USA > Indiana > Vigo County > Terre Haute > Greater Terre Haute and Vigo County : closing the first century's history of city and county, showing the growth of their people, industries and wealth > Part 13
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48
William C. Dorsey was reared in Terre Haute and attended the public schools in the acquirement of an education and even at that early day provided to some extent for his own support by selling newspapers. His initial step in the business world, however, was really made as an office boy for the old Express, one of the early newspapers of the city. He con- tinued there until his capability and trustworthiness secured him promo- tion to the position of press feeder and ultimately he became a compositor. Not desiring to engage in the printing trade as a life work, however, he entered upon an apprenticeship at the machinist's trade in the old Phoenix foundry, after which he turned his attention to railroading for a number of years. While thus busily occupied during the day he studied civil engineering at night, and in 1886 took up that work, being employed as a
580
GREATER TERRE HAUTE AND VIGO COUNTY.
civil engineer by the city of Terre Haute as first assistant engineer, in which capacity he remained until 1891. In that year he took up general contracting on public works and is thus busily engaged at the present time. The firm with which he is associated has done contract work from the upper peninsula of Michigan on the north, to Mexico on the south, and their operations have involved the expenditure of millions of dollars.
As time has passed Mr. Dorsey has developed his latent powers and energies and has become recognized as a man of resourceful business abil- ity, now controlling large affairs and varied interests. Aside from being president and general manager of the Dorsey Construction Company, he he is also a member of the Dorsey & Harris Contracting Company, presi- dent of the Dorsey Sand & Gravel Company, president of the Terre Haute Parcel Delivery Company and a member of the Averett-Dorsey Drug Company. He is likewise interested in farming. In business affairs he is energetic, prompt and notably reliable and has in a large measure that quality of everyday common sense which is an indispensable element in all success. He possesses, too, keen perception and honesty of pur- pose, guided by resistless will power. At the same time he has always been fair in his treatment of employes and by reason of personal merit and ability has gained a position of distinction in the business world.
In 1899 Mr. Dorsey was married to Miss Lilly A. Carpenter, who was born in Cloverland, Clay county, Indiana, a daughter of William H. H. Carpenter, a farmer, now deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Dorsey are now parents of a son and daughter: Arthur E., born June 17, 1890, and Eugenia Blanche, born November 23, 1897. Mr. Dorsey is connected fraternally with several societies, including the Masons. the Knights of Pythias, the Elks, and the Maccabees. He has likewise taken an active interest in politics, and although he has never sought nor desired office, he filled for two terms, the position of deputy oil inspector of the state. A man of great natural ability, his success in business from the beginning has been uniform and rapid. As has been truly remarked, after all that may be done for a man in the way of giving him early opportunities for obtaining the requirements which are sought in schools and in books, he must essentially formulate, determine and give shape to his own character and this is what Mr. Dorsey has done. Persevering in the pursuit of a persistent purpose and prompted at all times by laudable ambition he has gained a most satisfactory reward.
JOSEPHI STRONG, founder of the wholesale house of Joseph Strong & Company, is a native of Chillicothe, Ohio. He was born June 25. 1839, of the marriage of William Y. and Anna (Massie) Strong,
581
GREATER TERRE HAUTE AND VIGO COUNTY.
natives of Pennsylvania and Kentucky respectively. The father was for years engaged in merchandising in Chillicothe, Ohio, to which city he removed from Philadelphia-his birth place-in early manhood. His wife died while they were residents of Ohio. His father came to Terre Haute, passing away while temporarily residing with his son in this city.
