History of Indianapolis and Marion County, Indiana, Part 84

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

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29th of October. Two old citizens went into the scheme heartily, and sunk the gains of their lives largely in it,-James Blake and James Van Blaricum. The latter owned the ground,-then Van Blaricum's pasture,-one of the original outlots of the donation on which the establishment was to be located. Mr. Douglass does not seem to have been a very prudent manager, and by the following spring, before the mill was ready for work, the embarrassments he had in- curred checked ,the enterprise, and he abandoned it. A new company, or the old one reorganized, bought the unfinished affair, and put it in working order, and soon made it pay, under the skillful management of Mr. John Thomas, the superintendent, whose inven- tion of the "pile," or bundle of old rails cut up, to be re-rolled and ingeniously compacted and held together, was one of the sources of the company's success. War times made prosperity for this busi- ness, as it did for all railroad work, and the company's stock was soon above par. Success led Mr. John M. Lord, the president, to make some hazardous experi- ments, especially with the Dank puddling apparatus, and the final result was some trouble and embarrass- ments, and Mr. Lord went out, and Mr. Aquilla Jones, State treasurer in 1857-59, came in. The mill has since done well all the time, rarely having to suspend for more than a few days for repairs, or sometimes on account of delayed material.

JOHN THOMAS .- Thomas Thomas, the father of the subject of this biographical sketch, married Keturah Hughes, both natives of Pembrokeshire, South Wales. Their children were William, Eliza- beth (Mrs. Tenbrook), Ellen (Mrs. Cotrell), Richard, Thomas H., Hannah, Nancy (Mrs. Chase), and John, all of whom, with the exception of the latter, arc deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Thomas emigrated to America 'during the present century and settled in Bound Brook, N. J., where the former engaged in building. Later he removed to Utica, where he was an early settler, and continued actively employed until a few years before his death. He served in the war of 1812, and, while acting as lieutenant of his company, was severely wounded at the battle of Sacket's Harbor. His son John was born July 5, 1816, in Utica, N. Y., and at an early age left

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HISTORY OF INDIANAPOLIS AND MARION COUNTY.

fatherless. In his eighth year he became a member of the family of a farmer in Trenton, Oneida Co., N. Y., and later found a home in Herkimer County. From thence he removed for one year to Johnstown, N. Y., after which seven years were spent with a brother-in-law in Delaware County, N. Y. He then determined upon acquiring an independent trade, and, having entered a machine-shop in New York City, served an apprenticeship as a general machinist. During his residence of twelve years in New York and the immediate vicinity, a portion of the time was spent in the pursuit of his trade and the remainder in active business as a dealer in produce. His vo- cation of machinist, however, having proved more attractive and profitable, he became an employé of Peter Cooper's rolling-mills in New York and Tren- ton, N. J. Mr. Thomas, on leaving the latter place, purchased a farm in Delaware County, N. Y., upon which his family were placed, and engaged for other parties in the construction and management of mills in Utica, N. Y., and Wyandotte, Mich. He was induced in July, 1857, to remove to Indianapolis with a view to erccting and operating the property of the Indianapolis Rolling-Mill Company. His con- nection with this mill has been continued, first as a salaried officer, later as a stockholder and director, and as the present treasurer and largest shareholder. After a brief connection with the manufacturing in- terests of the city, Mr. Thomas realized the impor- tance of a cheaper and better quality of coal than was in general use, and securing the services of Dr. Brown, the State geologist, made a prospecting tour through the coal-fields of the State. In Brazil, Clay County, a shaft had been sunk and a small quantity of the now popular block-coal was being mined. This Mr. Thomas converted to practical use in his mill, and was instrumental in securing its general use for manufacturing purposes. It is now in great demand in various parts of the State. The subject of this sketch has been since largely identified with the business interests of the city. He has aided in the establishment of three machine-shops and foun- dries, is president and treasurer of the Indianapolis Cotton Manufacturing Company, president of the Hecla Consolidated Gold and Silver Mining Com-

pany of Montana, which has proved a profitable en- terprise, and interested, as projector or otherwise, in various minor business schemes. He is also a di- rector of the Citizens' National Bank of Indianapolis. In his political associations he is a prominent Re- publican, and, although not ambitious for office, has served two years in the City Council. Mr. Thomas was in 1840 married to Miss Ann Barber, a native of Manchester, England, who, having lost both parents, came to America with a relative when eight years of age. Their children are Richard Z. (of Montana), William H. (of Indianapolis), Learned J. (deceased), Martha A. (deceased), Charles J. (de- ceased), Edward L. (of Arkansas), and Julia A. The death of Mrs. Thomas occurred March 5, 1879.

