History of Johnson County, Indiana, Part 55

Author: Branigin, Elba L., 1870-
Publication date: 1972
Publisher: Indianapolis, B.F. Bowen, [Evansville, Ind.], [Unigraphic, Inc.]
Number of Pages: 981

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On April 9, 1883, Mr. Short was married to Emma W. Heineken, a daughter of Samuel P. Heineken, and the same day they started on an ex- tended trip through Europe, visiting Ireland, Scotland, England, France, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Belgium and Holland. In 1898 Mr. and Mrs. Short made a tour around the world, and their summers are usually spent among the lakes of the northern peninsular of Michigan.

Fraternally, Mr. Short has for many years been an active and appreciated member of the Masonic order, in which he has met with distinctive prefer- ment, having served as grand commander of the grand commandery of Knights Templar of Indiana, while in the Scottish Rite he has been honored with the thirty-third and last degree, one of the most coveted honors in that time-honored order. Mr. Short rendered effective service in the Legislature in 1891, and has served as presidential elector for the fifth congressional

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district. In every walk of life Mr. Short has been recognized by all classes as a high-minded, talented, courteous gentleman of integrity and moral worth. He is at present a member and president of the board of trustees of the Indiana Soldiers' and Sailors' Orphans' Home at Knightstown. He has acted well his part in life and, while primarily interested in his own affairs, he has not been unmindful of the interests of others, contributing to the ex- tent of his ability to the advancement of the public good and the welfare of his fellow men. Personally, he is a man of pleasing address, sociably in- clined, and he enjoys a wide acquaintance and a large circle of warm and loyal friends.

W. O. SPRINGER.

Specific mention is made of many of the worthy citizens of Johnson county within the pages of this book, citizens who have figured in the growth and development of this favored locality and whose interests are identified with its every phase of progress, each contributing in his sphere of action to the well-being of the community in which he resides and to the advancement of its normal and legitimate growth. Among this number is he whose name appears above, peculiar interest attaching to his career from the fact that his entire useful and busy life has been spent within the borders of this county.

W. O. Springer, who is a native son of Johnson county, was born on January 25, 1870, and is a son of A. D. and Sarah Bell ( Smithey) Springer. The father, who is now deceased, was also a native of Johnson county, having been born in the city of Franklin, and was by vocation a stationary engineer. His death occurred in Franklin in 1910, and he is survived by his widow. To them were born the following children: Florence, W. O., one who died in infancy and Nellie. In politics, Mr. Springer was a Republican, but not an office seeker. Fraternally, he was a member of the Knights of Pythias at Madison, Indiana, in the early. days, and was a member of the old and well known Whiteland Band, and a singing-school teacher of considerable prominence. The subject of this sketch received his education in the common schools of this county and engaged in farming during the early years of his life. In February, 1912, he came to Greenwood and engaged in the imple- ment business, in which he is meeting with splendid success. He carries not only a full line of farming implements of all kinds, but a large stock of seed, and harness, buggies, wagons and such other lines as are usually to be found in a store of this character. Because of his splendid business ability and

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well known integrity he enjoys a large patronage throughout the community and is numbered among the leading business men of his city.

In 1894 Mr. Springer married Nora L. Branigin, of Franklin, a sister of Elba L. Branigin, the editor of the historical portion of this work. Fra- ternally, Mr. Springer is a member of the Knights of Pythias at Franklin, taking much interest in this lodge and endeavoring to live up to its worthy teachings in its daily life, which has always been above reproach, standing as he does for honesty in business, politics and private life, which has gained for him the universal respect and esteem of a host of friends and acquaintaces.

ELBA L. BRANIGIN.

It is a well attested maxim that the greatness of a community or state lies not in the machinery of government, nor even in its institutions, but rather in the sterling qualities of the individual citizen, in his capacity for high and unselfish effort and his devotion to the public welfare. In these particulars he whose name appears at the head of this paragraph has con- ferred honor and dignity on his county, and as an elemental part of history it is consonant that there should be recorded here a resume of his career, with the object in view of noting his connection with the advancement of one of the most flourishing and progressive sections of the commonwealth, as well as his career as a member of one of the most exacting professions to which man can devote his talents and energies.

