USA > Indiana > Allen County > History of the Maumee River basin, Allen County, Indiana > Part 4
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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42
In 1900 Mr. Robinson was united in marriage with Miss Lily M. Deihl. Fraternally, he is affiliated with the Free and Accepted Ma- sons, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias, the Ancient Order of United Workmen, the Modern Woodmen of America and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. Mr. Robinson is now engaged in the active practice of his profession in his home city and at Washington, D. C., and has a large and repre- sentative clientele.
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THE MAUMEE RIVER BASIN.
JOHN MORRIS.
The strong, true men of a people are always public benefactors. Their usefulness in the immediate and specific labors they perform can be defined by metes and bounds, but the good they do through the forces they put in motion and through the inspiration of their pres- ence and example is immeasurable by any finite gauge or standard of value. The late Judge John Morris, of Fort Wayne, was such a man. The nestor of the bar of Allen county at the time of his death, he was also one of the best known and most distinguished citizens of northeastern Indiana, while his life and services have entered into and become an integral part of the history of this commonwealth. To epitomize his life and character within the limits of a publication such as this is impossible, but less than most men intellectually his equal does he need the voice of eulogy. The stalwart proportions of his living presence were realized in the void made in his death, and "his works do follow him."
John Morris was born near New Lisbon, Columbiana county, Ohio, on the 6th of December, 1816, being the fourth in a family of twelve children. His paternal great-grandfather, Jenkins Morris, was a naval engineer who immigrated from Wales to America in the latter part of the eighteenth century, settling in Loudoun county, Virginia. His son John, grandfather of our subject, removed from the Old Dominion to Ohio in 1801, taking up his abode in the wilds of Columbiana county, where he purchased a tract of land and began the development of a farm. On this place his children were born, as were also those of his son Jonathan, father of him whose name initiates this sketch, while the old homestead is still owned and occupied by direct descendants of the Morris line. Jonathan Morris married Sarah Snider, who was of German descent, her family having
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immigrated from the city of Worms and settled in Columbiana county, Ohio, in 1799.
The earlier years of Judge Morris' life were passed upon the old homestead farm of which mention has been made, and until he was fifteen years of age his life was not different from that of the aver- age farmer lad of the locality and period. During the winter months he attended the Quaker schools in the neighborhood, the same being exceptionally good for those primitive days. At the age of fifteen, with the idea of gaining a more advanced education, young Morris went to Richmond, Indiana, where he entered the well equipped acad- emy there, maintained under the auspices of the Society of Friends. In this institution he devoted three years to the study of history, nat- ural philosophy and mathematics, and after thus completing his course he returned to New Lisbon, Ohio, where he devoted the ensuing three years to work at the trade of millwright. During this time his studies were not neglected, literature and mathematics claiming his enthusi- astic attention.
Judge Morris had attained to his legal majority before he turned his attention to the profession which was to be so signally honored and dignified by his identification therewith. He initiated his read- ing of the law in New Lisbon, having as his preceptor William D. Ewing, who at that time one of the leading members of the Ohio bar. Four years later, in 1841, Judge Morris was duly admitted to practice, at New Lisbon, while it may be stated that at that time examination for admission to the bar was a considerably more for- midable proceeding than has obtained in more recent times. Among those associated in the examination of the ambitious young attorney were Judges McClain and Hitchcock, of the Ohio supreme court; Edwin M. Stanton, who later became secretary of war in the cabinet of President Lincoln, and David Tod, who later served as governor of Ohio and as United States minister to Mexico. Immediately after being thus granted admission to the bar of his native state, Judge Morris formed a professional partnership with Hiram Griswold, with whom he was associated in practice for three years. He grew restless under the conditions encompassing him and determined to locate in some growing town further to the west, believing that he could thus secure better opportunities for growth and success in his chosen pro-
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fession. In 1844 he came to Indiana and located in Auburn, DeKalb county, which was then a distinctively new section of the state, with primitive life in evidence in the straggling little village in which Judge Morris established himself in practice. He met with no insig- nificant success, his practice being extended not only into the courts of DeKalb county, but also into those of the surrounding counties, while his reputation and professional prestige grew apace. Of this portion of the life of our honored subject another has pertinently written as follows: "Many were the legal battles which he waged for clients in those pioneer days, not alone in the county courts, but also before the pioneer justices of the peace, whose conception of the law was often limited, but whose sense of common justice between man and man was not often at fault. It was one of the delights of Judge Morris' later life, when retrospective thought or some incident carried his memory back, to recount anecdotes of the courts and cases, the clients and the colleagues of pioneer days in northern Indiana."