Reared in the place of his nativity, Joseph Strong acquired his edu- cation through the medium of the public schools and began his business career in 1861, in the old Commercial Bank, of Cincinnati. Four years later he removed from that city to Terre Haute and soon afterward estab- lished a wholesale grocery house in the old Dowling Hall, on North Sixth street, between Wabash and Cherry streets, now occupied by the Miller-Parrott bakery. He began operations on a comparatively small scale but soon was accorded a liberal patronage, and increased his facilities to meet the growth of his trade from year to year until he was at the head of one of the leading wholesale enterprises of the city. In the early seventies he began making a specialty of coffee and spices and soon after- ward concentrated his attention entirely upon this line, establishing him- self in his present three-story brick block at the corner of Sixth and Ohio streets, the building being erected especially for his business. He was the pioneer coffee and spice merchant of Terre Haute and in 1889 the firm of Joseph Strong & Company was formed by the admission of Anthony G. Blake to a partnership in the business. There is no esoteric phase in his entire commercial career. On the contrary his business record is as an open book which all may read and on its pages are set down many lessons that might be profitably followed, showing the methods he has followed whereby he has won simultaneously success and an honored name. He is also a director of the Terre Haute National Bank and of the Citizens' Mutual Heating Company, and his opinions on business matters are always received with respect and largely regarded as authoritative, for his fellow townsmen have recognized the soundness of his views and his keen perception.
Mr. Strong was married in 1866, to Miss Mary B. Blake, a daugh- ter of Dr. Richard Blake, now deceased, one of the old time and success- ful practicing physicians of Terre Haute. As the years have passed six children have been added to the Strong household, namely: Anna M .. the wife of Benjamin McKeen, general manager of the Vandalia Railroad Company, with headquarters at St. Louis, Missouri; Richard B., who wedded Catherine Carlton and resides in Terre Haute : Henrietta 1)., the wife of S. Crawford McKeen, who is cashier of the McKeen National Bank, of this city : Franceska G., the wife of Grant Fairbanks, a resident of Haverhill, Massachusetts : Susan M., the wife of James Cooper, Jr., an attorney of Terre Haute, and Elizabeth A. B., the wife of John L., Crawford, also a resident of this city.
.
582
GREATER TERRE HAUTE AND VIGO COUNTY.
Of the Commercial club, the leading commercial club of the city, Mr. Strong is a valued and representative member and he is also identified with the Fort Harrison Club and with the St. Stephen's Episcopal church-asso- ciations which indicate much of the character of his interests and the rules which have governed his conduct throughout a useful, active and honorable career. The energy, ability and talent which he possesses have been manifest in his establishment and control of an important commer- cial enterprise. His record is an illustration of what can be done if a man with a clear brain and willing hands but sets himself seriously to the real labors and responsibilities of life. He has never feared that labo- rious attention to the details of business so necessary to achieve success and this essential quality has ever been guided by a sense of right which will tolerate only the employment of those means that will bear most rigid examination, by a fairness of intention that neither seeks nor requires disguise. It is but just and merited praise to say of him that as a business man he ranks with the ablest, as a citizen he is honorable, prompt and true to every engagement and as a man he holds the honor and esteem of all classes of people.
ANTHONY GROVERMAN BLAKE .- In the varied business interests which go to make up the aggregate of Terre Haute's commercial prom- inence and importance the wholesale house of Joseph Strong & Com- pany is well known. With this enterprise Anthony G. Blake is con- nected as junior partner and is well known in business circles as a man of enterprise, who, as the architect of his own fortunes has builded wisely and well. A native son of Terre Haute, he was born June 22, 1851. His father, the late Richard Blake, came from Crawford county, Maryland, to this city at an early period in its development and became one of its leading physicians, practicing for many years. For a long period he was associated with Dr. Ball, whose prominence as an early member of the medical fraternity here left its impress upon the history of the city. Dr. Blake, too, is well remembered by those who knew and esteemed him for his professional and personal worth. He passed away, however, during the early boyhood of his son Anthony. The mother bore the maiden name of Franceska J. Groverman.
Reared in the city of his nativity, Anthony G. Blake pursued his education in the public schools and on the 15th of September, 1868, made his way from the old Blake homestead east of the city to the establishment of Joseph Strong, and securing a position, he entered upon active con- nection with the house, remaining as an employe until 1888, when he was admitted to the firm as the junior partner. This house was established as a wholesale grocery enterprise but in the course of years began mak-
583
GREATER TERRE HAUTE AND VIGO COUNTY.
ing a specialty of coffees and spices, and so gratifying was the reputa- tion which it secured in this connection and so large the trade that other lines were closed out and the business of the house was concentrated upon the sale of those articles. Mr. Blake gradually gained knowledge of the business in every department and passing on to a position of execu- tive control and administrative direction, he has now stood for twenty years as one of the owners and principal factors in the successful control of this important business.
