History of Indianapolis and Marion County, Indiana, Part 82

Author: Sulgrove, Berry R. (Berry Robinson), 1828-1890
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Philadelphia : L.H. Everts & Co.
Number of Pages: 942

USA > Indiana > Marion County > Indianapolis > History of Indianapolis and Marion County, Indiana > Part 82

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).

" HUB "WAREROOM"

BOLLER

HOUSE

WHEEL" COMPANY.

WOODBURN SARVEN

SMITH - SHOP+

SE WARFROOMS

WOODBURN "SARVEN WHEEL" COMPANY, MANUFACTURERS OF VEHICLE WHEELS, INDIANAPOLIS, IND.

Eny " AH Ritchie

A. S. lo any

461

· MANUFACTURING INTERESTS OF THE CITY OF INDIANAPOLIS.

Last and Georgia; Mr. May on Kant Str : south, and Mr. Walter & Son on the canal at Pratt Street.

JASON S. CAREY is of English , od the son of Cephas Carey and is wife, Rh- I ra , who resided in Shelby County, Ohiu, where their en, the subjeot of this biographical th, was born Nov. 28, 1828. At the age of twowwwrs he removed with his parents to Sidney, the nty-seat, where modest advantages of education attainable. Previous to that time the log school use in the vicinity of his former home had onmlled him to obtain the rudi- ments of learning. He was early apprenticed to the saddler's trade, and at the expiration of a service of two years accompanied his brothers, Simeon B. and Thomas, on a journey across the plains with mules and horses to Californie in pursuit of gold. The ill health of one of the number influenced their return before auy pratical results followed their labor, when Jason 'S. ongaged wi hl Auther Jeremiah in the boot and shoe Sidney, Ohio, and remained thus occupi 4 . 1 61, when

this marriage, a son, Harvey, deccased, and a daughter, Margaret.

The latest and largest addition to the stave-manu- factories is that of the Standard Oil Company's factory in 1879 in West Indianapolis, at the crossing of the Belt road and Morris Street. It occupies a dozen acres with its yard and machine-shops and drying- houses. No returns are made of the amount of busi- ness done by any of these factories in late years, bnt the total was nearly $1,200,000 in the census report, and the new factory has added probably a half- million to that, which, with the increase of the other establishments, would make the aggregate of stave- dressing and cooperage here not much less, than $2,000,000 a year. The stave-dressing establislı- ments have created a considerable trade and a very great convenience to householders in the shavings they make, which are the best sort of material for kindling firen, and can be bought by the wagon-load as chea as emindu fu l.

COOPERAGE .- There are eight coopering establish- - ments in the city h les those maintained in connec- he embarked in the produce business. Mr. Carey | tion with Isin_un's and other establishments for removed the same year to Dayton, Ohio, nd super- | special manufactures. William Baird, on Blackford intended the construction of the Richmond and Cov- and Pearl Streets; Daniel Burton, near Maus' brewery, on New York Strect ; Sanucl B. Gardner, Bright Street; John W. Humphrey, Indiana Ave- nue; R. Seiter, East McCarty Strect ; Cornelius Funkhouser, Smith Street ; George H. Burton, North Mississippi. ington Railread, and continued th gel until February, 1863, when Indianapolis bee- his place of residence. Here he embarked in fle pioneer enterprise of stave manufacturing, and was the fit manufacturer who introduced machinery for the dressing of staves. Ile still conducts his business, ITREFRAMES .- One of the minor manufac- tures of wood, but by no means a trifling one, is that of picture-frames, which has been carried to a con- siderable extent for a dozen years or moro, chiefly by Hermann Lieber, of the Art Emporium, on Ft Washington Street ; Ralston & Co., F which has assumed large proportions, and has also engaged in farming pursuits, though not to the ex- clusion of more important business interests. Mr. Carey was formerly a Whig in his political asso- ciations, and later became a Republican, but has not been during his active career diverted from the ton Street ; Scheirick, on M on Areque ; John Keen, on South Il' fluffman, Virginia Avenue ; II chusetts Avenne ; Hubbell, Nach The Indianapolis Piotare Fine et Moulding Company have a large manufactuyou Madison Avenue, and Wenzel Kautsky has another on the same street where the material for frames is dressed and finished for the frame- busy arena of commercial life to the more exciting, but less profitable, field of pid fle is actively engaged in religions work, and a tuber of the Meridian Strect Methodist Episcopal Church, in which he is a steward. Mr. Carey was married in 1955 to Miss Ada M., daughter of Rev. James Smith, of Sidney, Ohio, one of the pioneer Meth- odist preachers of Ohio. Two children were born to i makers, who fit it to such sizes and combinations as

