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 8
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In 1885 Mr. Mckeever was married to Miss Fannie Kelly, who died in 1891. In 1894 he was again married, his second union being with Miss Emma Miller. He is well known in Terre Haute, where his entire life has been passed and has made a creditable business record for fidelity and industry. No higher testimonial of his capable service could be given than the fact that he has been in the employ of one company for thirty-five years.
JESSE H. SROFE, president and manager of the Up-to-Date Manu- facturing Company, of Terre Haute, is a native of Brown county, Ohio, born December 15, 1857, his parents being Thomas L. and Rachel M. (Holten) Srofe, both of whom are natives of Ohio and representatives of old pioneer families of the state, while the more remote ancestry settled in America at an early period in the colonization of the new world. The father was a carpenter and farmer and Jesse H. Srofe was reared upon the home farm to the age of fifteen years, when he started out in life on his own account and has since been dependent upon his own resources. He had been left fatherless in the meantime and it was necessary that he put aside his text-books and leave school in order to assist in the support of his widowed mother, who was dependent upon him for many years, receiving from him every filial care and attention. She long survived her husband, passing away about 1904.
Jesse H. Srofe and a brother are now the only survivors in a family of five children. On starting out in life on his own account he eagerly availed himself of every opportunity, whereby he could make an honest dollar. He was therefore variously employed for several years and for sometime worked in the timber purchasing department of the Penn- sylvania Railroad. In 1889 he became a traveling salesman for Kitssel- man Brothers, of Muncie, Indiana, who were manufacturers in a business line similar to that in which Mr. Srofe is now engaged. He represented that house upon the road as a traveling salesman for twelve years and became thoroughly conversant with the business. Laudable ambition prompting him to engage in business on his own account, he then organized the Kokomo Fence Company, of Kokomo, Indiana, where he continued until 1899, when he sold his interests there and came to Terre Haute. Here he built his present plant and organized the Up-to-Date Manufacturing Company. This is a stock company which was incor- porated in 1899 and was the first factory established in Terre Haute through the influence of any commercial club. He is now president and manager of the business with Harry E. Bindley as secretary. The company manufactures all kinds of iron and wire fencing, fire escapes, wire works for offices and all kinds of iron stable fixtures and light structural iron
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work. Their output also includes window guards, wire cloth and similar materials. The products are sold and shipped to every state and territory of the Union and a large export trade is now enjoyed, for they have many patrons in foreign countries. The factory has never been closed a day during the nine years of its existence and the business has steadily in- creased. Mr. Srofe had become thoroughly familiar with the trade during the previous years of experience and established his enterprise upon a safe basis, while as the years passed he has gradually extended the scope of his business and has kept upon the market high grade materials in his line of manufacture.
In the year 1880 Mr. Srofe was married to Miss Catherine Kress, of Fayette county, Ohio, and they have three children, Fred L., Clifford C. and Jesse H., Jr. Mr. Srofe is a Master Mason and is a member and director of the Terre Haute Commercial Club. His business career has been one of steady progression. In early positions which he occupied his salary was small, but like many other brainy, energetic young men who have left their impress upon the business development of the west, he did not wait for a specially brilliant opening. Indeed he could not wait and his natural industry would not have permitted him to do so even if his financial circumstances had been such as to make it possible. In early life he showed conspicuously the traits of character that have made him a substantial, enterprising and successful business man. He has perhaps in his business career not found all days equally bright but his rich in- heritance of energy and pluck has enabled him to press forward, even in the face of discouragements and to eventually win the success for which he was striving. .
DAVID R. ULMER, M. D .- Since January, 1906, Dr. Ulmer has practiced medicine in Terre Haute, but before entering actively upon the work of the profession he thoroughly equipped himself in every possible manner, both in theory and practice, and studied under the best tutors. He is a graduate of the Barnes Medical College, of St. Louis, with the class of 1901, and during his last year in that institution he held an appoint- ment in the City Provident Association. In 1901-2 he was house surgeon in the Alexander ( Indiana ) Hospital, and following this, in 1902, he pursued a course in the New York Post-Graduate Medical College. The year of 1905 was spent in Europe, where he studied under the best masters of the old country, pursuing post-graduate work in the West London Hospital and clinical courses in Vienna, Berlin and Paris. It was after his return from abroad that Dr. Ulmer began the practice of medicine in Terre Haute, and in the following year he entered upon a course of opera- tive surgery in the Chicago Post-Graduate College. He is a member of the Vigo County, State and American Medical societies.
- THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations. 1909
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Dr. Ulmer was born in Gerard, Kansas, March 29, 1871, a son of John and Sarah (Lokey) Ulmer. The father served three years as a soldier in the Union army in the Civil war, and he now resides with his son David. He was a farmer, and the first thirteen years of the Doctor's life was spent on the farm. The family then moving to St. Louis, Mis- souri, he attended school there, and later was a student in the Christian University, at Canton, Missouri. He graduated from that institution with the class of 1897 and with the degree of Master of Ancient Litera- ture. With this excellent literary training he was well prepared to enter upon the study of medicine, and the success he has already won in the profession is the merited reward of thorough study and research. Dr. Ulmer is specializing along the line of surgery and diseases of women.
Dr. Ulmer married in 1904, Miss Blanche Trimble, of St. Louis, Missouri. He is a member of the Methodist church, and Mrs. Ulmer, of the Christian church. He has fraternal membership with the Knights of Pythias.
FRANK L. GILBERT, engaged in the wholesale and retail cigar trade in Terre Haute, his native city, was born on the 7th of April, 1876. His parents were William Henry and Kate J. (Lockwood) Gilbert. His father, a native of England, was born May 16, 1846, and died in Terre Haute, January 5, 1888. During his childhood days he was taken from his native land to Toronto, Canada, and thence to Paris, Illinois, from which place he came to Terre Haute soon after the close of the Civil war. He had been a loyal defender of the Union cause during the period of hostilities between the north and the south, serving for a time as a member of Company C, One Hundred and Thirty-fifth Regiment, Illinois Infantry. Following his arrival in this city, Mr. Gilbert accepted a position in a shoe store as a salesman and such was his enterprise, diligence and econ- omy that after a few years he became a shoe merchant, conducting business on his own account. Later he became a successful confectioner and continued in that line of business up to the time of his demise. He be- longed to that class of representative American men who contribute to the general welfare while promoting individual prosperity. In 1873 he wedded Miss Kate J. Lockwood, a native of Cincinnati, Ohio, and a daughter of William B. and Delia M. (Sherman) Lockwood, both of whom were natives of New York. They became residents of Terre Haute in 1853 and her father was for many years engaged in the stove and tinware business here, but in later life established and conducted a confectionery store. He died in 1874, when about sixty years of age. His widow is now one of the oldest ladies residing in Vigo county, having passed the eighty-seventh milestone on life's journey. She now makes her home
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with her daughter. Mrs. Gilbert. Her children were as follows : James F., who is deceased : George E., Kate J., now Mrs. Gilbert ; Emma H .. and Charles and Frank L., both of whom have passed away. Mr. Lockwood was a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and his religious faith was indicated by his membership in the Christian church. His widow has been a life long member of that church and a most earnest Christian woman. William Henry Gilbert likewise affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and although a member of the Methodist church in early life in his later days he attended the Christian church with his wife. Unto them were born two children, Frank L. and Harry W.
In taking up the personal history of Frank L. Gilbert we present to our readers the life record of one who is widely and favorably known in this city. Here his entire life has been passed. He was reared under the parental roof and at the usual age began his education as a public school student, passing through consecutive gradcs and thus becoming well equipped for life's practical and responsible duties. He also pre- pared for a business career by a course of study in Terre Haute Commer- cial College, where he mastered the art of bookkeeping. He not only gained a knowledge of that branch but he also displayed the elemental strength of his character by working in order to pay his way through the school. Entering upon his business career, he was for about one year in the employ of a real estate concern and then became bookkeeper for a bicycle company, with which he continued for about the same length of time. For a number of years he has been a bookkeeper in the employ of E. H. Bindly & Company, wholesale druggists, and in 1898 he established an independent business venture, opening a cigar store, which he has con- ducted along both wholesale and retail lines, having the largest and finest cigar store in Terre Haute. He began this business with a small capital but by reason of excellent management he has witnessed the steady growth and development of his trade which has now assumed extensive proportions and brings him a gratifying capital.
