USA > Indiana > Boone County > History of Boone County, Indiana : With biographical sketches of representative citizens and genealogical records of old families, Volume II > Part 2
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Mr. and Mrs. Ralston have three children, Emmet Grattan, an electrical engineer, having graduated from Purdue University; Julian Craven, a stu- dent at Indiana University, and Ruth, a pupil in Shortridge High School at Indianapolis.
Politically, Mr. Ralston has always been identified with the Democratic party. His devotion to the party of his choice is based on the careful study of Jeffersonian principles. Those who know him most intimately are unani- mous in praise of his remarkable personality and declare that his sincerity and wholesome love for mankind give him a power that places him high above mere party consideration.
In proof of his political sagacity and sound judgment in the interpreta- tion of the federal constitution it is both opportune and fitting to make some note of a speech delivered by Mr. Ralston in June, 1900, when presiding over the Democratic State convention. In that year and some years previous much has been said in advocacy of congressional legislation for the more effective control of trusts. Many Republican and a few Democratic congressmen contended that Congress has no power to control the giant com- binations without a constitutional amendment. In September or October of 1900 Philander C. Knox, then a member of President Mckinley's cabinet, made his great speech in support of the proposition that a constitutional amendment is not necessary to enable Congress to deal successfully and effi- ciently with the trust question. As before stated, Mr. Ralston spoke on the same subject in June, 1900, some months before Mr. Knox. Capable judges who heard Mr. Ralston on that occasion pronounced his keynote speech the most forceful utterance his party had ever heard on a similar occasion, and
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on the motion of the venerable David S. Gooding, of Greenfield, the conven- tion did the unusual thing of extending to Mr. Ralston a rising vote of thanks for his masterly effort. This terse, positive statement illustrates the force of his reasoning and the effectiveness of his judgment :
"Under the constitution given us by the fathers, this government has the power to deal effectively with anything that makes against the general welfare. If it has not this power, then it has not the power to live."
Always actively identified with the Democratic party, Mr. Ralston on several occasions has had conferred upon him nominations on his party ticket. He was his party's candidate for joint senator for Boone, Clinton and Montgomery counties in 1888, but after a brilliant race went to defeat with his party in a hopelessly Republican district. In 1896 he was nominated for secretary of state, and again in 1898, but each time suffered defeat at the polls, not by reason of personal unpopularity but because the fortunes of his party were lost in the tide of popular disfavor. In each race he made a splendid showing. In 1898 he led his ticket, carrying Boone county by over five hundred votes-the largest plurality given there in years to any candidate on any ticket.
When Mr. Ralston was a candidate for governor in 1908 and in 1912, Boone county loyally stood back of him and enthusiastically supported him.
The first public gathering held in the new court house at Lebanon was a non-partisan meeting held by the citizens of Boone county on January 3, 1912, in the interest of Mr. Ralston's candidacy for the nomination for gov- ernor. This meeting, in size, enthusiasm and sentiment expressed, surpassed anything of the kind in the history of the county, if not of the state. All Boone county participated in that demonstration. No finer tribute could have been paid to the man and the citizen. Representatives from all ranks of society were one in their spontaneous expressions of regard. Of his qualifi- cations for the office all were assured. His learning and versatility were re- peatedly emphasized, his moral qualities as warmly commended. But best of all was the ready recognition of his kindness, of his broad charity and of his magnanimity of judgment. It is these essentially human qualities that have endeared him to his community.
More noteworthy, perhaps, than the meeting just described was the one held by the women of Boone county. Regardless of political affiliations, the women came from all parts of the county to give expression to their high
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regard for Mr. Ralston. The large court room in the new court house could not accommodate the audience and scores were unable to gain admittance. The women enthusiastically praised him as a citizen and a neighbor and voiced their faith in him as one able to measure up to their high standard of manhood and citizenship.
