USA > Indiana > Indiana and Indianans : a history of aboriginal and territorial Indiana and the century of statehood, Volume V > Part 19
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JOSEPH VALENTINE BREITWIESER was born at Jasper in Dubois County, Indiana, March 31, 1884, and since leaving college
JOHN NELSON GORDON. One of Sum- mitville's most enterprising business men for a long period of years has been John Nelson Gordon. Mr. Gordon is best known all over that section of Eastern Indiana as a grain merchant. His business, con- ducted under his individual name, is han- dling and shipping grain, feed, seed, and flour. He has been one of the best posted authorities on the range of prices of these various products during the past quarter of a century, and in that time he has paid some remarkably low prices and again has afforded his customers the benefit of the top notch of the market. His policy of square dealing has won him many stanch friends among the producers, and the idea of service he has carried into all his opera- tions, a fact that accounts for his success and high standing.
Mr. Gordon was born at Metamora in Franklin County, Indiana, April 10, 1851, son of Orville and Drusilla (Blacklidge) Gordon. The Gordons are of Scotch stock, originally members of one of the famous clans of Scotland. His grandfather, Wil- liam Gordon, came from Big Bone Springs in Kentucky and was a pioneer settler in Franklin County, Indiana. Orville Gor- don was born in 1805, and died in 1870, and followed a career as a farmer. J. N. Gordon had two brothers and three sisters and also two half-sisters.
He gained his early education in the common schools of Metamora. A little after he was ten years old he began helping on the farm. His father was an extensive land owner, having about 900 acres, and the son had ample experience in every phase of agriculture. In the meantime he continued his education in the schools dur- ing the winter terms. From the age of seventeen he gave all his time to work as a
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farmer, but in 1872 went to town and se- cured employment at New Salem, Indiana. Later he conducted a store, but that was not a profitable venture. For two years he farmed eighty acres of land in Frank- lin County, and in 1879 removed to El- wood, where for a brief peried he was in the furniture and undertaking business. Later in the same year he established him- self in a similar line at Summitville, but after several years traded his store for eighty acres of land in Van Buren Town- ship of Madison County, which he sold. He was in the grocery, dry goods and hard- ware business, and in 1888 joined George Green and Frank Fulton in the firm of Green & Company, operating a grain ele- vator and doing a general grain business. That was thirty years ago. Mr. Gordon has been the chief dealer in grain at Sum- mitville ever since, and after some years he bought out the interests of his partner and now continues business under his in- dividual name.
In 1874 he married Miss Mary E. Free- man. Three children were born to their marriage: Orville Earl, deceased; Anna Pearl; and William Chase, deceased. Mr. Gordon is a republican in politics. He has been a member of the school board and in 1882 was appointed postmaster, serving four years, and in 1889 was again ap- pointed to the same office and filled out an- other four year term. He is identified with the Summitville Lodge of Independ- ent Order of Odd Fellows and Knights of Pythias, and is active in the Christian Church.
C. V. HAWORTH, superintendent of the Kokomo public schools, has been a teacher and school administrator for over twenty years, and through his work in Howard County and also as an author he is one of the most widely known and most influen- tial educators of the state.
Mr. Haworth was born in Howard County March 23, 1875, son of Clarkson and Sophrona (Rees) Haworth. The Ha- worth family settled in Howard County seventy years ago. His grandfather, James Haworth, a native of Tennessee and of Eng- lish ancestry, moved from Tennessee to Highland County, Ohio, in 1811. He was both a farmer and lawyer. In 1847 he brought his family from Ohio to Howard County, but soon went further west to
Iowa. After a brief residence in that state he returned to Howard County and located at New London, where he lived un- til his death in 1853. He acquired a large amount of land, 700 or 800 acres, in that county. Though his education was self ac- quired he was very well read and informed in the law and other subjects, and did a great deal of service to his neighbors and friends in drawing up legal papers and in furnishing advice. He began voting as a whig and was faithful to the principles of that party until his death.
Of his thirteen children Clarkson Ha- worth was the youngest and was only nine years old when his father died. He ac- quired his education in the graded and high schools of New London, and after his marriage took up farming. He died in 1890. He and his wife had eight children, fourth among them being C. V. Haworth.