Mr. Gilbert is a member of the Young Business Men's Club and also of the Travelers' Protective Association and is interested in all that pertains to the commercial development and progress of the city. Fra- ternally he is connected with the Masons and has taken the degrees of the council. He is also a Knight of Pythias and a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.
In 1889 Mr. Gilbert was married to Miss Edith L. Hazelett, of Clin- ton, Indiana, and they are well known in social circles in the city, the hospitality of many of the best homes being freely accorded them.
Harry W. Gilbert, brother of Frank L. Gilbert, is serving as a sales-
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man for the latter and has charge of the wholesale department. He was born in Terre Haute on the 8th of February, 1882, and was also educated in the public schools, while later he pursued a course in stenography and bookkeeping in the Terre Haute Commercial College. After being in the employ of the Central Coal Company for about one year he became city salesman in the cigar trade and has since remained in the house, being now in charge of the wholesale department and manifesting in its control a spirit of intense activity and energy. He, too, is a member of the Travelers' Protective Association, and also a Mason. In 1904 he married Miss Ione, a daughter of R. H. Catlin, a prominent lawyer of Terre Haute.
CHARLES E. DAVIS, who is devoting his time and energies to the real estate business in Terre Haute, first opened his eyes to the light of day on a farm in Linton township, Vigo county, July 29. 1855. His parents were David W. and Mary F. Turner Davis, both of whom were natives of Kentucky. The father, who was born in 1834, departed this life in April. 1907, while the mother, whose birth occurred in 1835, is still living. The paternal grandfather, William Davis, and the ma- ternal grandfather, John W. Turner, came from Kentucky at about the same time and both located in Linton township. Vigo county, where their remaining days were passed. They aided in the pioneer development of the locality and their efforts in behalf of the community were of a most beneficial and far-reaching character.
No event of special importance occurred to vary the routine of farm life for Charles E. Davis in his boyhood. He aided in the work of plow- ing, planting and in the cultivation of the crops until they reached fruition in golden harvests. When not busy in the fields he attended the public schools and eventually became a student of Terre Haute Commercial Col- lege, from which he was graduated. He then took up educational work in 1872 and for twenty-two years continued teaching in the country schools, devoting the winter seasons to that profession, while in the summer months he carried on the work of the fields. A coincident of his experience is that he taught his first and last school at the Oregon schoolhouse and it was the first school which he attended as a boy. He was known through- out the community as a capable educator, imparting clearly and readily to others the knowledge that he had acquired, maintaining discipline and encouraging and inspiring his pupils with his own zeal and interest in the work.
His official service began in 1895, when he was appointed deputy auditor by James Soules, in which position he continued until 1903, when he became deputy under Auditor Frank E. Benjamin. This position he resigned, however, in a short time to become deputy treasurer under
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County Treasurer Clark. His public service was characterized by the utmost faithfulness in which he gained the full esteem of those under whom he served. In June, 1906, he opened a real estate and insurance office and at the same time became secretary of the Merchants' Savings and Loan Association. To these business interests he is now giving his time and attention with good success.
Mr. Davis married Clara Whetsel, who was born in Vermilion county, Indiana. a daughter of Andrew Whetsel. a native of Ohio. Their children are Raymond W. and Ward G., both of whom are now in North Dakota : Grace, who married Oscar A. Spear, and resides in Wagner, Oklahoma ; Clyde V., a bookkeeper in the employ of the Vandalia Coal Company, of Terre Haute : Clara, Charles E., Jr., and Mary.
In his fraternal relations Mr. Davis is a Mason and is also identified with the Odd Fellows and the Knights of Pythias. He has ever dis- charged his duties with marked ability and fairness, for he is a most loyal. public-spirited citizen. As a business man he has been conspicuous among his associates not only for his success, but for his probity, fairness and honorable methods. In everything he has been eminently practical and this has been manifest not only in his business undertakings but also in social and private life.