One of the stockholders of the second company, who was always active and interested in its work, and .

who contributed largely to its success in obtaining its own coal mines, was William O. Rockwood, one of tbe leading citizens and among those most respected.

WILLIAM O. ROCKWOOD .- The ancestry of Mr. Rockwood in both lines of descent was English. His father, the Rev. Dr. Elisha Rockwood, a grad- uate of Dartmouth College in 1802, was for twenty- seven years minister of the Westboro' parish. His mother, Susannah Brigham Parkman, was the daugh- ter of Breck Parkman, Esq., and granddaughter of Rev. Ebenezer Parkman, the first minister of West- boro', and a clergyman of wide influence. The child- hood of Mr. Rockwood was passed in his native town. He later studied at Leicester and Amherst Academies, and finally entered Yale College to com- plete a classical course. Having a passion for the sea, after two years at Yale an opportunity was ob- tained for him as a common sailor on a cotton vessel bound for Savannah, and from thence to Liverpool. This voyage satisfied him, and returning home he engaged in teaching. In August following the death of his mother, which occurred June 4, 1836, he came to Warsaw, Ill., and later resided at Quincy and St. Louis. In the latter city he was largely engaged in the business of wholesale groceries, with a partner who desired to enlarge their mercantile ventures by embarking in the liquor traffic and slave trade. This being repugnant to Mr. Lockwood, the

Engraved by Samuel Surtain, Phil."

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MANUFACTURING INTERESTS OF THE CITY OF INDIANAPOLIS.

partnership was dissolved, and Madison, Ind., became his home, where he was for seven years connected with the firm of Polleys & Butler, after which he removed to Shelbyville.

from the composure of his nerves, and partly from his enjoyment of humor. He rarely failed to be diverted by a gleam of wit,-a backgammon-board untangled thought. He enjoyed good talkers, and his frequent journeys were occasions of amusement and rest.

Doubtless the quality and quantity of his work was affected by a certain calmness of judginent, a judicial temper of mind. He was not easily jostled by excitements around him. While feeling the deep- est interest in questions of public policy, he evinced both calmness and judgment in the regular exercise of his franchise. More important is it, however, to observe Mr. Rockwood's moral traits. He was marked by a conspicuous integrity. Nothing was so sure to stir the last drop of blood in him as the raising of a question regarding his probity. His capacity for friendship was also remarkable. In the midst of the most urgent engagements he was capable of writing every day to a man he loved, and for months and years each day looking for the reply. For humanity in general he had a kindly side, trust- ing men too readily for safety out of mere good nature or genuine pity. It was seldom that in ordi- nary conversation he could be betrayed into saying a word in disparagement of any one. Mr. Rockwood was republican in the simplicity of all his tastes ; and class distinctions he thoroughly disliked. An intelli- gent and firm believer in Christianity, he was at the time of his death a member of Memorial Presbyterian Church of Indianapolis. Beside his widow, who was Miss Hclen Mar Moore, of Auburn, N. Y., three children survive him,-Helen Mar (wife of Rev. Hanford A. Edson, D.D.), William E., and Charles B.