In 1852 Judge Morris was the Whig candidate for judge of the common pleas court of the district comprising DeKalb and Steuben counties, and though the circuit was strongly Democratic he was elected. He had achieved front rank as a practicing attorney, and it is recorded that his career on the bench was equally creditable. In the year 1857 Judge Morris removed from Auburn to Fort Wayne, where he achieved the highest eminence in his profession, and where the remaining years of his long, useful and noble life were passed. He located here upon the invitation of Charles Case, forthwith be- coming a member of the law firm of Case, Morris & Withers. Mr. Case was later elected to congress, and under these conditions, in 1864, Judge Morris entered into professional partnership with his lifelong friend, Judge James L. Worden, under the title of Worden & Morris. Judge Worden was elected to the supreme bench of the state in 1870, and Judge Morris continued to be associated with Mr. Withers until 1873, when he became a member of the law firm of Coombs, Morris & Bell. Touching pertinent points in his career, we are able to quote somewhat freely from a previously published sketch of the life of Judge Morris: "In 1881 the Indiana legislature pro- vided for a commission as an auxiliary to the supreme court, designed to relieve that body of the press of business which was accumulating
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more rapidly than it could be disposed of by the regular court. The act provided that the members of the supreme court should appoint five commissioners to serve in such capacity, and it was arranged by the judges that each should select one member of the commission from his own judicial district, and these selections were then con- firmed by the court. Judge Worden, though a Democrat, promptly chose his friend, Judge Morris, who was a Republican, as a member of this commission, and in this capacity Judge Morris served from April 27, 1881, to September 1, 1883, when he voluntarily resigned, to resume the practice of law in Fort Wayne. While on this com- mission Judge Morris decided a total of one hundred and seventy-five cases, which are reported in volumes 73 to 91 of the reports of the supreme court. His decisions are characterized by lucid style, sound logic and a strong sense of justice and equity. Resigning his place upon the supreme court commission, Judge Morris resumed practice in Fort Wayne, with Charles H. Aldrich and James M. Barrett, un- der the firm name of Morris, Aldrich & Barrett. He remained at the head of this firm until Mr. Aldrich removed to Chicago, in 1886, after which Judge Morris and Mr. Barrett continued the business, as Morris & Barrett, until 1891. In the latter year the firm of Morris & Barrett and the firm of Bell & Morris united under the firm name of Morris, Bell, Barrett & Morris, the individual members being Judge Morris, Hon. Robert C. Bell, Hon. James M. Barrett and Samuel L. Morris. This was widely recognized as one of the very strongest law firms of the Indiana bar. It was continued for a period of seven years, until January 1, 1898, when Mr. Bell retired from the firm, and the firm became Morris, Barrett & Morris.
"When the federal bankruptcy law went into effect, in 1898, pro- viding, among other things, for a referee in bankruptcy for the dis- trict of Fort Wayne, Judge John H. Baker, then upon the bench of the United States court for the district of Indiana, appointed Judge Morris as the first referee in bankruptcy for this district, and he withdrew from his legal partnership. Within a short time Judge Morris discovered that the burdensome clerical duties of the position were not to his liking, and he resigned the office, resuming the prac- tice of law, in partnership with his grandson, Edward J. Woodworth. Here, at an age long past that at which most men have been compelled
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to relinquish even an attempt at business or professional life, Judge Morris retained a close touch with legal affairs, and exercised by close attention a directing hand in the legal practice of the firm. At more than four score years of age Judge Morris yet appeared in court in active practice, and it has only been within the past two years that his extreme age and enfeebled condition prevented an active partici- pation in the work of the profession he adorned for so many years."