SILAS C. BEACH .- For many years Silas C. Beach was prominently connected with the building interests of Terre Haute, many of its most sub- stantial residences and business houses standing as monuments to his skill and ability, but he is now living retired from active business life. He was born in Newton, Sussex county, New Jersey, September 8, 1833, a son of Silas C. and Susan (Ludlow) Beach, born respectively in the states of New Jersey and New York. Silas C. Beach, Sr., died when his son and namesake was but three months old, and when he was about eight. years old his mother married again and moved to Honesdale, Penn- sylvania, where they resided for four years, during a similar period were residents of Brooklyn, New York, and in the spring of 1850 the family came west from New York to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, by railroad. thence by canal to Pittsburg, their boats having been drawn over the mountains in sections, from Pittsburg down the Ohio and up the Wabash to Terre Haute, three weeks having been spent en route.
Young Beach received his educational training in the east under the able instructions of his mother, who taught while a widow, and he worked on a farm previous to the removal of the family to the west. After coming to Terre Haute he began learning bricklaying and plaster- ing with his stepfather. Charles C. Knapp, and worked at the trade until during the latter part of the war, or until he entered the field as a con-
@ @ Beach
THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY
Aster, Lenox and Tildem Foundations. 1909
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tractor and builder. He thus became one of the pioneer contractors of Terre Haute, and continued in the business until his retirement, in 1899. Dur- ing that time he erected all of the McKeen blocks, did the brick work on the postoffice, built the Minshall home, the Joseph Strong buildings, Ray's wholesale houses, and many others, and for over five years was a mem- ber of the board of public works, while from 1882 to 1883 he was a mem- ber of the city council. He is a charter member of the Wabash Building and Loan Association, and the only one of the original charter members now living, and a member of the first Harrison Club, and is a member and trustee of the First Congregational church, of which he has been a member for the past forty-five years. He is a member of the Fort Harrison Club and of the board of trustees of the Rose Orphans' Home.
Mr. Beach married Adaline Conn, a sister of Nelson W. Conn, and she died in April, 1879, leaving one son, William C. Beach, of Terre Haute. Mr. Beach afterward married Amelia C. Baur, a daughter of John J. Baur, of Terre Haute.
RAY GREENE JENCKES .- By intense and well directed activity, Ray Greene Jenckes is contributing to the sum total business enterprise which constitutes the measure of Terre Haute's growth and prosperity. He is now manager of the American Hominy Company, a leading productive in- dustry of the city, and aside from commercial interests he labors for public welfare through his co-operation with many movements for the municipal good. Vigo county numbers him among her native sons, his birth having occurred at the old Jenckes homestead east of the city, the farm being now comprised within the boundaries which is Highland Lawn cemetery and the old home in which his birth occurred is still standing there. His natal day was July II. 1847. His parents, Joseph S. and Isabella Mary (Greene) Jenckes, were both natives of Rhode Island and representatives of old families of that state. The old Jenckes home is still standing in Providence and is more than two hundred years old. Both families came originally from Wales to the new world. The paternal grandfather was Joseph Jenckes, who on leaving the east removed to In- diana in 1823, making the trip in a closed carriage to Vigo county. He died in Terre Haute a short time after his removal to the west.
Joseph Jenckes, the father of our subject, arrived in Vigo county in 1827. He located in Terre Haute and purchased many acres of choice land in the vicinity of the city. For sometime he made his home on the tract now occupied by Highland Lawn cemetery, which was afterward soll to the city by our subject. Later in life he became cashier of the old State Bank of Terre Haute, his period of banking activity extending from 1849 until 1852. He then retired to his country place and his remaining
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days were largely devoted to agricultural pursuits and the supervision of his invested interests. During the latter years of his life he made his home in Terre Haute where he passed away in 1888, at the age of eighty- five years. He had long survived his wife, who died August 1, 1863, in her fifty-ninth year. In their family were six children, one of whom died in infancy.