A. S. lo any

461

MANUFACTURING INTERESTS OF THE CITY OF INDIANAPOLIS.

East and Georgia; Mr. May on East Street south, and Mr. Walter & Son on the canal at Pratt Street.

JASON S. CAREY is of English extraction, and the son of Cephas Carey and his wife, Rhoda Jerard, who resided in Shelby County, Ohio, where their son, the subject of this biographical sketch, was born Nov. 28, 1828. At the age of twelve years he removed with his parents to Sidney, the county-seat, where modest advantages of education were attainable. Previous to that time the log school-house in the vicinity of his former home had enabled him to obtain the rudi- ments of learning. He was early apprenticed to the saddler's trade, and at the expiration of a service of two years accompanied his brothers, Simeon B. and Thomas, on a journey across the plains with mules and horses to California in pursuit of gold. The ill health of one of the number influenced their return before any practical results followed their labor, when Jason S. engaged with his brother Jeremiah in the boot and shoe business at Sidney, Ohio, and remained thus occupied until 1861, when he embarked in the produce business. Mr. Carey removed the same year to Dayton, Ohio, and super- intended the construction of the Richmond and Cov- ington Railroad, and continued thus engaged until February, 1863, when Indianapolis became his place of residence. Here he embarked in the pioneer enterprise of stave manufacturing, and was the first manufacturer who introduced machinery for the dressing of staves. He still conducts his business, which has assumed large proportions, and has also engaged in farming pursuits, though not to the ex- clusion of more important business interests. Mr. Carey was formerly a Whig in his political asso- ciations, and later became a Republican, but has not been during his active career diverted from the busy arena of commercial life to the more exciting, but less profitable, field of politics. He is actively engaged in religious work, and a member of the Meridian Street Methodist Episcopal Church, in which he is a steward. Mr. Carey was married in 1855 to Miss Ada M., daughter of Rev. James Smith, of Sidney, Ohio, one of the pioneer Meth- odist preachers of Ohio. Two children were born to

this marriage, a son, Harvey, deceased, and a daughter, Margaret.

The latest and largest addition to the stave-manu- factories is that of the Standard Oil Company's factory in 1879 in West Indianapolis, at the crossing of the Belt road and Morris Street. It occupies a dozen acres with its yard and machine-shops and drying- houses. No returns are made of the amount of busi- ness done by any of these factories in late years, but the total was nearly $1,200,000 in the census report, and the new factory has added probably a half- million to that, which, with the increase of the other establishments, would make the aggregate of stave- dressing and cooperage here not much less than $2,000,000 a year. The stave-dressing establish- ments have created a considerable trade and a very great convenience to householders in the shavings they make, which are the best sort of material for kindling fires, and can be bought by the wagon-load as cheap as common fuel.

COOPERAGE .- There are eight coopering establish- ments in the city besides those maintained in connec- tion with Kingan's and other establishments for special manufactures. William Baird, on Blackford and Pearl Streets ; Daniel Burton, near Maus' brewery, on New York Street; Sanuel B. Gardner, Bright Street; John W. Humphrey, Indiana Ave- nue; R. Sciter, East McCarty Street ; Cornelius Funkhouser, Smith Street ; George H. Burton, North Mississippi.

