USA > Indiana > Henry County > Hazzard's history of Henry county, Indiana, 1822-1906, Volume II > Part 71
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HAZZARD'S HISTORY OF HENRY COUNTY.
ing about three miles distant from the Jennings home in Ohio, and was about four years older than Mr. Jennings, and it is quite probable that his influence upon his more youth- ful companion was most salutary. The two became united in a friendship that has never been broken.
It was while Levi A. Jennings was teaching that an event occurred which diverted him from scholarly pursuits and induced him to adopt the business career for which he was most admirably fitted. His uncle, J. O. Jennings, then and now a prominent banker of Ashland, Ohio, was a man of great business capacity and possessed a seemingly intui- tive knowledge of men. He took an interest in young meu whom he found to be studious, efficient and careful and was often pleased to give them opportunities to demonstrate their ability. When the new county of Ashland, Ohio, was formed and the town of Ashland made its county seat, so great was the personal popularity of Jacob O. Jennings that, although the new county was strongly Democratic and he himself a Whig, he was appointed clerk of the courts. His own time being devoted to his private affairs, he appointed William B. Allison, then a law student, bis chief deputy, who transacted the business of the office in a masterly manner. Levi A. Jennings was then attending school. At the end of Jacob O. Jennings' term, the dominant political party claimed the office and elected their candidate who proved incompetent and at the next election Mr. Jennings was elected to the office by a large vote. He had naturally been watching the career of his nephew and now sought him out and tendered him the principal deputyship. The position under the circumstances was not a desirable one but after some deliberation was accepted and for three years-the full term-he discharged its duties to the satisfac- tion of his principal and of the public. He then retired from official life to engage in private business. He remembers his uncle as his good genius in business and in a large sense refers all his successes in life to his kindly assistance and friendly advice in those early days of his career.
He looks upon his life in Ashland as the halcyon days of his career in which youth- ful enthusiasm made easy the endurance of hard and continuous toil. Among the pleasing incidents of his life there was the renewal and strengthening of his friendship with William B. Allison who was deputy prosecutor for the common pleas and district courts of Ashland County at the same time that he (Jennings) was deputy clerk. Mr. Allison and his first wife, then quite young, boarded at the same hotel as Mr. Jennings. He recalls that the first Mrs. Allison was a most gracious lady, full of kindly impulses and generous sympathies and that her early death was deeply mourned by a wide circle of friends. Mr. Jennings was also well acquainted with the famous Sherman brothers-John and William Tecumseh-who were then young lawyers of a neighboring town and had a large practise in Ashland County. He also knew Columbus Delano, who was then judge of the district court of which Mr. Jennings was deputy clerk, and who afterwards became Secretary of the Treasury of the United States.
The first business venture of Levi A. Jennings in Ashland was an unfortunate one. He entered into a partnership in the boot and shoe business with a man who in a short time proved to be a bankrupt and involved him in considerable loss. The Ball Reaper and Mower Company, which was at that time doing an extensive business in Ohio and Indiana, recognizing his activity and push, then tendered him a position and he entered their employment to sell their machines and establish agencies. He was very successful and continued with them for three years at a remunerative salary, but in his own words he was constantly revolving this problem in his mind: "If I am worth so much to my employers, why may I not be worth more to myself in a business of my own?" As a result of such self-questioning, he resigned his position and soon afterwards appeared in New Castle, Indiana, as heretofore mentioned.
Mr. Jennings has had a remarkably successful career in New Castle. In 1868 he started a planing mill, a sash, door and blind factory and a general lumber yard and building material business which he continued until recently. doing a vast amount of business and giving to it the most scrupulous care in every detail. Like all men of moderate means, he found the dark days of the panic of 1873 exceedingly trying hut his business acumen and caution together with a well established credit carried him through safely and enabled him to make money at a time when so many old and established firms were eiher failing or suffering severe loss.
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HAZZARD'S HISTORY OF HENRY COUNTY.