Ray G. Jenckes, whose name forms the caption of this review. was reared upon the home farm to his fifteenth year and early became familiar with the duties and labors that fall to the lot of the agriculturist. His preliminary education was acquired in the district schools, while later he studied in Gambier (Ohio) College and in the college at Poughkeepsie, New York. He has had a varied business career and has contributed in substantial measure to the welfare and upbuilding of the city. He served as cashier of a bank for eight years, at one time was engaged in the manufacture of staves and barrels and also for a period carried on gen- cral merchandising. A wholesale lumber business has likewise claimed his time and energies and in 1873 he purchased an interest in the Hudnut Hominy Mills, with which he has since been connected, covering a period of thirty-five years. His business has constantly increased. be- coming an important productive industry of the city and Mr. Jenckes has become well known in this line of manufacture, serving at the present time as a member of the executive board of the American Hominy Company. He is also largely interested in agricultural pursuits and owns four large farms in this vicinity, from which he derives a good rental. One of these properties is located in Otter Creek township, Vigo county, another at Numa, Parke county, Indiana, a third about ten miles west in Clark county. Ilinois, and the fourth in the Country Club. He also owns the Terre Haute Country Club grounds, the land which is thus utilized having been in possession of the Jenckes family since 1836. Mr. Jenckes is also interested in two grain elevators and the foregoing will indicate him to be a man of ready resource and unflagging enterprise, who by carefully directed labor has met with gratifying success. In his business affairs he seems to look beyond the exigencies of the moment to the possibilities of the future and to rate correctly the chances for successes and the possibilities of failure. He therefore never makes a mistake in looking for prosperity under conditions that prevent its attainment and at the same time he possesses a spirit of strong purpose and energy that enables him to conquor many obstacles and difficulties and work his way steadily upward to the goal of prosperity.
Mr. Jenckes was married, in 1877, to Miss Grace Floyd, of Keokuk, a native of Terre Haute and a daughter of John G. Floyd, an engineer of the United States army, who came to Terre Haute on official business.
THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY
Astor, Lonox and Tilden Foundations. 1909
Allen Ruce
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They had but one child, Grace Louise. Mr. Jenckes is a member of the Fort Harrison Club, with which he has been identified from its organization, and he is also connected with the Country Club. He is a representative of one of the prominent old families of the county, identi- fied with the interests of this section of the state from the period of its earliest development, while his personal attributes of character well entitle him to mention among the valued and representative citizens of this locality.
ALLEN PENCE, M. D .- The sudden death of Dr. Allen Pence, on January 22, 1908, removed from the medical profession of Terre Haute its oldest practicing member, and from the community at large one of its most honorable representatives and its best citizens. Fine physician though he was, he was far more than that ; he was a man of broad useful- ness, helpful sympathy and openhanded generosity. Locating in Terre Haute on the 4th of July, 1844, Dr. Pence has been not only actively identified with the noble work of his profession for nearly sixty-four years, but with municipal affairs of the community and with the higher activities of benevolence and charity. He was a fine type of the old-time doctor, whose ripening years witnessed an increasing experience in benefi- cent work and a progressive strength and richness of character.
Dr. Pence was born near Urbana, Ohio, on the 8th of September. 1819. His father, Joseph Pence, was a native of Virginia, coming from German stock, and his mother, Sarah (Rector) Pence, was born in Kentucky, of English parentage. The son spent his boyhood years upon a farm, studied in the country schools, and at the age of sixteen began teaching in Logan county, Illinois. Two influences determined him to study medicine: The inborn love of ministering to the sick, which he inherited from his mother, and an accident which, at the age of six weeks, permanently dislocated his hip, and incapacited him for manual labor for life. This burden of physical disability turned his attention to all bodily suffering and determined him to devote his life to the alleviation of suffering in others. He therefore began the study of medicine at the age of eighteen, completing the course three years later at Springfield, Illinois, where he made the acquaintance of Abraham Lincoln, whose stories had for him a perpetual charm and for whom, in 1860, he cust his first Republican ballot.
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