PICTURE-FRAMES .- One of the minor manufac- tures of wood, but by no means a trifling one, is that of picture-frames, which has been carried to a con- siderable extent for a dozen years or more, chiefly by Hermann Lieber, of the Art Emporium, on East Washington Street; Ralston & Co., East Washing- ton Strect; Scheirick, on Massachusetts Avenue ; John Keen, on South Illinois; James Hoffman, Virginia Avenue; Hudson, Massachusetts Avenue ; Hubbell, North Illinois Street. The Indianapolis Picture-Frame and Moulding Company have a large manufactory on Madison Avenue, and Wenzel Kautsky has another on the same street, where the material for frames is dressed and finished for the frame- makers, who fit it to such sizes and combinations as

462

HISTORY OF INDIANAPOLIS AND MARION COUNTY.

they wish. The aggregate of the products of this elass per year is probably in excess of $100,000, as it was nearly that amount three years ago. There are no late reports from which to learn the present condition of business.

CAR-WORKS .- This is the latest development of wood manufacture in or near the city, and by far the largest and most important. The company is com- posed mainly of a few large railroad capitalists and managers, and aim to embody in the establishment here all the improvements that have been devised in the business in any part of the country. There are five large iron-roofed and weather-boarded shops side by side, one hundred and twenty by fifty feet, fronting north, in which the ear-wheels are cast and cooled, and all the castings are made required in the works. Next to this is the machine-shop and blacksmith-shop. The wood-work in its various stages is done in the other shops. Through each a railway runs its full length, on which the material completed in separate parts is carried to two large shops, where they are put together, one over five hundred feet long by about sixty wide, the other over four hundred long, and of the same width as the first. A very wide railway track, ten or fifteen feet wide, extends between these finishing-shops, and a side-track of the Belt road at the east side of the car-works, and on this the finished cars are mounted and run out sideways to the track where they belong, landing them lengthwise with the track, which saves the trouble of turning them round. On the east of these large shops, which stand east and west, at right angles to the direction of the other shops, is a long, narrow building, three or four hundred feet long, for housing and painting the ears. There is also a boiler- and engine-house, and two or three minor buildings south of the main line of workshops, and south of these still is the lumber-yard, through which runs a track from one of the West stock-yard tracks. The whole estab- lishment covers about a dozen acres of ground. The shops are strongly framed, and, as already suggested, are covered with sheet-iron. They employ now about 560 hands, and turn out about $2,500,000 worth of cars a year. They do not make any but freight-cars. The shops were begun upon the re-

mains of a last year's corn crop, and in two months were ready for occupancy. The contractors were Shover & Christian, the builders of the huge stables and stock-sheds of the stock-yard.

COFFIN-WORKS .- A company for the manufacture of coffins and burial-cases carried on a considerable business for some years at the old Cottontown site, near the crossing of the canal and the Michigan road. Its location is now on North Illinois Street. Two years ago, in the spring of 1882, the platform along the coffin warehouse, on the south bank of the creek, a little east of the Union Depot, was the gathering-place of hundreds of spectators of an un- usual flood in the creek, when it gave way and dropped them into the furious, turbulent current, and seven were drowned, some of whose bodies were not recovered for a week afterwards.

This establishment might be quoted in corrob- oration of the old adage, "the third time is the charm." This is the third attempt at car-making here, and the first that has succeeded. In 1852 or 1853 the Bellefontaine Railroad built a freight depot in what was then the far northeastern corner of the town, now densely built up, and covering the area west of Massachusetts Avenue to Fort Wayne Avenue, north of North or St. Clair Street, and finding it a poor investment, the company leased it for a car-manufactory to Mr. Farnsworth, of Mad- ison, and his son-in-law, Jehiel Bernard, late seere- tary of the Board of Trade. They made no profit of it, and soon gave it up. Some time after the war, Mr. Frederick Ruschaupt and some associates formed a company to make cars, in the present far north- eastern corner of the city, east of the Peru Railroad, and north of Seventh Street, nearly east of the Ex- position building. This enterprise failed too, and the very extensive buildings are 'now occupied by the very successful and extensive Atlas Machine-Works.

Step- Ladders and wooden-ware have been made a specialty by the Adell Company, of North Indian- apolis, and a very large business is done in these articles. The manufactory was established in North Indianapolis about the time the wagen-works on South Tennessee Street were removed to that suburb. Wooden butter-dishes are also made there.