In 1877 he built his fine brick business block at the southwest corner of Broad and Elm (now Fourteenth) streets, New Castle. It is one hundred and thirty two feet deep and four stories in height, including the basement, and contains three first-class business rooms, running the whole length of the building, with modern conveniences, and many offices and supplementary business rooms on the upper floors, making it one of the most convenient and roomy business blocks in this part of the State. When first completed it seemed in advance of the town and its needs but Mr. Jennings opened in the new building the most extensive stocks of hardware, building materials, furniture, carpets and house furnishing goods in this part of the State. Beginning with the room in the corner and certain of the upper floors, he rapidly enlarged his stock until it occupied the three first floor business rooms and five or six rooms on the upper floors. His trade grew rapidly with the development of his spirit of enterprise until it reached $150,000 per year and so continued until he determined to curtail its volume that he might secure a much needed rest. The town of New Castle has now reached a point at which its store rooms can no longer be called losing ventures, thanks to Mr. Jennings and other enterprising citizens who have dared to take the initiative in making improvements, both public and private.
But to go back to the date of that important event in his life, his marriage-the record shows that Levi A. Jennings was married December 2, 1858, to Martha W. Coffin, of Ashland, Ohio, born in Troy, New York, February 3, 1835, a most excellent lady of a well cultivated mind and pleasing manner, who is a most worthy companion for her enterprising husband. The Coffin family, to which she belongs, was a remarkable one, consisting of eleven members (before death began to thin its ranks), the father and mother. four sisters and five brothers, all of them people of unusual talent, especially in musical and mechanical lines. All of the brothers possess unusual musical ability and certain of them are fine performers on various instruments. The family has held many reunions, since its members have been scattered abroad from the old Ashland home, which their varied gifts have made very interesting and enjoyable occasions to others as well as to themselves. The name, Coffin. suggests strength and capability, for so far as known, all persons of the name in this section of the country are descended from the famous Coffin family of Nantucket.
Since the removal of Mr. and Mrs. Jennings to New Castle, they have steadily advanced in prosperity and in the good will of the public. After some years, Mr. Jennings secured the rolling grounds upon which the old sulphur spring was located and where the Methodist camp meetings of an early day were held. There their elegant and commodious home stands upon a gentle elevation overlooking the finest private park in Eastern Indiana, which Mr. Jennings has christened "Idlewild" after the beautiful grounds and former home of the late poet, Nathaniel P. Willis, on the Hudson River. Mr. and Mrs. Jennings' "Idlewild" is of 'an undulating surface, with a little stream flowing through it and has been made beautiful by green swards, majestic trees and "flowers of all hues and lovelier than their names."
This fine home and park have been the scenes of much generous hospitality. Some- thing of all this and its nearness to the contrasting scenes of the town, in the very heart of which it is located, were condensed ten years ago into the following lines by one of Mr. Jennings' friends who had watched it all develop from the beginning:
IN IDLEWILD.
Cool shadows floating along the grass, Like tender sympathies in the air, Cloud ships, white sailed, that over-pass, Their graceful silhouettes gliding where The summer reigns and the roses blow, Or the loit'ring solidaries glow,
Pure gold in the autumn's frosted hair.
Lithe, lissome willows, low trailing down,
Long, floating streamers of silv'ry spray,
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HAZZARD'S HISTORY OF HENRY COUNTY.
Where the robin, robed in his Quaker brown,
Sings to the rising or setting day, As the birch's poem of classic whites And greens and graces the joy recites
Of the singing season's insistent way;
And under the maples a lover's walk, Where blushes, glances and sighs dispense With the dull illusions of sober talk,
And the irony of our common sense; Where voices falter as hearts grow loud, While sweet carnations are flushed and howed,
And joy bells ring on the lily stalk.
Here echoes come from the busy town That hint of a world of toil and din, Of souls that conquer and souls that drown, Where all men struggle and few men win. They seem to flow from a far-off land,
Like waves that beat on the shifting sand,
And soften to song as the winds go down.
And so we wander in Idlewild, And dream of dreams that were born of dreams, Of a world of innocence undefiled, of the halcyon land of elysian streams; And here with the trees and birds and flowers, And comradeship of the happy hours, Our souls are rested and reconciled.