In 1875 Mr. Blake was united in marriage to Miss Catherine J. Morgan, whose father, Jasper A. Morgan, came from Youngstown, Ohio, to Terre Haute and was a partner in the old Terre Haute nail works. Mrs. Blake died in 1899, leaving four children, namely : Edward M., who resides in Denver, Colorado; Fannie A., who is still under the parental roof but at the present writing is traveling through Europe ; Mary J., the wife of Robert Herkimer, a resident of Terre Haute ; and Charles W., who is city salesman, representing the firm of Joseph Strong & Company.
Having lost his first wife, Mr. Blake wedded Mrs. Eva W. Floyd ( nee Walsworth), of Mendota, Illinois. Socially he is connected with the Commercial Club and with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He is a man of even temperament, calm and self-poised, of a refined character, in whom nature and culture have vied in making an honored and interesting gentleman, while the inherent force of his own character has gained him a place with the representative merchants of his native city.
WILSON H. SOALE .- One of the able jurists practicing at the bar of Terre Haute is Wilson H. Soale, a native son of Ohio. His parents, Peter and Sarah ( Parkes) Soale, were of German and Irish descent. On his father's farm in Highland county, Ohio. Wilson H. Soale attained to years of maturity, receiving his primary education in the district schools and his higher educational training in the college at Hillsboro. where he pursued a regular classical course and graduated with the class of 1874. He was well fitted to begin his preparation for the practice of law, and after studying at Hillsboro and being admitted to the bar he practiced in Highland and Ross counties until 1883, at that time accepting a position in the United States pension office, and in 1884 he was appointed supervisor of pensions of the state of Indiana, with headquarters at Terre Haute, but after a time resigned that position to resume his law. practice, still maintaining his residence in Terre Haute, and his career has been a successful one. In 1890 he was appointed supervisor of the census for the fourth district of Indiana.
584 GREATER TERRE HAUTE AND VIGO COUNTY.
JUDGE JOSIAN T. WALKER .- In the history of the courts and those who are prominent as representatives of the bar mention should be made of Judge Josiah T. Walker, who formerly sat upon the bench of the city court and is now practicing law in Terre Haute with a large and distinctively representative clientage. He was born upon a farm near Worthington, Greene county, Indiana, on the 26th of March, 1865. In pioneer days his grandfather, Jesse Josiah Walker, located in that county and took up the arduous work of developing and improving the district. He was a native of Pennsylvania, whence he removed to Coshocton county, Ohio, and later came to Indiana.
His son, James Josiah Walker, was born in Coshocton county, Ohio, in 1835, and came with his family to Greene county, Indiana, in his boyhood days. His life was devoted to general agricultural pursuits and constituted a busy, active and useful career. He bought and cleared three different farms in Greene county, thus contributing materially to its sub- stantial development. When the Civil war came on his patriotism led him to volunteer as a soldier but on account of a severe attack of typhoid fever earlier in life which left him in poor physical condition, he was rejected. Later he was drafted but was again rejected and on still another occasion he volunteered but did not pass physical muster. When General Morgan was on his raid in Indiana, Mr. Walker rode all night, expecting to be able to join the Union forces at Bloomington. Even though he did not get to render active service at the front as a soldier, he was unfaltering in his loyalty to the advocacy of the Union cause, and the Walker family was well represented in the army, as five of the brothers enlisted from Greene county and did valiant service in the south, William Walker giv- ing his life upon the altar of his country, his death occurring while he was a member of the Union army. Leander, Thomas, George W. and Ransom Walker, were also numbered among the boys in blue, the last named entering the service when but a youth of fifteen years.
The mother of Judge Walker is Mrs. Eliza E. (Taylor) Walker, who was born near Maysville, Kentucky, in 1840, and was a daughter of Richard Taylor, of Virginia birth, who became an early settler and miller of Kentucky. Later he removed to Greene county, Indiana, and cast in his lot with its pioneer settlers. There amid the conditions and environ- ments of frontier life Mrs. Walker was reared and is still residing upon the old home farm near Midland, where she and her husband spent so many happy years. In 1876, however, she was called upon to mourn the loss of her husband.