463

MANUFACTURING INTERESTS OF THE CITY OF INDIANAPOLIS.

CARPENTERS AND BUILDERS .- There are over 100 carpenters and builders in the city, who may be classed among manufacturers as the makers of houses. Among those longest and best known for energy and enterprise are Shover & Christian, Peter Routier, John A. Buchanan, William Saltmarsh, Daniel Berghmer, John Hyland, O. B. Gilkey, John Mar- tin, C. F. Rafert, Thomas J. Hart. It is worth noting in this connection that a great and grateful change has come upon the character of the houses, the residences especially, since the close of the war. There were earlier signs of it, but its presence has not been fully recognized till within the last twenty years, and mainly within the last ten. That is the breaking up of the old rectangular plans into some variety of outline, with occasional curves and pleasing projections and recesses. A generation ago a resi- denee was built upon a plan as invariable, except in dimensions, as the laws of the Medes and Persians. It might be set with the gable to the strect, but it savored of heresy, and had better not. It must be right-angled at every corner, with no change of the plain square front but a portico just as plain and square, all painted a glaring white, from the fence piekets to the cornice ; the window-blinds green ; the bricks below the line of the door-sills red, unless the house were briek, and then it was painted white from chimney-top to cellar-window. An " L" was permis- sible, and a recess turned into a porch was not for- bidden ; but no other liberties with the orthodox rec- tangle and barn plan were tolerated. Now we have the fence of one color, the weather-boarding of an- other, the window-frame of a third, the sash differ- ent from all. Little porticoes in corners, broad, project- ing eaves, with brackets, quaintly-moulded porch-posts, ornamented corniees, mouldings, and door-frames, have come to please the eye and lighten the sombre- ness of life, no more costly than the old-time ugliness and uniformity, and far more conducive to a Christian spirit of cheerfulness and kindliness. One can hardly conceive it possible that the dwellers in the dreary old houses could have been adequately generous to the sufferers by the great Ohio floods of 1883 and 1884.

Iron Products .- The first attempt at the manu-

facture of iron here was made about three years earlier than the first attempt at pork-packing. It resulted in much the same way. R. A. MePherson & Co. put up a building at the west end of the National road bridge for an iron foundry in 1832, and kept up a spasinodic business until 1835 and quit. In that year Robert Underhill established a foundry on North Pennsylvania Street, east side, just above Ver- mont, where the Second Presbyterian Church now stands, and here for twenty years he maintained the first " paying" iron manufacture of the city. It was a small business, and did only such casting as was re- quired by country customers, millers, and farmers. The amount of it, of course, is purely conjectural, but no reasonable conjecture can make it more than a few thousands of dollars a year.

The " boom" in this, as in several other industries, as already noticed, eame with the completion of the first railway, in 1847. At that time Watson & Voor- hees established the Eagle Machine-Works, in which they were succeeded, in 1850, by Hasselman & Vin- ton. Two destructive fires in close succession in 1852-53 obstructed their progress, but in spite of their losses they added the manufacture of threshing- machines and agricultural implements to their busi- iness in time to make a most crcditable exhibition in 1853 at the first State Fair. In May, 1851, the manufacturing enterprise of the awakened town was developing some very encouraging results. The pa- pers of May of that year say that there were then two foundries in operation here, three machine-shops, and a boiler-factory ; fifty steam-engines had been built, and, as just stated, the manufacture of thresh- ers commenced at the Washington Foundry, as it was then called.

Not long after this Mr. Underhill abandoned his Pennsylvania Street foundry and established a ma- chine-shop on the north bank of the creek, at the crossing of the same street, where he remained a few years, till the hard times following the Free Bank panic of 1855 caused his failure and the abandon- ment of the house to other uses, mainly hominy- grinding. It was burned in 1858. In March, 1854, Wright, Barnes & Co. began the machine business at the crossing of Pogue's Creek and Dela-

464

HISTORY OF INDIANAPOLIS AND MARION COUNTY.