One who was long and intimately associated with Judge Morris has offered the following estimate: "His success as a lawyer was due to the careful preparation of every cause in its minutest details, to his strong sense of right, to his absolute integrity as a counselor, and to his high regard for the truth, as well as the law. No breath of calumny ever assailed his professional or private life. No sus- picion of wrongdoing ever compromised his personal honor. He al- ways enjoyed the confidence of courts and juries, and the respect, esteem and love of his professional associates. By hard labor, close attention to business, an indomitable will, unimpeachable integrity and unswerving fidelity to clients, he soon reached the front rank of his profession, and for more than fifty years he enjoyed the distinction of being the recognized leader of the bar of northern Indiana. The members looked to him for guidance and his influence among them has been unmeasured. He possessed the highest qualifications for a judge-independence, clear perception, patience in argument, thor- oughness in investigation, sound judgment and absolute integrity, both moral and intellectual."
In politics Judge Morris was originally affiliated with the Whig party, but he cast his lot with the Republican party at the time of its organization, and ever afterward accorded to the same his unequivo- cal allegiance. He was frequently importuned by party leaders to accept nomination for important office, but declined all such overtures, loving his home and his profession too deeply to enter the tumultuous arena of practical politics. He was a man of the highest intellectu- ality and of pure and lofty ideals, while to him came the affection and regard of all who came within the sphere of his gracious influ- ence. We are pleased to quote farther from the tribute paid him in a Fort Wayne newspaper at the time of his death: "Judge Morris was of charming personality, and he has been in the completest sense
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a type of the grand old man. Somewhat frail of figure, yet singu- larly erect of form and active in movement, with pleasing, regular features, hair and beard white as purest snow, he was a striking fig- ure. Unfailingly affable, polite and genial, his manner was quiet and dignified, yet in no degree wanting in cordiality. Thoughtful of the rights and feelings of others, tender-hearted as a woman, gen- erous to a fault, Judge Morris quickly won and steadfastly retained the unbounded respect and friendship of all with whom he was thrown in contact. His life has been an exemplification of the sturdy yet unobtrusive virtues and the polished graces of a dignified, courteous, kindly gentleman. In professional and personal life alike Judge Mor- ris' position has always been one of exceptionally high degree, and in his career, private and public, was exemplified the noblest type of American citizenship."
At New Lisbon, Ohio, on the 27th of April, 1841, was solem- nized the marriage of Judge Morris to Miss Theresa Jane Farr, who proved to him a devoted wife and coadjutrix, their felicitous married life extending over a period of more than half a century, and the gracious ties of companionship being broken by the death of Mrs. Morris, in September, 1902. Three sons and three daughters survive the honored parents. Samuel L. and John, Jr., are representative members of the Fort Wayne bar; Stephen is an attache of the Old National Bank, of this city; Martha is the wife of James C. Wood- worth, of Fort Collins, Colorado; Julia M. is the wife of E. A. Barnes, of Detroit, Michigan, and Miss Mary remains in the beauti- ful old homestead on Maple avenue, where the death of the loved and devoted father occurred on Saturday morning, February 4, 1905. In his death the city lost one of its most distinguished citizens, the bar of the state one of its worthiest members, and the world a man of signal purity of character, one whose life counted for good in all its relations. Judge Morris was a firm believer in the Christian faith, and his lfe was in harmony therewith. He was for many years a regular attendant of the Wayne Street Methodist Episcopal church, of which his wife also was a devoted member.
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THE MAUMEE RIVER BASIN.
MARTIN T. GEAKE.
Chosen, in the general election of November, 1904, to represent Allen county in the state legislature, Mr. Geake was accorded a grat- ifying mark of popular confidence and esteem in the section where practically his entire life has been passed, and, as representative from the twelfth district, he is one of the youngest members of the sixty- fourth general assembly of the Indiana legislature, even as he is one of the prominent and popular young business men of Fort Wayne and a member of one of our honored families.