Governor Ralston's remarkable strength of body and mind, his quick and sure insight into the intricacies of civic machinery, his readiness for instant action have given him a wonderful mastery over the numerous details of his office and made him a most excellent judge of state and economic problems and singular courage and determination have marked his conduct while in office. He is absolutely fearless in the execution of measures that seem to him right and necessary. No selfish consideration can dissuade him from a judgment that he pronounces sound, that calls for prompt and efficient action.
During the session of the Legislature of 1913 a public utilities bill was before that body. While the bill was in the Senate it was the subject of many conferences and much delay was had in bringing the bill to a vote. It has been subsequently revealed that it was the plan of those opposed to the pas- sage of the bill to delay action upon it until such a date as it would be im- possible to secure the passage of a desirable utility measure. One of the means by which those opposed to the measure sought to throttle its passage was a secret caucus. Relative to the desirability of throwing the public utility measure out of caucus and putting it upon the floor of the Senate for open discussion, Governor Ralston gave out the following statement :
"I have been careful. since becoming Governor, to say and do nothing that would give any one ground for thinking I was trying, as Governor, to usurp the functions of the legislature. and I shall continue to pursue this course.
"I cannot close my eyes to the fact, however, that the legislature is near- ing its constitutional time limit, and that many important bills are yet to be acted upon. One of these is the public utilities bill.
"I regret very much the seeming inability of the Senate to make proper headway with this measure. 1 feel certain that the majority of the Demo- cratic Senators favor the passage of the bill. Every Democratic Senator with whom I have spoken on the subject has assured me he was in favor of a good utility law.
"In view of the fact, therefore, that the Senate is overwhelmingly
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Democratic, and that no Democratic Senator has declared against a utility law, and that all the minority members are giving out that they too are for such legislation, I wish the Democratic Senators who stand for the right sort of legislation on this subject would favor calling off the caucus on the Shively- Spencer bill, so that the proposed amendments to it might be fought out in the open on the floor of the Senate. The people are entitled to know where the Democratic party stands on this measure and if this bill is to be amended before its passage, so that it will be worthless as a law, or if it is to be killed, the people are entitled to know the influences that defeated the public will."
Needless to say he carried his point and secured the desired legislation.
Soon after the adjournment of the legislature he was confronted with the flood situation-the most serious the state ever knew. He gave himself up entirely to the relief work at the sacrifice of all personal comfort and de- voted himself so untiringly to the task that he was forced to spend but an inconsiderable sum of the state's money for the relief of the distressed.
Allusion has already been made to the Governor's unusual moral cour- age. He had ample opportunity to test it during the period of legislative activity. That he is a man possessed of real heroism, of such physical cour- age as makes heroes on the battle field and martyrs if need be in the forum, was strikingly illustrated during the great street-car strike in Indianapolis in October and November, 1913. It was a situation in which ordinary men would have failed in effort or shirked in duty, but Governor Ralston stood his ground and proved his mettle to the admiration of all who with feeling of intense anxiety 'and no little apprehension witnessed the scene. The strike had with premeditation been called on the eve of the city election in the hope of embarrassing the executive by the necessity of calling out the troops to avert riot and insurrection. The Governor had up to this time been unsuc- cessful in effecting an adjustment between the striking employees and the traction company. The Mayor insisted that the Governor call a special ses- sion of the Legislature and secure the passage of a compulsory arbitration law; the merchants' association and business interests demanded that the Governor call out the National Guard to establish order ; the Union men pro- tested that such an act would precipitate riot and bloodshed such as had never been seen there before. A state of riot and insurrection prevailed ; the police were utterly unable to cope with the situation and many threats were made upon the life of the Governor. On the night of November 5th, the Governor
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called out the entire National Guard. By morning many companies were on their way to Indianapolis. The situation was tense when a meeting of the strikers and their sympathizers was called on the State House lawn at noon on November 6.