Mr. Jennings services to New Castle and the surrounding country have been of the hopeful and encouraging kind and have exerted an inspiring influence in the upbuilding and beautifying of the town and in the improvement of the farmers' homes. He has had faith in New Castle and the surrounding fertile region, and has proved his faith by deeds. Not only did he enter upon a series of substantial improvements to the town when others were halting; not only has he been the pioneer in its manufacturing interests, but from his earliest career in the town he has adhered to the proposition that New Castle is so eligihly situated and its site and environments so inviting that it may and must become one of the finest little cities of the State, until, now, when the sunshine of three score years has silvered his hair and many cares have furrowed his brow, he begins to enjoy the realization of his dream in the substantial growth and prosperity of his adopted town.
Altogether he has huilt not less than seventy five houses in New Castle. Among the most important, in the popular estimation, are three large brick and brick and steel business blocks on Broad street, containing twelve first floor business rooms-some of them the largest and best adapted to the needs of a large trade of any in the county- with a great number of upper floors and offices, and his extensive four-story brick factory building at the Pennsylvania railroad crossing on Broad Street, opposite the station, which he erected to meet the demands of his large trade in furniture. But the many dwellings he has caused to be constructed, many of which are up-to-date and com- modious, have been of even greater importance to the growth of the town.
Besides taking stock in, or giving money directly, to many of the new enterprises that have been organized by other citizens or have come to the town from elsewhere, thus encouraging the development of the town, he has kept "everlastingly at it" himself. One of his methods has been to make large investments in real estate, which he has divided into lots and sold on easy payments to persons seeking to establish homes, or upon which he has first built dwellings and then sold them on like easy terms of
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HAZZARD'S HISTORY OF HENRY COUNTY.
payment. In this way a large per cent. of his constructions have passed into the hands of tradesmen, mechanics and workmen who constitute the substantial citizenship of the town.
Mr. Jennings was one of the pioneers of the cultivation of roses and carnations which has rendered New Castle famous as "The City of Roses," and he still makes his greenhouses and grounds the home of great floral loveliness.
He was one of the active promoters, first stockholders, and was president of the Rushville branch of the old Fort Wayne, Muncie and Cincinnati railroad, now one of the "Lake Erie and Western Lines" of the Vanderbilt system. The New Castle and Rushville road was completed in 1882 and Mr. Jennings served as its president for about three years or until its consolidation with the main line, with entire satisfaction to all concerned. During that period the headquarters of both branches of the Fort Wayne, Muncie and Cincinnati road were at New Castle and the offices of the train dispatcher, master of transportation, and other officers were in one of Mr. Jennings' buildings. Elijah Smith, of Boston, was then the president and the largest stockholder in the Fort Wayne, Muncie and Cincinnati road and W. W. Worthington was the general superintendent.
In 1892 he made a visit to the seaboard cities and while in New York attended the annual convention of the American Furniture Dealers' Association, a busi- ness organization representing every important trade center of the country. As the representative of certain interests of the trade in the middle western States, it became necessary for him to speak upon some question before one of the earlier sessions of the convention, which he did in his off-hand, direct manner, to such purpose that he found himself the center of an attention that approached the nature of an ovation and greatly to his surprise resulted in his election as president of the association.
The American Furniture Manufacturers' Association was at that time holding a great exposition in New York and naturally nothing was too good for the "dealers." On the day following Mr. Jennings' election as president, the manufacturers took the dealers on a chartered vessel to Glen Island, where they were treated to that novelty to a western man-an east-shore clambake. On the next day, in ninety landaus escorted by two policemen, they were shown the sights of the greatest of American cities. In the evening a splendid banquet was given at the Metropolitan Hotel, for which a portion of Gilmore's then famous band furnished the music. Taken as a whole, Mr. Jennings regards the days thus spent as among his happiest and most fortunate experiences. Aside from the attentions shown to the furniture dealers and to himself. the open- handedness and general good will displayed on every side made a lasting impression upon him and the advertisement given him by his unexpected elevation to the presidency of the American Furniture Dealers' Association, through its widely extended membership, and. through the flattering notices of the metropolitan press which were copied by the press of the whole country, has been of great value to him in a business way.