Elba L. Branigin was born in Nineveh township, Johnson county, In- diana, on the 12th day of November, 1870, and is the son of William D. and Nancy Jane (Lash) Branigin, both of whom also were born and reared in that vicinity. William D. Branigin is now an honored resident of Edin- burg, this county, where he is successfully engaged in the implement busi- ness. The subject's mother is deceased. To these parents were born seven children, of whom five are living, namely : . Nora L., the wife of William O. Springer, of Greenwood, Indiana; Ollie A., wife of Samuel Gibbs, of In- dianapolis; Daisy A., wife of Watson VanNuys, of Hopewell, Indiana ; Verne, an attorney at Mt. Vernon, Washington, and Elba L., the immediate subject of this sketch. The latter was reared on the home farm and secured his elementary education in district school No. 6, of Blue River township. In 1887 the family removed to Franklin. In 1886 Elba Branigin had entered the preparatory department of Franklin College, in which institution he re- mained six years, graduating with the class of 1892 and receiving the degree

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of Bachelor of Arts. He made a splendid record while in college and in his freshman year won the declamation contest, being a speaker of unusual grace and eloquence. In 1891 he was president of the State Oratorical Association and in 1892 he represented Franklin College in the state oratorical contest. After his graduation, in 1892-3, Mr. Branigin taught a term of district school, and then served three terms as principal of the Trafalgar schools, having in the meantime married and removed to that town. During this period he had been applying himself closely to the reading and studying of law, and on April 27, 1896, he was admitted to the bar of Johnson county. On March 7, 1896, he had formed a law partnership with Thomas W. Woollen, who had formerly been attorney-general of the state of Indiana, this association con- tinuing until the death of Mr. Woollen, on February 12, 1898. About a year later Mr. Branigin formed a partnership with Thomas Williams, which relation still continues. This is a strong and popular law firm, which has been connected, on one side or the other, as counsel in much of the most important litigation which has been tried in the local court, and Mr. Branigin's reputa- tion as a lawyer has steadily increased until now he is numbered among the leaders of the bar in his county. Well informed in his profession, faithful to his clients and the law, and possessing a rare equinimity of temper and kindness of heart, Mr. Branigin has not only gained high prestige in his pro- fession, but he has also gained to a notable degree the confidence and good will of the people generally. He is an honest and fair practitioner, taking no part in the tricks of the pettifogger, which sometimes cast odium upon the profession.

Mr. Branigin is a man of high intellectual attainments, gained by much reading and study and close observation of men and things. He possesses a splendid library and some of his most enjoyable hours are spent among his books. In local history Mr. Branigin is especially interested and he has for a number of years given much attention to the collection of a vast fund of valuable information and data relative to the early history of Johnson county. the fruits of his work being presented in the historical portion of this volume.

On September 19, 1894, Mr. Branigin was married to Zula Francis, the daughter of Milton and Mary (McCaslin) Francis, of Franklin, and they have four children, namely : Gerald F., Edgar M., Roger D. and Elba L., Jr. Politically, Mr. Branigin has, since attaining his majority, been actively interested in the success of the Democratic party, having served several years as secretary of the county committee and one term as chairman of that body. In 1896, while teaching at Trafalgar, he was elected county surveyor. From 1906 to 1910 he served as attorney of the city of Franklin and from 1910

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to 1913 he served as county attorney, discharging his duties in these positions to the entire satisfaction of all concerned. He has rendered efficient and ap- preciated service as secretary of the Franklin Public Library ever since its organization, is president of the Franklin Commercial Club, and has been a trustee of and attorney for Franklin College since 1912. Socially, he is a member of the Phi Delta Theta college fraternity. His religious member- ship is with the First Baptist church of Franklin, of which he is a trustee and in the prosperity of which he is earnestly interested, being also teacher of the Bible class in the Sunday school.