A crowd estimated as high as eight thousand gathered on the lawn at the south door of the building to protest against the calling out of the troops. They had been harangued by strike leaders. A cry was started for the Governor to address them. Contrary to the solicitous advice of friends the Governor appeared on the State House steps. An intense-yea, ominous- silence had settled upon the crowd. The Governor delivered a masterly speech that not only allayed fear and apprehension but broke the backbone of the strike. He spoke without preparation but with profound thoughtful- ness, just as the seriousness of the situation prompted. In substance, Gov- ernor Ralston spoke thus :
"I appreciate more than I have the ability to express your kind invita- tion to have a word with you this afternoon on this serious occasion. I said to the committee that called upon me this morning representing labor. that I knew, from personal experience while making my living as a laborer, what it was to be hungry and that having had that experience, my sympathy went out to you. In making this reference to my experience, I am not beg- ging the question. I did not beg when I was hungry and by the Eternal I shall not beg now.
"A few days ago, on the Court House grounds in this city, there assembled a large outdoor meeting of laboring people. This meeting was addressed . by lawyers and ministers of this city; and I cannot express my appreciation of the resolutions passed by the laboring men there assembled to the effect that the law must be enforced and that peace must be maintained. In the course I am pursuing I am supporting those resolutions, and it is a source of great comfort and encouragement to me as your Governor when you say to me by those resolutions that you propose to help me preserve life and property in Indianapolis.
"I would have different conditions here if it were possible for me to do so. I have not brought about present conditions, as you know, but I shall endeavor to avoid a repetition of them. If my life is spared, I shall take a stand at the next session of the legislature for an arbitration law that will
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arbitrate. The orderly course of society must not be interfered with by industrial controversies.
"But I am now confronted with conditions requiring immediate action. On the 13th day of last January, and it may prove an unfortunate day for me, I took a solemn oath to take care that the laws be faithfully executed, and that oath I propose to respect. You would not have me do otherwise. Withir. the last five days, lives have been sacrificed and property destroyed in our streets and it is not for me to debate who is at fault. I know that life and property are not secure here and that I must do what I can to make them secure everywhere in our State. The sacrifice of lives and property must cease and whatever course is taken will be to that end, and I appeal to you to uphold me-to uphold me in the enforcement of the law and the preservation of order."
The men went away assured in their own hearts that they had a friend in the Governor's chair; that he knew their burdens and was willing to share them with them. Capital knew that he was a man who could not be stam- peded by the shouts and demands of a mob. With eighteen hundred guards- men at his command and with the exercise of keen personal judgment and rare courage, Governor Ralston was able to control the situation. He re- fused to put the troops into the streets to force the immediate operation of cars, but demanded that the street-car company through him treat with the strikers. His firmness won the day. His service as arbitrator was effective and the city of Indianapolis returned to normal life.
Governor Ralston has an abiding faith in the destiny of our nation and in its ability to overcome all difficulties to which it may be subjected. In his address at Notre Dame University, May 30, 1914, he said :
"In searching for a standard by which to square our own lives, we should not forget that some things have been accomplished and said in this country that are beyond the power of man to improve upon. The establishment of republican government-of liberty regulated by law-by our revolutionary fathers and the result of the war between the States will ever be, I verily be- lieve, the crest of civilization. There is nothing beyond these of worldly achievement. When the Fathers brought forth this nation, they did it in support of the affirmation that all men are created equal. Not equal of course as determined by the tape line. Not equal in gray matter. But equal in their right to feed themselves upon the bread earned with their own hands;
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equal in their right to a fair opportunity to get on in the world unimpeded by the greed of man through the perversion of the functions of government- equal before the law. And it must be in harmony with this conception of what is right between man and man that this government will overcome its difficulties in the future, both internal and external."
Thus is presented a fair view of him who by the potent voice of the people has been assigned to the chief magistracy of the State of Indiana. Strong, efficient, and faithful, he guides with a master hand the affairs of the State that has always been ready to do its share of the nation's work. As the chief executive of the commonwealth he has risen to social eminence without forgetting for a moment the humble home from which he came. Neither power nor position has marred his innate good will towards all man- kind. When future generations, through the perspective of time, shall look back on the record of Samuel Moffett Ralston and weigh his work with the standard of changed conditions, they will with one accord pay sweetest rev- erence to him who loved his fellow-men.
ELZA O. ROGERS.