C. V. Haworth spent his youth on his father's farm, and attended the graded and high schools of New London, graduat- ing from high school with the class of 1895. He has supplemented his common school advantages by much personal study and by the full course of higher institutions. He attended the Indiana State Normal and also the Indiana State University, and graduated from the latter with the degree A. B. He also took post-graduate work in the literary and law departments.
Mr. Haworth began teaching in the grade schools of New London. Later he was principal of the Fourth Ward School at Kokomo, and in 1902 was instructor of history in the Danville Normal School six months, and was teacher of history in the Anderson High School during 1909-10. From 1910 to 1914 he was principal of the Kokomo High School, and since 1914 has been superintendent of the public schools of that city.
Mr. Haworth has a cultured and highly educated wife. He married Miss Belle Cooper, of Jasper, Indiana. She was edu- cated in the public schools of Jasper, at Oakland City, Indiana, and the Indiana State University. She taught four years before her marriage. Mrs. Haworth has interested herself in many charitable, so- cial and war activities at Kokomo.
Mr. Haworth has participated in many of the educational organizations. He has devoted much of his time to literary sub- jects, and besides many articles that have
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appeared in educational and other journals from his pen he is author of a text book recently published by the Century Com- pany of New York under the title "Gov- ernment in Indiana," which is a supple- mentary treatise designed for Indiana schools to general and advanced works on civics and civil government. It is a greatly needed book not only in the schools but for general circulation and reading, since it is filled with information on the machinery of local and state government.
Mr. Haworth has also undertaken a fore- handed and valuable public service in using his influence to seenre a complete record of Howard County soldiers in the present war. This is a task which to be done well must be done promptly, while the information is obtainable, and in undertaking this Mr. Haworth is performing a service which in too many communities was neglected in the case of our soldiers of the Civil war.
Mr. Haworth has also made a close study of school architecture, and in 1914 he assisted in drawing plans for the magnifi- cent high school building at Kokomo, which is regarded in many particulars as the fin- est structure of its kind in the state. Its auditorium, with a seating capacity for 1,200, is undoubtedly the largest found in any school building in Indiana.
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MICHAEL HESS. The largest paper box manufacturing plant in Indiana, and one of the largest in the country, is that of the International Printing Company at Indian- apolis. Its plant at 230-238 West Me- Carthy Street represents the last word in mechanical equipment and personal organ- ization and efficiency, and in the growth and development of the business to its present stage a number of men have con- tributed their capital, experience and tech- nical ability.
Chief of these on the technical side at least is Michael Hess, vice president of the company. Mr. Hess has been making paper boxes since he was a boy. His ex- perience has not been altogether on the commercial side of the industry. He has handled all the machinery used in paper box making from the first crude devices of that kind, and possessing mechanical abil- ity and being somewhat original himself he has figured as an inventor of a number of devices applied to paper making ma- chinery.
Mr. Hess was born at Dayton, Ohio, in 1862, and grew up in a city which has at- tained no little fame because of its men of special industrial genius. His parents. Daniel and Elizabeth (Roth) Hess, were both natives of Germany. Michael Hess received his education in the Dayton pub- lic schools, and was little more than a school boy when he learned the trade of paper box making. There has been no im- portant deviation from this early expe- rience throughout his mature life. He lived at Dayton until the age of forty, and then identified himself with the Indiana City of Newcastle, where in 1902 he estab- lished a paper box factory, founding and organizing the Newcastle Paper Box Com- pany. Its growth was such that it was deemed advisable to remove the plant to Indianapolis in 1906, and from this city its scope has constantly expanded until it is an industry that supplies special needs all over the central west. In 1912 the In- ternational Printing Company was formed, with Mr. Hess as vice president. The large plant on West McCarthy Street is now equipped with modern machinery for the making and printing of paper boxes of all kinds, and their output is distributed among the large consumers all over the central west.