There he engaged in milling enterprises and as superintendent of the new Shelbyville Lateral Branch Railroad. Ultimately came to Indianapolis, where he continued to reside until his death on the 13thı of November, 1879. The enterprise in which he was first engaged at Indianapolis, the manufacture of railroad cars, was too extensive for the place and time, and met with but partial success. Soon, how- ever, he received the appointment of treasurer of the Indianapolis and Cincinnati Railroad, and found at last a pursuit congenial to his talents and tastes. For seven years he discharged the onerous and difficult duties of the railway treasurership, resigning the place in 1868 that he might bestow needed attention upon his own accumulated affairs. He was promi- nent in the inception of various iron industries, par- ticularly the Indianapolis Rolling-Mill and the Roane Iron Company at Rockwood and Chattanooga, Tenn. Of the former he became treasurer in 1872, having .previously been an influential director. The .growth of the latter organization, originating largely in his sagacity and perseverance, was to the last a source of pleasure and an occasion of reasonable pride. Mr. Rockwood possessed unusual capacity for the dispatch of business. Beside his duties at the rolling-mill, quite sufficient to occupy the attention of one man, he was a director of the Roane Iron Company, Tennessee, of the First National Bank and Bank of Commerce, of Indianapolis, of the Franklin Fire Insurance Com- pany and the Bedford Railroad Company, president of the Industrial Life Association, and treasurer of In 1881 the Rolling-Mill Company concluded that a steel-rail mill here could be made to pay, and they erected one of the largest and finest mills in the United States for that work. It has a front to the south of over 200 feet, and over 300 to the west, with an arrangement to extend it 200 feet more to the east if necessary. The main divisions are 120 feet wide, and each over 200 long. All the apparatus for heating, rolling, sawing, cooling, and straightening is of the latest improved style, and a the Indianapolis Telephone Company and the Hecla Mining Company. He was also associated with several other complicated business concerns in differ- ent States, each of which required a considerable correspondence. In the direction of his latest and largest employments his facility was greatly enhanced by his mechanical insight. Few men without formal training in such matters looked farther or more quickly than he into cranks and wheels. He also had a useful faculty of resting. This came partly | large part of it is the invention of Mr. Lentz, the 31

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HISTORY OF INDIANAPOLIS AND MARION COUNTY.

superintendent of machinery. The roll trams are " three high," the "hookers and eatehers" are re- placed by adjustable tables moved by a lever in one man's hands; the off-bearing to the saws and the aetion of the saws is automatie nearly, only requiring one hand at the lever, and the moving off on the " hot bed" is automatic. Machinery is made to do the work of 40 or 50 men. Machinery also hauls the blooms from the furnace when ready for the rolls. The boilers and furnaces are so constructed as to save 30 per cent. of the fuel required by ordinary furnaces. The whole establishment is complete, and has been pronouneed by experieneed mill men who have ex- amined it unequaled anywhere. North of it are the machine-shops and foundry connected with it. The capacity of the mill when running full-handed, with about 350 hands, is said to be equal to the production. of $3,000,000 worth of rails a year or more. The machinery, boilers, and furnaces have all been thor- oughly tested by the actual performance of all the work required of them, and found to operate more smoothly and readily than was expected. The two mills stand within about two hundred feet of each other in the 13 acres of ground south of Pogue's Creek and west of Tennessee, which the company has long owned.

HON. AQUILLA JONES, the son of Benjamin and Mary Jones, who were of Welsh extraction, was born in Stokes (now Forsyth) County, N. C., on the 8th of July, 1811. His father, being a farmer in limited circumstances, could afford his son but few advantages of education, and early required his assistance in the cultivation of the farm. In 1831 the family emi- grated to Columbus, Bartholomew Co., Ind., to which point Elisha P. Jones, brother of the subject of this biographical sketeh, had preceded them and engaged in mereantile pursuits. He also held the commission of postmaster of the place. Aquilla entered the store as clerk, and remained until August, 1836, when he removed to Missouri. The following year found him again a resident of Columbus, and engaged in the busi- ness of hotel-keeping. This venture was, however, of short duration, and his brother, Elisha P., having died, he suecceded him by purchase of the stock, and was by common consent made postmaster of the village.

He continued the business of a country merchant until 1856, first with his brother, Charles Jones, and later with B. F. Jones, another brother, and during much of this period held the office of postmaster. He was, in 1849, made president of the Columbus Bridge Company, which erected a bridge across the east branch of the White River at Columbus, and super- intended its construction. He owned a controlling interest in the stock, which was later sold on his removal to Indianapolis. He was appointed by Presi- dent Martin Van Buren to take the census, and again to the same office by President Millard Fillmore in 1850; was tendered the position of elerk of the court of Bartholomew County, and elected to the State Legislature for the sessions of 1842-43. Mr. Jones was honored with the appointment of Indian agent for Washington Territory by President Franklin Pieree, but declined, after which he was offered the same position in connection with New Mexico, and was constrained to decline this also. He received in 1856 the Democratic nomination for State treasurer, was elected, and renominated in 1858, which honor he declined. Having removed to Indianapolis, he was, in 1861, made treasurer of the Indianapolis Rolling-Mill, and continued thus officially connected with the enterprise until 1873, when he was made its president. He was also chosen president of the water- works in 1873, but was influenced by circumstances to resign at the expiration of four months, his numer- ous business connections requiring all his time and attention. Mr. Jones for a period of half a century has been engaged in the active duties of life, and in his various enterprises has invariably been successful. This is largely due to his indefatigable industry, his keen intuitions, and his enterprise. He has ever manifested public spirit and a lively interest in mat- ters pertaining to the State, county, and city of his residence. Mr. Jones has been twice married,-in 1836 to Miss Sarah Ann, daughter of Evan Arnold, who died soon after; he was again married, in 1840, to Miss Harriet, daughter of Hon. John W. and Naney Cox, of Morgan County, Ind. To this mar- riage were born children-Elisha P., John W., Emma (Mrs. Harry C. Holloway), Benjamin F., Charles, Aquilla Q., Edwin S., William M., Frederick, Har-