ware Street, which was burned and abandoned in 1857. About the time Underhill began his foundry and machine-shop on South Pennsylvania Street, Carter & Dumont began boiler-making just north, and Kelshaw & Sinker just south, on the north bank of the creek. The latter were burnt out in 1853, but rebuilt in 1854, and then Dumont & Sinker joined business, adding foundry-work to boiler-making. Here Dr. R. J. Gatling planned and made the first gun of the kind that bears his name and has now become famous all over the world. The first public trial of it was on the river-bank at the old " Grave-yard Pond," now a little east of the pile-work of the Vincennes Railroad, at the foot of Kentucky Avenue. In 1863, Mr. Dumont left the business, and Mr. Allen and Mr. Yandes entered it, greatly enlarging it, and occupying with it the old site of the Underhill shops. Later the firm became Sinker, Davis & Co., and thus it remains a company instead of a firm.

EDWARD T. SINKER was born at Ranavon, Wales, on the 22d of December, 1820. He was the only son, and on embarking for America left his aged parents and seven sisters in his native land. When a boy but eleven years of age he entered a large shop at Hawarden-on-the-Dee, Wales, and there learned the trade of a machinist. He continued thus em- ployed for several years, acquiring the skill and practical knowledge that prepared him for the large operations which he conducted in this country. Mr. Sinker on learning his trade labored at different points in Wales and England, always holding posi- tions of trust. At Liverpool he superintended the iron work in the construction of steamers. His skill and integrity were such that the government desired him to go to Portugal and take charge of the repairs of government vessels in the ports of that country. He labored two years on that wonder of engineering skill and mechanics, the tubular iron hridge over the Straits of Menai, and while on this work, finding the necessity for a reduction in the force of laborers, with characteristic generosity left his place for those who had greater needs than himself. In 1849, with his young wife and one child, he landed as a stranger in New Orleans, and thence journeyed to Madison, Ind.

They reached Indianapolis in November of the same year, the scene of his future labors, where from small beginnings he rose to become at last the chief of one of the largest manufacturing establishments in the West. His history is a noble example of what industry and integrity will acccomplish. Mr. Sinker also filled a large place in all the public enterprises, benevolent and religious institutions of the city of his residence. Every movement for the relief of the poor, the reformation of the vicious, the edu- cation of the young, or the salvation of his fellow- men found him a warm sympathizer and helper. He was a marked example of industry, and a man who loved to work. "Not slothful in business, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord," was one of his favorite maxims. He was a man whose earnest pur- pose pushed him on and through his work despite all obstacles. He possessed a resolution and courage that led him to take hold of the heaviest end in a lift and strike at the hardest part of the task. This made him a leader among workingmen, and his contagious spirit inspired others to follow after him. Mr. Sinker was a generous man,-generous to a fault. His generosity was only limited by his abil- ity to give. It was more than meat and drink to him to bestow blessings on the needy. No cause of benevolence appealed to him in vain while he had the means to help. He was a man of the purest integ- rity, and no chance of gain could tempt him to dis- honesty. As a business man he meant to do right, and believed his religion should be carried into daily life. Mr. Sinker was in his religious belief a devout and sincere Presbyterian. For some years after his arrival in Indianapolis he was connected with the Fourth Presbyterian Church. In 1857 he united with others in forming the Plymouth Congregational Church, and remained until his death, which oc- curred April 5, 1871, one of its honored and useful members, where he held the responsible offices of trustee, deacon, and much of the time superinten- dent of the Sunday-school. Mr. Sinker was married, June 22, 1844, to Miss Sarah Jones, daughter of Robert and Sarah Jones, of Hawarden, Flintshire, North Wales. Their children are Edwin, Alfred T., who was married Sept. 2, 1867, to Miss Rebecca

E. T SIKKER.

FIEd S Ne Yit

Delop Root

465

MANUFACTURING INTERESTS OF THE CITY OF INDIANAPOLIS.

Coates, of Mansfield, Ohio, and has three children ; Saralı J., Frederick, Walter, Frederick (2d), and Clara Belle. Of this number Clara Belle (Mrs. Rudolph Rossum, of St. Paul, Minn.), and Alfred T., of Boston, Mass., are the only survivors. The widow of Mr. Sinker still occupies the homestead, and sacredly cherishes the name of him who was a faithful and devoted husband and father.