At a time when there is a special prem- ium upon economy of all resources Mr. Hess came forward with the announcement of a new invention, which he perfected in February, 1918, and already is in use by large customers of paper boxes from the Mississippi to the Atlantic coast. What this invention is may be best described in the words of an Indianapolis paper which contained a half column of description some weeks ago:
"The machine, which can be operated by a girl, is of simple design and construction. Adjustable forms designed to fit any size of paper box give the operator a broad scope. The flat folding blanks, which are scored and printed, are adjusted on the form and with a few deft motions of the operator are conformed into paper boxes of even greater strength than the paper box of rigid construction. The new ma- chine serves a purpose that long has per- plexed both the makers and consumers of boxes. By its use the consumer can lay in ample stocks of the flat paper blanks and make the boxes himself just as it suits
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his needs, thus eliminating the use of large amount of valuable space formerly occu- pied by formed paper boxes kept in stock. "The International Printing Company is not placing the new box folding machine on the market. It is not for sale. Instead the company is distributing these machines to patrons for their own convenience, free of charge, for use by them so long as the machine meets their demands. The ma- chine has a daily capacity of 1,000 paper boxes. It is operated by hand and the speed of production depends to a certain extent upon the efficiency of the operator. As many as 1,200 boxes have been com- pleted on these machines, but the daily average is about 700."
One of the many problems involved in that pertaining to the economical and effi- cient distribution of manufactured goods is the making and use of suitable contain- ers. The paper box has hundreds of uses and yet its possibilities have been by no means exhausted, and it is obvious that the paper box folding machine invented by Mr. Hess and distributed through the In- ternational Printing Company of Indian- apolis will go far toward increasing the utility of many kinds and types of paper containers.
Mr. Hess is well known to the citizenship of Indianapolis. He married Miss Mar- garet Geneva Schutte, of Dayton. Their two children are Joseph J. and Christina A. Hess. -
JAMES WILLIAM HUNTER. Doing an ex- tensive business in china and electrical sup- plies, James W. Hunter, proprietor of the Hunter Department Store located on the Public Square, Anderson, is one of the city's representative and respected citizens and experienced merchants. The story of Mr. Hunter's business life is mainly con- cerned with merchandising, with which he has been continuously identified since early manhood. He has been the pioneer in some . lines at Anderson, and has definitely proved that from small beginnings important busi- ness enterprises may be developed through prudence and good management.
James W. Hunter was born in 1847, at Bradford in Mercer County, Ohio, and his parents were Alexander and Sophia Hun- ter. His father, like generations of Hunt- ers before him, was a farmer all his life, first in Mercer County and later in Shelby
County, Illinois, to which section he moved with his family in 1851. His family, as was very general in those days, was large and as James W. Hunter's services were not needed at home, from his twelfth to his nineteenth year he worked on a neighbor- ing farm, attending school at Shelbyville during the winter months. He found him- self not satisfied, however, with the pros- pect of being a farmer all his life, and therefore determined to prepare himself for school-teaching, and with this end in view he spent three years in the Illinois State Normal School at Normal and re- ceived his certificate to teach. By that time Mr. Hunter had discovered that a bus- iness career appealed more strongly to him than an educational one, and he put aside his teacher's credentials and went to Bloomington to find a business opening.
During the succeeding six years Mr. Hunter remained in the employ of Stephen Smith of Bloomington, the leading dry goods merchant there at the time and took advantage of his excellent opportunities and learned the business. Thus naturally he became more valuable to employers and soon had offers from different firms, subse- quently going out on the road as salesman for Joseph Weil & Company, wholesale dry goods merchants. After some experience he went to Indianapolis and accepted a po- sition as traveling salesman with D. P. Ewing & Company of that city, and re- inained fourteen years, his territory during that time being the states of Indiana and Illinois. Still later Mr. Hunter was with John Wanamaker & Company of Philadel- phia for four years.
In the meanwhile, having accumulated some capital, Mr. Hunter decided to in- vest it in a mercantile enterprise and bought what was called "The Ninety-Nine Cent Store" at Bloomington, and hired a merchant to operate it for him while he was still in the traveling field. Two years later he sold and came to Anderson, and on April 1, 1900, he opened the first "Penny Store" that was ever tried here, his location being on Meridian Street where Decker Brothers are in business to- day, and continued there for a year and a half. That was the real beginning of Mr. Hunter's mercantile success in this city, and the venture was creditable to him in every way. In 1902 he came to his present location on the Public Square, where he
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does a very large business and gives em- ployment to seventeen people. His is the main electrical supply house in Madison County.