Aquilla Jones

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MANUFACTURING INTERESTS OF THE CITY OF INDIANAPOLIS.

riet (deceased), and Mary (also deceased). Mr. and Mrs. Jones arc members of St. Paul's Cathedral, Indianapolis, in which the former is a vestryman.

In 1867 a rolling-mill company was formed by Valentine Butsch, James Dickson, Fred. P. Rusch, J. C. Brinkmener, and William Sims, to roll bar and rod and other ordinary merchantable iron, and in 1868 the building, with twelve puddling and two smelting furnaces, was erected on the north bank of the river, at the end of the Vincennes Railroad bridge. Here it worked 75 to 100 hands and produced about 20 tons of iron a day. The capital was about $150,000, and the product $300,000 to $400,000. After the panic of 1873, when times began to grow hard, the mill, called the " Capital City Iron-Works," began to grow heavy on its owner's hands, and was finally abandoned six or eight years ago and has fallen to pieces; the walls have been blown down, the roof tumbled in, the smoke-stacks broken down, and the furnaces wrecked. This is said to be the probable location of the new agricultural machine-works. Connected with this mill was a nut and bolt factory that did a good business, and there is now one in the city on South Pennsylvania Street that seems to be well situated.

BRASS-FOUNDRIES .- The first brass-foundry in the city was established by Joseplı W. Davis, in 1855, on South Delaware Street. Garrett & Com- pany began the same business with a bell-foundry attachment, in 1858, on the Union tracks, between Meridian and Pennsylvania Streets, but in a couple of years or less it collapsed. The brass-foundries now in the city are those of William Langenskamp, South Delaware; Louis Neubacher, Georgia Strect ; the Pioneer Brass-Works, South Pennsylvania Street, and Russell & Son, Biddle Street.

forty-eight in the city, though they make no such impressive show of importance as an old village blacksmith, whose shop was a sort of gossip resort, as the saloon is now, though hardly so innocently. Too much of the old-time blacksmith's work has been drawn by specialties and by machinery to leave a very impressive or important remainder.

No complete statistics of this important industry, prior to 1873, are attainable, but for that year the secretary of the Board of Trade makes a full and accurate report, which shows that the foundries and machine-shops turned out for 1872 $1,375,000 of work, and for 1873 $1,421,000 worth, used $878,- 000 of capital, and employed 633 hands. The roll- ing-mill turned out $1,400,000 worth of rails in 1872, and $1,580,000 in 1873, employed $900,000 capital and 475 hands. Malleable iron-works turned out $175,000 of work in 1873, with a capital of $115,000, and the employment of 70 hands. File- factory turned out $47,000 of product, with $21,000 of capital and 46 hands. Edge-tools, $15,000 of produet, $5000 capital, 9 hands. The aggregate of all forms of industry dealing with iron or steel, ex- cept agricultural implements, was, in 1873, in prod- uet, $3,238,000 ; capital, $1,919,000; hands, 1233. In 1880 the aggregate product of foundries, ma- chine-shops, rolling-mills, and saw-works was, by the eensus, $3,869,000, and the number of hands em- ployed, 2241, an increase of 20 per cent. in product, and nearly 100 per cent. in the number of hands employed. These returns are but vague indications. They do not present the same class of details with the same particularity, and consequently do not allow comparisons except at one or two points. The prod- uet of the rolling-mill, for instance, was larger, according to the estimate of the secretary, in 1880 and 1881-24,000 tons-than in any years previ- ously, but the value of the product has declined since 1873, and the total value returned in 1881 is less than in 1873. No return later than the census that is complete enough to permit a comparison to be made, but an increase to over $4,000,000 of aggre- gate iron produets is the usual estimate.