Fraternally, Mr. Branigin has for a score of years been deeply interested in the work of the Masonic order, in which he has received distinctive pre- ferment. In Franklin Lodge No. 107, he was received as an entered appren- tice on October 6, 1893, passed to the degree of fellowcraft on October 31, 1893, and raised to the degree of a Master Mason on November 8, 1893; he was made a Royal Arch Mason on October 3, 1901, and received the orders of Knight Templar on December 12, 1901. He took the degrees of the Scottish Rite with the fall class of 1906, and on November 29, 1907, he became a noble of the Ancient Arabic Order of Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, being a member of Indianapolis Consistory of the former order and of Murat Temple, Indianapolis, of the latter. Mr. Branigin served as worshipful master of Franklin Lodge No. 107 in 1903, as eminent commander of Frank- lin Commandery No. 42, Knights Templar, in 1907 and in 1911 was excellent prelate of the latter body. He is now junior grand deacon of the grand lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of the state of Indiana.

While laboring for his individual advancement, Mr. Branigin has never forgotten his obligations to the public and his support of such measures and movements as make for the general good can always be depended upon. A man of vigorous mentality and strong moral fibre, he has achieved signal success in an exacting calling and is eminently deserving of the large prestige which he enjoys in the community with which his entire life has been identi- fied.

GRAFTON JOHNSON.

Great achievements always excite admiration. Men of deeds are the men whom the world delights to honor. Ours is an age representing the most electrical progress in all lines of material activity, and the man of initiative is one who forges to the front in the industrial world. Among the dis-

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tinctive captains of industry in central Indiana a place of priority must be ac- corded to Grafton Johnson, of Greenwood, Johnson county, for to him is due the upbuilding of an industry which is not only one of the most im- portant in his county, but also one of the most extensive of its kind in the country, while the comparatively brief time within which these great results have been obtained further testify to his exceptional administrative power and executive ability. He is, in the fullest sense of the term, a progressive, virile, self-made American, thoroughly in harmony with the spirit of the advanced age in which he lives, conducting all his business matters carefully and system- atically, and in all his acts displaying an aptitude for successful management. He has not permitted the accumulation of fortune to affect in any way his actions towards those less fortunate than he, being a most sympathetic and broad-minded man, and has a host of warm and admiring friends.

Grafton Johnson is descended from a sterling line of ancestors, in whom were embodied the characteristic qualities of the sections of country from whence they came. His paternal grandparents, James and Mary (Taylor) Johnson, were natives, respectively of North Carolina and Virginia. Coming to Indiana, they located first at Brookville, Franklin county, but eventually moved to a farm near Peru, Miami county, this state. Among their children was Grafton Johnson, Sr., who was born in Mercer county, Kentucky, on December 14, 1819. The latter received a common-school education, which was supplemented by two years attendance at Franklin College. In early man- hood he engaged in mercantile pursuits at Greenwood. Johnson county, and for nearly four decades he was known as one of the most successful and prominent merchants of this locality, being, at the time of his death, on Octo- ber 2, 1883, one of Johnson county's wealthiest men. On February 21, 1859, he married Julia A. Noble, the daughter of George and Louisa (Canby) Noble, who came to Indiana from Boone county, Kentucky, about 1831. To Mr. and Mrs. Johnson were born the following children: Mary L., born August 22, 1860; George T., born August 3, 1861, deceased; Charlotte I., born June 6, 1863; Grafton, the subject of this sketch; Julia N., born June 27, 1867; Grace, born August 10, 1869; Martha E., born October 10, 1870, deceased ; Albert, born November 6, 1871. Mary L. was graduated from De- Pauw University, and later married H. B. Longden, professor of Latin in that institution; Charlotte I. became the wife of Thomas B. Felder, an attorney, of Atlanta, Georgia : Julia N. attended Wellesley College, and Grace pursued her studies in both Wellesley College and DePauw University. Politically. Mr. Johnson was a Republican and his religious membership was with the Baptist church, his wife being a member of the Methodist Episcopal church.

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Mr. Johnson was a member of the board of directors of Franklin College and was also a member of the Indianapolis Board of Trade.