Mr. Hunter was married in 1872 to Miss Mary Gross, who was born in Pennsyl- vania. Her parents, Joseph and Sarah Gross, still reside in that state. Mr. and Mrs. Hunter have no children. They are members of the First Presbyterian Church at Anderson, and formerly Mr. Hunter was a trustee of the same and is a liberal supporter of the church's many benevolent movements. In politics he is affiliated with the republican party.
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M. W. COATE has been active in business and public affairs in Northern Indiana for half a century, and is still carrying a big burden of business responsibilities as a member and official of the Kokomo Hard- ware Company.
Mr. Coate was born in Greene County, Ohio, June 26, 1845, son of Lindley M. and Martha (Painter) Coate. His father was a native of Miami County, Ohio, and in 1854 came from Greene County to Wa- bash, Indiana. He settled in that county when much of the land was still uncleared, buying a farm seven miles southwest of the county seat. It was covered with heavy timber and his labor converted it into pro- dnetive and well tilled fields. He was one of the highly respected citizens of that community. He was a lifelong member and supporter of the Wesleyan Methodist Church, a thorough Christian, a great Bible student, and was well educated in both secular and theological subjects. As a vo- ter he was first a whig and later a repub- lican. He died on his homestead in Wa- bash County July 24, 1878, at the age of fifty-six. Of his nine children six are still living, and M. W. Coate is the oldest.
His early education was acquired in the common schools of Wabash County. He also attended high school, and taught one term. December 31, 1867, he married Miss Viola C. Ellis, a daughter of Dr. C. S. Ellis of Somerset, Indiana. Mr. and Mrs. Coate had four children, the two now living be- ing Madge and Agnes, both of whom are married and have families. Mrs. Coate was educated in the high school at Som- erset.
After his marriage Mr. Coate served as deputy treasurer of Wabash County, was
subsequently elected as chief of that office and served capably two terms. He came to Kokomo in 1887, more than thirty years ago. Here he was engaged in the hard- ware business with Mr. Bruner under the name Bruner & Coate for six years. On selling out his interests he moved to Ma- rion, Indiana, in 1893, and for five years was treasurer of the Indiana Pulp and Paper Company. After his return to Ko- komo Mr. Coate was traveling representa- tive for the Globe Stove and Range Com- pany for four years. He then became associated with J. I. Shade in the Kokomo Hardware Company. This company was incorporated in 1904, Mr. Coate being sec- retary and treasurer. The other active members are J. I. Shade and U. J. Shoe- maker. This is one of the leading hard- ware firms in Howard County, and hand- les all the varied stock of goods found in well equipped stores of that character.
Mr. Coate is a thirty-second degree Scot- tish Rite Mason, a Noble of the Mystic Shrine, and is also affiliated with the Elks. Politically he votes as a republican and has many times been effective in rendering practical aid to his party.
WILLIAM A. HOLLOWAY, M. D. A quar- ter of a century of service, thorough, skill- ful and actuated by the highest ethics and ideals of his profession, is the record of Doctor Holloway at Logansport, one of that city's most successful physicians and surgeons.
Doctor Holloway was born on a farm in Jefferson township of Boone County, In- diana, September 23, 1870, son of Jefferson P. and Mary (Dukes) Holloway. His parents were also born in Indiana. His father is still living, a farmer in Clinton County of this state. Doctor Holloway was the oldest of three children. He was three years of age when his parents moved to Clinton County, and he grew up on his father's farm. From the public schools he entered Indiana University, remained a student two years and then taught for a year. He began the study of medicine with Dr. Joseph D. Parker at Colfax, and in 1899 entered Miami Medical College at Cincinnati. The first two years of his work was done in that institution and he then entered Bellevue Hospital Medical College of New York, where he was grad- .uated M. D. with the class of 1893. Doc-
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tor Holloway immediately located at Lo- gansport and since then has allowed few outside interests to interfere with the seri- ous and studious devotion to his profes- sion. He has done much post-graduate work as well as constant study and observa- tion at home. He has taken two post- graduate courses in New York City, and in 1917 attended the Harvard School of Med- icine. He is a member of the Cass County and Indiana Medical Societies and the American Medical Association, and fra- ternally is affiliated with the Masonic Or- der in both the Scottish and York Rites, with the Knights of Pythias and Benevo- lent and Protective Order of Elks. On December 27, 1893, he married Miss Myr- tle Ticen, of Clinton County. Mrs. Hollo- way is a member of the Methodist Episco- pal Church. They have one daughter, Mary.
