the wife of Irving M. Dean, of Indianapolis. · The marriage of the parents was solemnized in Campbell County, Kentucky, and there the father was for some time en- gaged in business as·a carpenter and builder. In 1863 William H. Laycock removed with his family from Kentucky to Indiana, first loca- ting at Wilmington. whence he removed to Washington, this state, where he engaged in contracting and building and where he was long known as a representative citizen and business man. He is now a resident of Indianapolis and is president of The T. B. Laycock Manu- facturing Company, a position which he. as- sumed at the earnest solicitation of his son 'Thomas B .. who has ever accorded to him the deepest filial solicitude and admiration for his sterling character. He has attained to the ven- erable age of four-score years, but retains dis- tinctive mental and physicial vigor and takes an active interest in the administration of the business with which he is identified-in prar- tically an honorary executive capacity. He is a devoted member of the Christian Church, as was also his wife, and is a man of broad mental ken and strong individuality.

Thomas B. Laycock was a lad of about eight

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HISTORY OF GREATER INDIANAPOLIS.

vears at the time of the family removal from Kentucky to Indiana, and to the public schools of the City of Washington, Daviess County, this state, he is indebted for his early educa- tional discipline. As a boy he learned the lessons of practical industry, having found em- ployment in turn in a stave factory, a planing mill, as driver of a delivery wagon, and finally as clerk in a store in his home city. Most of this work was done during the summer vaca- tions, and he continued his studies until he had completed the curriculum of the high school. In 1873 Mr. Laycock began the read- ing of law, in the office and under the precep- torship of Judge William R. Gardiner, of Washington, this state, and later he continued his technical studies with the law firm of O'Neill & Hefron, of of the same place. On his twenty-first birthday, October 26, 1875, he was admitted to the bar, and he forthwith en- gaged in the practice of his profession at Wash- ington, the judicial center of Daviess County. Prior to this, and before attaining to his legal majority, he had engaged in practice and had served as deputy prosecuting attorney of Daviess County. His professional novitiate was of brief duration, for he soon proved his mettle as a versatile advocate and well fortified counselor, thus gaining in due time a satisfac- tory professional business. In 1875 he became assistant prosecuting attorney for the circuit comprising Knox, Daviess and Martin counties, and later he was appointed deputy prosecuting attorney of Daviess County. In these positions . his services contributed materially to his pro- fessional reputation, and he became known as a skillful and discriminating trial lawyer. In 1877 he was elected city clerk of Washington, and the city council also appointed him city at- torney, whereupon he resigned the office of deputy prosecuting attorney, in order to devote his attention to the general practice of his pro- fession and to the duties of the municipal offices mentioned. In 1879, in the face of . strong opposition on the part of the saloon in- terests of the community, he was again chosen city clerk and attorney, and he continued to serve in this dual office until 1881.

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Greater Indianapolis : the history, the industries, the institutions, and the people of a city of homes, Part 96

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