Martin Thomas Geake, more familiarly known by his second name, was born in the city of Toledo, Ohio, on the 29th of April, 1881, and is a son of William and Alice (Clayton) Geake, who have maintained their home in Fort Wayne for nearly a quarter of a cen- tury. The father of our subject is one of the representative business men and honored citizens of Fort Wayne, where he is an extensive contractor in cut-stone work, in which line his operations are of very wide scope, being excelled by those of few if any contractors in the state. William Geake was born in the city of Bristol, England, in 1849, and was a lad of five years when his parents, in 1854, came to America, locating in the Dominion of Canada, where they re- mained four years, at the expiration of which they returned with their children to England, where they passed the remainder of their lives. In 1868, shortly before his twentieth birthday anniversary, William Geake again came to America, and he first located in Oswego, New York, whence he removed to Toledo, Ohio, a few months later. In the city last mentioned he engaged in contracting for cut stone, in partnership with his cousin, John J. Geake, and they built up a pros- perous enterprise. He remained there a number of years, and then removed to Emmet county, Michigan, locating near the city of Pe-
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toskey, where he took up a quarter section of wild land and became one of the pioneers of that locality, where he maintained his home about six years. He then came to Fort Wayne, with whose industrial and civic affairs he has ever since been identified, being one of the most substantial and prominent stone contractors in the state, and having done a large amount of important work in connection with the erection of public buildings in divers parts of northern Indiana. He is specially well known in Masonic circles, being an appreciative a prominent member of the time-honored fraternity, in which he has attained to the maximum degree possible to be gained in America, being raised to the thirty-third degree in the Ancient Accepted Scot- tish Rite, northern Masonic jurisdiction, while he is past grand mas- ter of the Masonic grand lodge of Indiana. He is also identified with the Royal Arcanum and the Sons of St. George, and in politics is a stanch Republican. In 1873 was solemnized the marriage of William Geake to Miss Alice E. Clayton, of Toledo, Ohio, and of their nine children we enter brief record as follows: Hon. William C. is dep- uty attorney general of the state of Indiana; Charles H. is superin- tendent of the Geake stone business, in Fort Wayne, the enterprise having been established by his father in 1884; Sarah A. is the wife of Delmer Franklin, of Chicago; Charlotte E. is at the parental home; Martin Thomas is the immediate subject of this review; Edith B. and Ella G. remain at home and are students in the Fort Wayne high school at the time of this writing; George Pixley is a student in Howe Military Academy, at Lima, Indiana, and Samuel Sweet is attending the city schools of Fort Wayne.
Martin Thomas Geake was an infant at the time of his parents' removal to Fort Wayne, and here he was reared to maturity, duly availing himself of the excellent advantages afforded in the city schools and being graduated in the high school as a member of the class of 1899. After leaving school he became actively associated with his father's business operations, with which he is still identified, and he has shown himself to be an able and progressive young busi- ness man and one of marked initiative and executive aptitude. Ever since attaining years of maturity he has been an ardent advocate of the principles of the Republican party and has been one of its promi- ยท nent and popular young devotees in Fort Wayne. Exceptional dis-
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tinction and honor were conferred upon him in his election, in No- vember, 1904, to represent the twelfth district in the lower house of the state legislature, in which he has taken his seat at the age of twenty-three years. Like his honored father, Mr. Geake is a loyal and appreciative affiliate of the Masonic fraternity, in which he has advanced to the thirty-second degree of the Ancient Accepted Scot- tish Rite, being identified with the Consistory of the Valley of Indi- ana, at the state capital, in which he has been duly crowned as a Sub- lime Prince of the Royal Secret. He has held various official posi- tions in the different Masonic bodies in Fort Wayne, and is enthusias- tic in the work of the grand order with which he is thus identified. Mr. Geake is a communicant of the Protestant Episcopal church, being a member of Trinity parish, in his home city, and also being a mem- ber of the fine vested choir for three years. The subject is a young man of sterling character and one whose career is one of promise, both in a business and civic way, for in the matter of political pres- tige he has gained a noteworthy precedence for one of his years, and bases the same on personal popularity and eligibility, the fealty and loyalty of influential friends and the high standing of his family, so that his ambition for a political career may readily be indulged and fostered in case he sees fit to remain in the public service. He still remains a member of the home circle, where he is held in affectionate regard, not as the member of a dignified legislative body, but as "Tom," the cherished son and brother.