In 1893, just prior to the opening of the World's Fair, this association met again, this time in Chicago, and Mr. Jennings, as president, made the principal address of the occasion and acquitted himself with honor, making so many sound and pertinent suggestions that the great newspapers were outspoken in praise and his reputation as a far-seeing, cautious but enterprising leader in business was greatly enhanced. After retiring from the presidency, Mr. Jennings served the association as its treasurer for a number of years.
During the Civil War, Mr. Jennings was a strong supporter of the Union cause and firmly believed that the fate of popular government for ages to come depended upon the result of that struggle. He served as a deputy United States Marshal in Ohio for a time, and was one of the "Squirrel Hunters" who shouldered rifles and went. in pursuit of General John H. Morgan during his daring raid in Indiana and Ohio.
In politics he was first a Whig and then a Republican. He has never been an aspirant for office but has given freely toward the payment of the legitimate campaign expenses of his party. Especially has he felt a pride in the presidential candidates of his
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HAZZARD'S HISTORY OF HENRY COUNTY.
party who hailed from his native State; Rutherford B. Hayes, James A. Garfield, Benja- min Harrison and William Mckinley, all of whom were elected and two of whom fell by the hands of assassins.
During the Garfield campaign in 1880, Senator William B. Allison, of Iowa, and Gen- eral Stewart L. Woodford, of New York, visited New Castle for the discussion of political issues and Senator Allison became the guest at Idlewild of his hoyhood friend, Levi A. Jennings, and their reunion was a most happy one. After the election and inaugura- tion of President Garfield, it was understood that Senator Allison was to be tendered the portfolio of the Treasury Department and it was at that time that he wrote a friendly letter to Mr. Jennings, saying among other things: "What can I do for you? 1 shall be glad to do anything in my power for you." The Senator's decision to remain in the Senate and the assassination of the President conspired to influence Mr. Jennings against a political career. Otherwise he might have had honorable and responsible political preferment, but the wisdom of his determination few will doubt.
Mr. Jennings is a firm believer in the tenets of the Christian religion. The church of his choice is the Methodist Episcopal, of which he has long been a devoted and active memher, donating freely of his means and time to its various charities. He was an earnest promoter of the efforts to build the new church of that denomination in New Castle which was completed in 1904 and his personal contribution to that end was twenty five hundred dollars in cash. He has also been a liberal contributor to other denominations and benevolences. Although he has always been a very busy man, even in years when his life was seriously threatened by disease, he has been a studeni of pub- lic affairs, a reader of current literature, an amateur in art and a great lover of trees and flowers and beautiful landscapes as is attested by his elegant home and Idlewild Park.
Both Mr. and Mrs. Jennings have traveled extensively in the United States and Mr. Jennings has visited Cuba and the Bahama Islands. He has long cherished the dream of travel in Europe and the Orient and is now maturing plans for a flight across the great waters. Should his present purpose hold, he will take with him the hest wishes of friends and neighbors.
Levi A. and Martha W. (Coffin) Jennings have been the parents of three children, one of whom, a sweet little child, named Birdie, died in infancy, and a daughter, Helen Etta, born April 20, 1861, now Mrs. Joseph Crow, of Omaha, Nebraska; their son, Wins- low D., is an active business man and public spirited citizen of New Castle.
Like other active, progressive men, Mr. Jennings has not gone through life without meeting with some misconception and ill will. These, however, are but passing shad- ows, if the current of life be as pure as it is swift and strong, and in the end the man's real qualities win honor and compensation. Mr. Jennings has won his place in New Castle as the father of its permanent growth and development, and the good will of the people goes out to him and to Mrs. Jennings in no meagre recognition of their services to the city and county.
MRS. HELEN ETTA (JENNINGS) CROW.
(Daughter).
Helen Etta, daughter of Levi A. and Martha W. (Coffin) Jennings, as a girl, was remarkably bright and promising, possessing the decided musical talent of her mother's family and much of her father's genius for affairs. She is a graduate of the New Castle High School and of the College of Music at Cincinnati, Ohio. She also received addi- tional special musical training and sings and plays so well that she has received the merited compliments of professional musicians. Her gentle manners and winning ways made her a wide circle of friends among both young and old.