Judge Walker was reared upon the home farm, early becoming familiar with the duties and labors that fall to the lot of the agriculturist. The death of his father, which occurred when the Judge was but a boy
.
THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY
Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations. 1909
585
GREATER TERRE HAUTE AND VIGO COUNTY.
of eleven years, left him, in a measure, the support of his widowed mother and the other children of the family. In early manhood he taught school for four years during the winter seasons, while in the summer months he worked upon the home farm in planting, plowing and harvesting of the crops. Every leisure moment during this period was devoted to reading law, for he had become imbued with a desire to join the legal fraternity and to this end he took a course in DePauw University. He then read law for three years in the office of Wilson & Todd, at Bluffton, Indiana. and in 1892 located in Terre Haute for the practice of his profession.
On coming to this city Judge Walker formed a partnership with Judge Eggleston, with whom he continued for about a year. Since that time he has been alone in practice and has risen through his own merits, unaided by the influencee or assistance of friends. For two years he served as deputy prosecuting attorney of Vigo county, and for sixteen months was judge of the city court, during which time he gained an enviable reputation for fairness, justice and equity. His decisions were based upon the law and its application to the points in issue and the correctness of his opinions was uniformly acknowledged.
In 1906 Judge Walker was a leading candidate before the Republican primaries for the office of judge of the superior court and received the nomination, but went down with his party in a Democratic landslide. He has served as a member of the board of police commissioners of Terre Haute, under the old metropolitan police system, having been appointed by Governor Durbin. For the last twenty years Mr. Walker has taken an active part in local and state politics.
Judge Walker is well known socially, is a valued member of the Commercial Club, is a past master of Social Lodge, No. 86, AAncient Free and Accepted Masons, and likewise belongs to the Knights of Pythias fraternity. He is greatly esteemed in the community and enjoys the un- qualified regard of his professional associates as well as of the general public.
WILLIAM ALBERT HAMILTON .- Among his business associates Wil- liam A. Hamilton is known as an able and enterprising insurance man and a strong factor in large enterprises which tend to materially develop the - city of Terre Haute, and among citizens generally he stands as one of their best representatives, an earnest and generous promoter of the higher movements along the line of charity and religion. Specifically, his posi- tion in the insurance community is as manager of the Mutual Life In- surance Company, of New York, and as vice president of the Doak- Riddle-Hamilton Company, insurance and real estate agents. He came to Indiana from the east, his birth having occurred in Washington
.
586
GREATER TERRE HAUTE AND VIGO COUNTY.
county, Pennsylvania, on the 5th of May, 1857. His parents. Joseph Wright and Elizabeth ( Palmer ) Hamilton, were also natives of the Keystone state and were of Scotch-Irish descent, while both families were established in the new world during the colonial period of American history. The Hamilton family was well represented in the Patriot army during the Revolutionary war. Joseph W. Hamilton became a contractor on public works and for many years resided near Pittsburg, Pennsylvania.
William A. Hamilton acquired a good English education, and began his business career as cashier in a wholesale store in Pittsburg. In 1876 he became a resident of Terre Haute, and two years later became a mem- ber of the real estate and insurance firm known as Riddle, Hamilton & Company. This business was founded in 1863 by W. B. Wharton and J. Irving Riddle, and has had a continuous existence to the present time. Since 1892 Mr. Hamilton has held his present position with the Mutual Life Insurance Company, of New York city, and under his management the business of the company in its allotted territory has out- ranked that of any other similar corporation. Together with his asso- ciates, Mr. Hamilton is largely interested in all lines of insurance, as well as in the real estate and rental business, and the Doak-Riddle-Hamilton Company is the leader of its class in Terre Haute. Personally Mr. Hamilton is also a stockholder in a number of outside business enterprises of an important character, and his influence is both broad and high among his business and commercial associates. He is a charter member of the Commercial Club and is also a member of the Young Business Men's Club, and is a representative of the best progress in these fields of life.