There is no member of the Boone county bar who occupies a higher position in the estimation of the people than does Elza O. Rogers, who, after four years of commendable work as mayor of the city of Lebanon, is now retiring from that office with the lasting gratitude of the people. During his many years of practice he has built up a very large clientele and he occupies an envied position before the public in that he is regarded as an exceedingly safe counsellor in all matters pertaining to legal questions. It speaks well for any man who may have the confidence of the people to such an extent that he is regarded as especially adapted to the settlement of estates and matters of equity. Mr. Rogers holds this position. His services are likewise in large demand where the drawing of intricate papers is involved; in fact, as a lawyer, he is easily the peer of any of his professional brethren throughout this section of the Hoosier commonwealth, and the honorable dis- tinction already achieved at the bar is an earnest of the still wider sphere of
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usefulness that he is destined to fill, and the higher honors to be achieved in years to come, as he is only in the prime of manhood and a close observer of the trend of the times and an intelligent student of the great questions and issues upon which the thought of the best minds of the world are centered.
Mr. Rogers was born in Clinton township, Boone county, Indiana, Febru- ary 16, 1877. He is a son of James R. and Mary I. (Waddel) Rogers. The father was born in Hancock county, Indiana, but removed to Boone county when young and established his future home, becoming a successful farmer and highly respected citizen, and here he is still engaged in general agricul- tural pursuits. The mother of our subject was born in Boone county and here grew to womanliood and was educated in the common schools. She is a representative of one of our pioneer families.
Elza O. Rogers was reared on the home farm and there assisted with the general work when a boy, and he received his primary education in the rural schools of his native township, later studied at the Marion Normal school, at Marion, Indiana. He began life for himself as a teacher, which profession he followed with much success for a period of eight years, all in Clinton township but two terms in Center township. He was popular with both pupils and patrons and his services were in great demand and he gave every promise of becoming one of the county's leading educators; but be- lieving that his true bent was in another direction, he took up the study of law while still engaged in teaching, pursuing Blackstone and Kent under the direction of Judge S. R. Artman, and later attended the law department of the Marion Normal in 1901. In February, 1902, he began practicing his profession in Lebanon in partnership with W. H. Parr, now Judge Parr, their business association continuing with mutual benefit until Mr. Parr was elected judge in 1908, whereupon Mr. Rogers formed a partnership with ex-Judge B. S. Higgins, which has continued to the present time with ever- increasing success, until this is now one of the busiest and best known legal firms in this section of the state. Mr. Rogers practices in all the state and federal courts, where he is known as a painstaking, persistent, scholarly and courteous advocate and a forceful and eloquent pleader.
Politically, Mr. Rogers is a Republican and is one of the party leaders in Boone county, having long made his influence felt for the good of the same. He has for many years been, most of the time, a member of the Re- publican County Executive Committee, and has been a frequent delegate to
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state and district conventions. In the fall of 1904 he was elected city at- torney of Lebanon, serving six years, or until January 1, 1910. In the fall of 1909 he was elected mayor of the city of Lebanon and took office January 1, 1910, serving four years, or until January 5, 1914. Thus for a continuous period of ten years he has been one of the leading local public officials, and all will acquiesce in the statement that during that decade he has done a great deal that will be of permanent benefit to the county-seat and com- munity, having discharged his duties in a manner that reflected much credit upon himself and to the satisfaction of all classes, never failing in his efforts to upbuild the city and enforce law and bring about a high state of moral and wholesome citizenship. He is a member of the county and state bar associations, and fraternally, he belongs to the Masonic Order, the Benevo- lent and Protective Order of Elks and the Improved Order of Red Men. He and his wife are members of the Presbyterian church.
Mr. Rogers was married February 10, 1909, to Gertrude Avery, a lady of many commendable attributes, a daughter of M. D. and Emma (Pollard) Avery, both parents now deceased. Mr. Avery was a noted educator in northern Indiana, and for some time was superintendent of schools at Zionsville, and later professor of English in the State Normal School of Minnesota. Late in life he retired from this vocation and turned his at- tention to fruit farming in Minnesota. His death occurred in 1907. His wife died at the birth of their daughter, Gertrude. One child was born to Mr. and Mrs. Rogers, which died in infancy, unnamed.