Grafton Johnson, Jr., was born at Greenwood on September 14, 1864, and was there reared to manhood. He received his elementary education in the public schools, later becoming a student in and graduating from Franklin College. The canning industry has been Mr. Johnson's great life work, and that he has made a distinctive success of it is but to reiterate a well known fact. Some idea of the extent of the industry controlled by him may be gleaned from the statement that he has a record of having packed thirteen million two-pound cans of corn in one season. He owns a chain of packing plants, five in Indiana, at Franklin, Whiteland, Shelbyville, Tipton and Ander- son, and three in Wisconsin, at Clear Lake, Cumberland and Ladysmith, one in Michigan, at Three Oaks, and interested in other plants in Illinois, Iowa and Nebraska. So thoroughly has Mr. Johnson systematized his work that all these plants are successfully managed from his office in Greenwood, Indiana, where he receives daily reports and keeps in touch with the managers over the long distance telephone, a plan which has the advantage of ridding him of the annoyances of petty details and enabling him to devote his attention to the larger features of the business. In all of these plants none but the most approved and modern machinery is used and everything is under a superb sys- tem. In the busy season over two thousand persons are employed in these plants and it has been estimated that if the crops raised for the Johnson fac- tories in a single year recently had been included in one tract they would have made a field over twenty miles long and over one mile wide. The fol- lowing pen picture of a busy season in these plants is reproduced from a re- cent publication : "If there is any person who has misgivings as to the size of the industry he should visit one of Mr. Johnson's plants-say the one at Shelbyville-when the season is at its height, and watch the farmers' wagons roll in, laden with green ears, until they block the streets for squares and line up in long rows waiting their chance to unload and then reload with the soft, nutritious cobs and husks, which the farmers take home for feed. From two hundred to two hundred and twenty-five loads are received at the Shelby- ville canning factory every day. The loads average more than a ton and the farmer usually receives about eleven dollars a ton, with the privilege of re- loading his wagon with the cobs and husks free of charge. The farmer merely pulls the corn; never husks it. The husking is done at the factory in what is known as the husking department, where about four hundred and fifty persons are employed. The operatives in this department are paid by the quantity of corn they husk, and the poorest husker can make one dollar and

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fifty cents a day. Since neither a college education nor a civil service exam- ination is required to make a corn husker, and anybody who is gifted with good hands can do the work, opportunity for remunerative employment is offered to girls and even to cripples who do not have the use of their lower limbs. Quite a number of old soldiers, whose failing capacities qualify them . only for light work, make competent corn huskers.

"The husking bees, which are a continuous performance at the Indiana canning factories when the season is in full swing, are not attended by the same mirth and hilarity that accompanied the old-fashioned husking bee, which was the prime social event of the winter in backwoods communities, but at that the work is pleasant, enjoyable and healthful. Frequently entire families -husband, wife and children-assist in the husking department. Ordinarily a family of six can thus make more money in the canning season than the head of the household could earn in wages at other employment during the entire year. The corn packed at Mr. Johnson's plants is usually of the variety known as the 'Country Gentlemen,' which is exceptionally fine, sweet and palatable. The farmers who raise corn for the canning factories are not work- ing for their health. They are getting abundant returns. A very ordinary yield is three tons per acre of pulled corn, for which the farmer receives, say, . eleven dollars per ton, or thirty-three dollars per acre. He has, besides, the cobs and husks and the stalks, which made prime ensilage and are rated almost equal to clover hay in nutritious value. Another advantage is that he does not have to wait until the dead of winter for his money. He gets his check upon delivery of his corn, which means quick returns for a few months' labor. Yields of five and six tons an acre are exceptional, but not unheard of."

One of the strongest sidelights on the character of Mr. Johnson is in his treatment of his employees, which is marked by generosity and good nature. He dismisses his office force at four o'clock every afternoon and will not allow the office to stay open any longer. He insists that the managers of his plants take plenty of time off and secure an abundance of good, sound sleep, for he regards sleep as an essential to a clear head, and he wants every employee in a position of responsibility to get plenty of rest and recreation. He makes a point of selecting good men for responsible positions and pays them salaries commensurate with the very best service.