In 1881 occurred the marriage of Mr. Hamilton and Miss Clara Bitner, the wedding being celebrated in New Castle, Pennsylvania. The three children of their union are Lloyd Park. Paul Bitner and William A. Hamilton, Jr., and the entire family is widely known in Terre Haute, its members being welcome guests at many of the most important social functions. Mr. Hamilton's patriotic ancestry gives him firm standing among the Sons of the American Revolution, and he has already served one term as president of the Indiana society. He is also a thirty-second degree Mason and a member of the Mystic Shrine, and is even more widely known for his activity in charitable and religious work. to the support of which he has donated not only abundantly of his means, but of his time and abilities. He is an elder in the Central Presbyterian church, and for years has been an earnest and successful teacher of young men in the Sunday school. He is also a member of the board of the Light House Mission, which is a non-sectarian organization doing a noble work among the deserving poor of the city, and for several years
587
GREATER TERRE HAUTE AND VIGO COUNTY.
has served as director in the Young Men's Christian Association and the Union Hospital. In the midst of such varied and broad activities as has been described above, it may be unnecessary to add that although he is a Republican voter, he has never attempted to become a leader.
In whatever field of endeavor Mr. Hamilton has entered he has evinced characteristic qualities of quick apprehension, prompt decision, sound judgment, ready sympathy and broad charity. His life record is therefore fertile in valuable object lessons. The spirit of self-help has also been his, in whatever position he has been placed, so that his suc- cess in business and the great good he has been able to accomplish with his abundant means come to him as a logical and just reward for his strong traits and his staunch virtues.
FRED WESLEY BEAL .- An able and popular attorney and one of the most efficient prosecuting attorneys ever connected with the public ser- vice of Vigo county, Fred W. Beal, of Terre Haute, has also the distinction of descent from one of the most honorable pioneer families of that sec- tion of the state. He was born near Rockville, Parke county, Indiana, on the 20th of October, 1870, son of Mark and Margaret A. ( Bailor) Beal, both of the parents .being now residents of Terre Haute. Fred W. came to this city when but a year old, and it has been his home ever since, the family homestead being in Otter Creek township, just north of the city. He spent his earlier years on the farm, and after draining the educational resources of the district school in his neighborhood assumed his more advanced studies at the Terre Haute high school. In 1889 he graduated with unusual honors from that institution, having made the best percentage (among the boys) for the four years' course and won a scholarship in Wabash University. The succeeding four terms were spent in attendance at the Indiana State Normal School, after which he taught school for a year in Otter Creek township. As is the case with many ambitious young men, Mr. Beal's teaching proved but a stepping stone to the door of his legal career, which opened into the law department of the University of Michigan. After his graduation therefrom, in 1893 he entered the law office of Davis, Robinson & Reynolds, of Terre Haute, as a practi- tioner, having been admitted to the bar the preceding year, while still a student at the university. In 1897 he formed a partnership with Sanford C. Davis, which was dissolved by the death of the latter in the following year. This (1898) was also the year of his election to the office of prosecuting attorney of Vigo county, his majority of 532 votes making him one of only three successful candidates on the Democratic ticket. His service was so marked for its energy and ability, as well as his conservatism in the bringing of doubtful suits, that he was re-elected by a
588
GREATER TERRE HAUTE AND VIGO COUNTY.
majority of 672. While prosecuting attorney he tried the only woman ever sentenced to prison for life in Vigo county, and while prosecutor and deputy convicted three of the seven murderers who have been convicted during the history of Vigo county. Futhermore, every indictment which he prepared withstood the test of the court. After retiring from office he practiced alone until November, 1907, when he became associated with Samuel K. Duvall, under the firm name of Duvall & Beal, and has continued since in a substantial and growing practice. Mr. Beal's activities extend far beyond the court and the law office, important as these are ; he is a citizen of broad intelligence and practical helpfulness, being an earnest member of the Commercial Club and other organizations which participate in the advancement of the city. He is also an influential figure in the fraternities, his connections being with the following organiza- tions : Social Lodge, No. 86, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons ; Knights of Pythias, Uniform Rank; Fort Harrison Lodge, No. 157, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Encampment and Canton McKeen ; the Improved Order of Red Men, and other fraternities. On July 30, 1901, Mr. Beal was united in marriage with Miss Cora E. Case, daughter of Marvin H. Case, one of the leading farmers of Parke county, Indiana, and vice president of the Rockville (Indiana) National Bank. The child of this union, Cora Roselyn Beal, was born on the 30th of October, 1903.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.