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ALLEN COUNTY, INDIANA.
NELSON L. DEMING, M. D.
As a physician and surgeon of high attainments and distinctive precedence, and as one of the popular representatives of his profes- sion in the city of Fort Wayne, Dr. Deming is entitled to considera- tion in his work.
Nelson Lloyd Deming was born in Danbury, Connecticut, on the 2Ist of November, 1868, and is a son of Charles J. and Annie Maria (White) Deming, both of whom were born and reared in that state, being representatives of old and prominent New England families. The father has been engaged in mercantile and railroad work during the major portion of his active career, and died August 30, 1905. He was a member of the Connecticut legislature and served three years as a Connecticut volunteer during the Civil war, being adjutant of the Second Connecticut Heavy Artillery. Dr. Deming secured his early educational discipline in the public schools and in a private school in New York city, where he was prepared for matriculation in the scientific department of the Sheffield Scientific School, from which he graduated in 1890 with the degree of Bachelor of Philoso- phy. He soon afterward (1890) entered the College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York city, now known as the medical branch of Columbia College, where he completed the prescribed course and was graduated as a member of the class of 1893. From May of that year until October, 1894, he served as interne in the city hospital of the national metropolis, while later he held other hospital appoint- ments which gave him exceptional advantages for clinical work and study, while he continued in practice in New York until 1896, when he came to Fort Wayne, where he has built up an excellent general practice and is regarded as one of the leading medical practitioners of the younger generation in the city. In politics the Doctor is an advocate of the principles and policies of the Republican party. His
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religious connection is with the Protestant Episcopal church, while professionally he is allied with the American Medical Association, the Tri-State Medical Society and the Allen County Medical Society, and also belongs to the Berzelins Society of Yale College.
On the 16th of November, 1898, Dr. Deming was united in mar- riage to Miss Louise Carnahan, who is a native of Indiana, being a daughter of William L. and Clara (Hanna) Carnahan, the former of whom is deceased, while the latter maintains her home in Fort Wayne. Dr. and Mrs. Deming have two children, Nelson L., Jr., and Mary Louise.
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ALLEN COUNTY, INDIANA.
OLAF N. GULDLIN.
Great achievements always excite admiration. Men of deeds are the men whom the world delights to honor. Ours is an age repre- senting the most electrical progress in all lines of material activity, and the man of initiative is one who forges to the front in the indus- trial world. Among the distinctive "captains of industry" in the city of Fort Wayne a place of priority must be accorded to him whose name heads this article, for to him is due the upbuilding of an in- dustry which is not only one of the most important in this city, but also the most extensive of the kind in the world, while the compara- tively brief time within which these great results have been obtained further testified to his exceptional administrative power and executive ability. Though a native of a foreign land, where he was reared and educated, Mr. Guldlin is a typical American citizen, thoroughly in harmony with the spirit of the republic, while here he has made the most of his opportunities and worked his way upward to a noble and worthy success. He is president and general manager of the West- ern Gas Construction Company, of Fort Wayne, of which due de- scription will be entered in later paragraphs of this article.
Mr. Guldlin was born in the picturesque old capital city of Chris- tiania, Norway, on the 6th of December. 1858, being a son of Lars O. and Maren (Sander) Guldlin, both of whom were natives of the same fair Norseland, where the former was born in 1828 and the lat- ter in 1836. They immigrated to the United States in 1883, and set- tled in Barnes county, North Dakota, where the father became a pros- perous farmer, and where he died in 1898, while his widow still re- sides in Valley City, that county. Their children are seven in num- ber, and the subject of this review is the only son. Olaf N. Guldlin was reared to manhood in his native land, and his father's financial
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