She was married to Joseph Crow, a young attorney, October 27, 1886. Most of their married life has been spent in Omaha, Nebraska, where Mr. Crow has a large legal practise and where he has also been engaged in business and politics. He was elected to the State Legislature of Nebraska within two or three years after locating at Omaha, and was re-elected, serving the two terms with distinction. He was and is a supporter and close friend of former United States Senator John M. Thurston, and
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HAZZARD'S HISTORY OF HENRY COUNTY.
through his influence and that of other friends, he was appointed postmaster at Omaha, by President Mckinley, and served for more than four years. Upon his retirement he was presented with a silver service, valued at two hundred and fifty dollars, but of much greater worth to him as a souvenir of the good will of his friends and subordin- ates in the service.
The home life of Mr. and Mrs. Crow is a happy one and their beautiful residence has been the center of much social enjoyment. They are the parents of five bright and healthy children, one daughter and four sons. The daughter graduated with honors from the Omaha High School, June 16, 1905.
WINSLOW DE VERE JENNINGS.
( Son).
Winslow De Vere Jennings, only son of Levi A. and Martha W. (Coffin) Jennings, was born December 27, 1862. As a boy, he showed great aptitude in all matters involv- ing mechanical skill and was a favorite with the boys of his own age because he could do everything that boys admire from snaring a fish or building a boat to dressing a turtle or cooking a frog ham to a turn.
He was educated in the New Castle High School and De Pauw University, and he learned every branch of his father's extensive business by close application. He pos- sesses a ready intuition as to the grades, qualities and values of goods and to day is considered to be one of the best posted men of the county in his special lines of busi- ness. After a long connection with his father's business, he is now engaged in plumb- ing, brass and lead fitting, installment of electric lighting and hot water systems, and in contracting, and carries a large stock of goods in those lines. He also gives a part of his time to assisting his father in the management of his affairs.
He was one of the promoters and long an active member of "The Rescue Fire Company" of New Castle, and at one time was its chief. His readiness at unravelling a business tangle, in planning a pleasure excursion or in writing a song and singing it after it was written, and in conducting a political glee club, have combined to make him many friends; but it is in serious, practical business that his strength lies. He has a most retentive memory and quick discernment and sound judgment as to the real worth and market values of goods and their acceptability to the public, and it is be- lieved that thus equipped great successes in the business world are within his grasp.
On May 6, 1895, he married Lena M. Brown, of Dublin, Indiana, born June 17, 1875. She is a lady of high standing in her native town and has won a wide circle of friends in New Castle. They have been the parents of only one child, a promising boy, Norman B. Jennings, who was a favorite with all and the idol of his parents and grandparents. He died January 29, 1905, at the age of eight years.
The loss of their little son is not only the greatest sorrow that has come into their lives but is the greatest bereavement that has stricken the hearts of the grandparents. Though nothing may lift the shadow from their lives, the joy and blessing of the few brief years of sunshine which his presence brought will remain with them in memory to make their days sweeter and richer as they pass.
The loss of the little boy has determined his grandfather to carry out the long cherished plan of erecting in South Mound Cemetery a substantial monument of modest but lasting character which will grace and beautify that "city of the dead," and be a loving tribute to the memory of his grandson and to the living members of the family who are to follow.
8. Дренинта
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HAZZARD'S HISTORY OF HENRY COUNTY.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF SIMON PETER JENNINGS.
MANUFACTURER, BUSINESS MAN AND EX-PRESIDENT OF THE CITY COUNCIL.
Simon Peter Jennings is the son of Obediah and Mary Jennings, who are spoken of at length in the biography of his elder brother, Levi A. Jennings, and he is, therefore, of English and German origin. He was born August 11, 1840, in Wayne County, Ohio, in that part of the county which has since been incorporated in Ashland County. He was born and reared upon a farm and took part in the hard, exacting labors of farming and farm-making in a new country, until he reached the age of eighteen years. He had in the meantime acquired such an education as the early public schools of Ohio afforded and, at the age of eighteen, entered Otterbein University, near Columbus, Ohio, and remained there two years, taking the regular course and such special studies and in- struction as would qualify him for teaching. To provide the means for continuing his studies, he found it necessary to make some breaks in his two years of college life to engage in teaching.
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