ROBERT H. DIETZ since the death of his father, Charles L. Dietz in the summer of 1918, has been the active head of C. L. Dietz & Company, the oldest brokerage and commission merchant establishment in In- dianapolis.
This is a business whose history can be recited with pride. The late Charles L. Dietz, who moved from Ohio to Indiana in 1870, was one of the first brokers at Indianapolis to handle fruit and general merchandise brokerage, specializing in foodstuffs. He began in a small way in the early '80s, and his enterprise kept grow- ing in proportion to the expansion of In- dianapolis itself until at the time of his death C. L. Dietz & Company was doing a business of more than a million dollars a year. More important even than the vol- ume of business has been the absolute con- fidence reposed in this firm by the trade during the last thirty years. They have handled a complete line of foodstuffs, in- cluding perishable and non-perishable goods. In that particular business they have made history in many ways. It was this firm which brought to Indianapolis the first carload of bananas ever received there. For a number of years they have handled principally canned goods, dried fruits, potatoes, oranges, lemons, grape fruit, nuts and beans. The firm confines its selling efforts to Indiana, and its busi- ness relations reach even the most remote sections of the state. The firm derives its
supplies from every state in the Union, and in normal times imported large quantities of goods from Spain, France, Italy, Cuba, Sweden, China, Japan and Turkey.
It was not only a highly successful busi- ness man but a thoroughly public spirited citizen who was lost to Indianapolis in the death of Charles L. Dietz on June 1, 1918. He was interested in the growth and wel- fare of his city in many ways. For several years he was very active in humane work, and devoted almost his entire time to it. His chief interest in this work was derived from his desire to see children and dumb animals, all helpless things in fact, given a fair chance. He was an enthusiastic Ro- tarian, and had been a member of the In- dianapolis Rotary Club for several years before his death. He was also one of the first members of the Columbia Club. In politics he was a republican, but was not an aspirant for political honors. He was a lifelong friend of the late James Whit- comb Riley, and was an intimate asso- ciate of the poet for more than forty years.
Charles L. Dietz married Helen Webster. They were the parents of three children, all of whom are still living.
Robert H. Dietz was born at Indian- apolis March 1, 1885, and after an educa- tion in the public schools went to work for his father at the age of sixteen. After three years he and his brother engaged in the wholesale flour business under the name W. E. Dietz & Company. In 1908 he again became associated with his father in the firm of C. L. Dietz & Company, and is now a successor to that business and is continu- ing along the same high standards estab- lished by his honored father.
Mr. Dietz is a member of the Indian- apolis Rotary Club, the Independent Ath- letie Club, is a republican, and has been quite interested in the welfare of his party. Ile is a member of the First Baptist Church of Indianapolis, being treasurer of the Brotherhood of that church. He is fond of outdoor life and keeps himself fit for busi- ness by regular gymnasium work.
March 31, 1908, at Indianapolis, Mr. Dietz married Miss Gladys Finney, daugh- ter of Edwin Finney. They have two chil- dren : Dorothy F., born April 13, 1909, and Diana Dietz, born June 12, 1915.
ANNA SNEED CAIRNS, for many years president of Forest Park College, St. Louis,
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Missouri, was born at New Albany, In- diana, March 19, 1841, a daughter of Rev. Samuel K. Sneed. She is a graduate of Monticello Seminary with the class of 1858, and at the early age of seventeen years be- gan teaching. In 1861 she founded Forest Park College at Kirkwood, and during the past fifty-six years she has served as the president of Forest Park College. She has been prominently identified with Women's Christian Temperance Union work, serving seven years as legal superintendent of the Missouri Women's Christian Temperance Union, a similar period as national organ- izer of the National Women's Christian Temperance Union, and for two years was labor superintendent of the National Wom- en's Christian Temperance Union.
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