Tin-ware is made by some fourteen manufacturers in the city, and copper-ware by two or three. Yost & Koyter on East Washington Street are the only manufacturers of cutlery. Cunningham Brothers on South Meridian Street, and Hollenbeck & Miller on Sonth Illinois, manufacture wire screens, signs, and other articles of that material. Galvanized iron is manufactured into cornices and other building-work Miscellaneous .- There are more manufactures by four establishments. Of blacksmiths there are | lying outside of the three general divisions than in

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HISTORY OF INDIANAPOLIS AND MARION COUNTY.

any one of them, and some are hardly inferior in ex- tent and importance to any, either iron, wood, or food. A glass-factory was started here in February, 1870, by Messrs. Bulsitz, Dickson, Pitzinger, Brinkman, and Deschler, and two large furnace-houses, with the necessary adjuncts, were built. For a year or two some profitable work was done, about 80 hands employed, and about $135,000 of work turned out, chiefly fruit-jars and bottles, but there was not business enough to keep it employed, and it was gradually reduced in operation till it was abandoned, about 1873, and turned into a fertilizer-factory. Then, as already mentioned, the Root Stove Foundry took it.

ENCAUSTIC TILES .- The United States Encaustic Tile-Works, on Seventh Street, are said to be the largest in the world, yet they were begun in 1877,- a striking proof of enterprise and business sagaeity is the magnificent success they have achieved so soon. A recent account in the News of the city gives a very clear idea of the extent and character of the work : " Its goods are sought for in all quarters. Only the other day a large order came from South Africa. Starting with the idea that tile could be made profit- ably in this country, and being here within easy access of fine clays adapted to the purpose, the com- pany erected substantial buildings with the proper machinery, and procured a number of skilled work- men from England. The first eighteen months were devoted chiefly to experiments. It is easy to start a manufactory of any kind, but it requires time to produce the right article and obtain a market for it. The company was just beginning to emerge from the difficulties incident to a new enterprise when fire swept the factory away, involving great loss. But American pluck was behind the enterprise, and the buildings rose again and work was resumed. Success was attained, for the best work was done, and the demand for the article grew so that great enlarge- ments were necessary. Recently, improvements to the value of $50,000 have been made, including four new kilns, of greatly increased capacity, and eight muffle-kilns, two more than any factory in England, not excepting Minton's, has.

"The works now have a capacity of 2,000,000 square feet a year, and employ 300 persons, about

100 of whom are women. Among these are a num- ber of English operatives ; nearly all those who came originally, remain, and Superintendent Harrison in his recent visit to England engaged and brought over a number of additional families. The product of the factory is found in every State and in hundreds of public buildings. Special orders are constantly exe- cuted for palatial dwellings in the great cities, and there is an increasing demand from churches, hotels, depots, stores, and banks. Among other large con- tracts are the great Produce Exchange of New York, the Custom House and the Post-Office at St. Louis, and the Iowa State-House at Des Moines.

" An encaustic tile, properly speaking, is one that is made of two kinds of clay,-a red base, with a face of finer clay, which bears the ornamental pattern, and strengthened at the base with a thin layer of different clay to prevent warping. It is made both by the dry and plastic processes. In the latter the clay is damp. The workman, taking what he needs, cuts off a square slab, upon which the facing of finer clay is slapped down ; a backing is put on the other side to make the requisite thickness. It is then put in a press, and the pattern in relicf, usually made of plaster of Paris, is brought down upon the face of the tile, and the design is impressed into the soft-tinted clay. The hollows thus formed are filled with a semifluid clay of a rich or deep color, poured into them and over the whole surface of the tile. In twenty-four hours this has become sufficiently hard to admit of the surplus clay being removed, which is skillfully done by the operator, and the whole pattern and ground are exposcd. The surface is perfectly smooth, but the baking brings out the indentations or ridges of the patterns.

" The artistic perfection reached in this work is re- markable. All colors and tints are produced at will ; forms of beauty of all shapes,-fruits, vines, flowers, birds, insects, portraits, lettering in any style of text. In short, there is no shape or likeness that cannot be reproduced with the exactness of engraving, though, of course, not in such delicate lines. The demand for variety necessitates the use of many designs, the production of which is a field of itself. Then, when the tile is finished for use, several designers are kept

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History of Indianapolis and Marion County, Indiana, Part 84

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