Personally, Mr. Rogers is a gentleman of exemplary habits, genial. a good mixer, broad-minded, plain and unassuming.
GEORGE E. ADAMS.
One of the men who has stamped the impress of his strong individuality upon the minds of the people of the locality of which this volume treats in a manner as to render him one of the conspicuous characters of the community is George E. Adams, who has had a somewhat varied career, engaging in different lines of business with equal success, and he is now the efficient and popular cashier of the Boone County State Bank at Lebanon. Faithfulness
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to duty and a strict adherence to a fixed purpose, which always do more to advance one's interests than wealth or advantageous circumstances, have been dominating factors in his life, which has been replete with honor and success worthily attained. He is a scion of one of the sterling pioneer famil- ies of this county, and many of the strong characteristics of his progenitors seem to have cropped out in him, and he has been most vigilant in keeping unsullied the reputation of Adamses who have ever been noted for their un- swerving honesty, their hospitality and their readiness to assist in the up- building of their community in any way.
Mr. Adams was born on a farm in Center township, Boone county, June 15, 1868. He is a son of Andrew J. and Julia A. (Kiser) Adams, both par- ents natives of Shelby county, Kentucky, where they grew to maturity, were educated in the old-time rural schools and were married and there resided until in 1855, when they removed to Johnson county, Indiana, remaining there until in 1866, when they came to Boone county and established the future home of the family on a farm in Center township, owning a good farm and becoming highly esteemed citizens. The father died December 26, 1913, and the mother was called to her eternal rest on April 27, 1893.
George E. Adams was reared on the home farm, where he worked when a boy, and he received his early education in the district schools, after which he began farming for himself, which line of work he continued with very gratifying results until 1906, when he purchased the tile factory and saw- mill at Max, this county, and operated them successfully until at the Novem- ber election of that year, when he was elected clerk of the county court, the duties of which he assumed on January 1, 1907, serving one term of four years in a manner that won the hearty commendation of all concerned, his term of office expiring January 1, 1911. He was one of the organizers of the Boone County State Bank in 1911 and on February 1, 1913, he took a position with the Boone County State Bank at Lebanon as cashier, which he continues to fill in a manner that reflects much credit upon his ability, hon- esty and industry, giving satisfaction to both the stockholders and patrons of this sound and popular institution, in this, as in other positions, measuring up to the full requirements in every respect. He is one of our must capable business men.
Politically, Mr. Adams is a Democrat and is loyal in his support of the
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party's principles. Fraternally, he is a member of the Masonic Order, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Modern Woodmen of America.
Mr. Adams was married December 9, 1903, to Cora M. Richardson, a daughter of Jonathan and Sarah E. (Baker) Richardson, a highly respected Boone county family. Here Mrs. Adams grew to womanhood and received a good education.
One child has been born to our subject and wife, which died in infancy, unnamed.
ROY W. ADNEY.
The men most influential in promoting the advancement of society and in giving character to the times in which they live are two classes-the men of study and the men of action. Whether we are more indebted for the im- provement of the age to the one class or the other is a question of honest difference of opinion; neither can be spared and both should be encouraged to occupy their several spheres of labor and influence zealously and without mutual distrust. In the following paragraphs are briefly outlined the lead- ing facts and characteristics in the career of a gentleman who combines in his makeup the elements of the scholar and the energy of the public-spirited man of affairs. Devoting his energies to the law, Roy W. Adney, the effi- cient and popular county attorney of Boone county, has made his influence felt in a most potent manner in the locality of which this history treats, occu- pying as he does a prominent place in his profession and standing high in the esteem of all classes. All who come within range of his influence are profuse in their praise of his admirable qualities, and the high regard in which he is held, not only professionally but socially, indicates the possession of attributes and characteristics that fully entitle him to the respect and consideration of his fellowmen.
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