That Mr. Johnson is a man of large capacity in business affairs is emphasized in the fact that, with all the demands made upon his time and attention by his canning interests, still he has other lines of activity which re- quire the same cheerful and ceaseless vigilance. He is interested in suburban property in fifty or sixty of the most flourishing cities of nine different states,

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and also has manufacturing interests, other than those already enumerated, in Illinois and Ohio.

In the management and successful operation of all his business interests Mr. Johnson has no partner, relying absolutely on his own initiative and . administrative ability, and his faith in himself has been abundantly justified, for he has uniformly carried to successful conclusion everything to which he has addressed himself. However, Mr. Johnson generously attributes much of the growth of his business to the ability and energy of the heads of depart- ments and managers of individual plants, in the selection of whom he has shown exceptionally good judgment. He has the most implicit confidence in these men and is a strong believer that most men are honest. In return, he has the absolute confidence and loyalty of the men under him, and he is never bothered by labor trouble, for he treats his employees in such a way that they have no cause for dissatisfaction or complaint.

Mr. Johnson owns a handsome home on North Meridian street, Indi- anapolis, but he resides with his mother in Greenwood. Politically, he is an independent voter, and is an admirer of Beveridge, principally for his fight in Congress on the tariff issue. He is treasurer of the Crawford Baptist Industrial School, located north of Indianapolis, on the Marion and Hamilton county line. It is in the midst of beautiful surroundings, of over three hun- dred acres, with modern, well equipped buildings, including two dormitories, steam heated. He is also president of the board of trustees of Franklin Col- lege. He is a member of the University Club of Chicago, and the Uni- versity, Columbia and Country Clubs of Indianapolis. Modest and unas- suming, Mr. Johnson rather avoids than seeks publicity or notoriety, but he has, by his native ability, business success and high character, won, not only material wealth, but, what is of far greater value, the sincere esteem of his fellow men.

JOHN N. GRAHAM.

There is no positive rule for achieving success, and yet in the life of the successful man there are always lessons which might well be followed. The man who gains prosperity is he who can see and utilize the opportunities that come in his path. The essential conditions of human life are ever the same, the surroundings of individuals differing but slightly, and when one man passes another on the highway of life to reach the goal of prosperity before others who perhaps started out before him, it is because he has the power to use advantages which probably encompass the whole human race. Today

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among the prominent citizens and successful business men of Franklin stands John N. Graham. The qualities of keen discrimination, sound judgment and executive ability enter very largely into his make-up and have been contribut- ing elements to the material success which has come to him.

John N. Graham, who is president of the Franklin Coil Hoop Company, was born on April 28, 1862, on his father's farm, about one mile east of Whiteland, Johnson county, Indiana. His parents were John C. and Nancy J. (Clark) Graham, the father a native of Jennings county, Indiana, and the mother born in Marion county, this state. John C. Graham was a farmer by vocation and in young manhood he came to Johnson county with his father, Lewis Graham, who was numbred among the pioneers of this county. His father was one of the early school teachers of the county and it is believed that he taught the first school in Franklin. Lewis Graham spent the re- mainder of his life in this county, where he enjoyed a splendid reputation as an intelligent and progressive citizen. He married a Miss Rose. John C. Graham was an industrious and successful farmer, and resided on his place near Whiteland until his death, which occurred about 1883; his wife also is deceased. To him. and his wife were born seven children, of whom five are living, namely : James B., of Franklin; Charles L., who resides on and oper- ates the home farm; Mrs. Matilda Carson, of Whiteland; Mrs. Elizabeth Sharp of Greenwood; Mrs. Celia J. Lowe, of Indianapolis. The father had been previously married to a Miss Fitzpatrick, by whom he had two children.

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History of Johnson County, Indiana, Part 55

Author: Branigin, Elba L., 1870- Publication date: 1972 Publisher: Indianapolis, B.F. Bowen, [Evansville, Ind.], [Unigraphic, Inc.] Number of Pages: 981

Author: Branigin, Elba L., 1870-
Publication date: 1972
Publisher: Indianapolis, B.F. Bowen, [Evansville, Ind.], [Unigraphic, Inc.]
Number of Pages: 981