In 1851, Delos Root & Co. establishcd the first stove-foundry in the city in a small frame building near the corner of South and Pennsylvania Streets. Business improved here, so that when the frame house was burned in 1860 the firm rebuilt more extensively and with brick, enlarged their business, and added heavy castings of all kinds and boiler- work. Some six or eight years ago they moved to the buildings left by the dissolved Glass-Works Com- pany between Sharpc and Merrill Streets, on Ken- tucky Avenue, and here they continued as energetic- ally as ever till the spring of 1883, when a destructive fire swept over a considerable section of that part of the city, and destroyed all the buildings and a good deal of the work of the company. The loss was about $20,000. The rubbish was cleared away at once, however, and work begun on the restoration of the establishment, which was soon as busily employed as ever. The concern is now the Indianapolis Stove Company, and Mr. Root is president.

DELOSS ROOT .- The name of Root was originally spelled Rutetee, and first known in England in the eleventh century. Two brothers emigrated to Amer- ica at an early day and settled at or near Stock- bridge, Mass. From one of these hrothers was de- scended Moses Root, who resided in Stockbridge and was married to a Miss Taller. Their children were Daniel (a soldier of the war of 1812, who was taken · prisoner with Gen. Scott, and led the command which proved fatal to Gen. Brock), Silas, Elias, Aaron, James, Aseneth, and Sally.

Aaron, the father of Deloss, was born in 1781, at Stockbridge, Mass., and removed with his family to the West in 1837, locating at Hartford, Trumbull Co., Ohio, from whence he, in 1852, came to Indian- apolis and resided until his death, Aug. 30, 1854. Mr. Root followed farming occupations during his

lifetime. He married Miss Harriet Kingman, who was born in the village of Vergennes, Vt., in 1794. The birth of their son Deloss occurred on the 3d of February, 1819, in the town of Cincinnatus, Cortland Co., N. Y. He was educated at the town of Linck- laen, Chenango Co., N. Y., after which his early life was spent upon the farm. In 1844 he was in the iron trade at New Lisbon, Ohio, and in 1850 became a resident of Indianapolis. Herc he engaged in the manufacture of stoves, being the first man in the State to embark in that industry, in which his busi- ness grew to large proportions. He was connected with the first rolling-mill in the city of Indianapolis, and also a large stockholder in the first mill for the manufacture of merchant iron, which he assisted in organizing. He was also interested in the " Archi- tectural Works." In 1867 he was one of the mov- ing spirits in the erection of a blast-furnace in Brazil City, Clay Co., Ind., the first in the State, and the largest in the West, and in 1870, assisted by one other gentleman, he built a similar furnace in Hardin County, Ill. In 1854 he was appointed by the State a director of the Bank of the State of Indiana, and continued as such until it became a national bank, after which he assisted in organizing the First Na- tional Bank of the city, in which he was a large stockholder and a director for ten years. He was also for years largely interested in the street railways of the city. The enterprise, however, in which Mr. Root especially advanced the interests of Indianapolis was that of the establishment of the present system of water-works. All previous efforts in that direc- tion having failed, a gentleman largely interested in the matter conferred with him, and with his aid and that of other influential citizens carried the enterprise to a successful completion. Three thousand. tons of pipe were purchased and the bonds of the company given at par in payment. This sale of bonds gave the movement an impetus and secured to Indianapolis the best system of water-works in the United States. Mr. Root himself laid eighteen miles of the pipe, and did much by his energy and business tact to fur- ther the work. He was a director in the old Indian- apolis Insurance Company (now the Franklin Fire Insurance Company), assisted in organizing and was

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.

History of Indianapolis and Marion County, Indiana, Part 82

Author: Sulgrove, Berry R. (Berry Robinson), 1828-1890 Publication date: 1884 Publisher: Philadelphia : L.H. Everts & Co. Number of Pages: 942

Author: Sulgrove, Berry R. (Berry Robinson), 1828-1890
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Philadelphia : L.H. Everts & Co.
Number of Pages: 942