USA > Indiana > Indiana and Indianans : a history of aboriginal and territorial Indiana and the century of statehood, Volume V > Part 32
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Mr. Roehm married Miss Leota Coble, a native of Indiana. They have three chil- dren : Robert, Frances and Dorothy. Mr. Roehm and family are Catholics in re- ligion. In politics he is absolutely inde- pendent, voting according to the dictates of his conscience and his judgment.
ELIJAH A. MORSE was born in South Bend, Indiana, in 1841. During his early youth he removed to the east with his parents. He served his country during the Civil war, and later became prominent as a manufacturer of stove polish in Canton, Massachusetts. He was a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives in 1876, was elected to the State Senate in 1886 and 1887, and as a republican was elected to the Fifty-first, Fifty-second, Fifty-third and Fifty-fourth congresses. His death occurred at Canton, Massachu- setts, in 1898.
CHELLA M. DAWLEY has built up a busi- ness at Anderson which is a credit to her enterprise and an instance of what a young woman of determined purpose and energy
can achieve in the business world. She is proprietor of the Dawley Millinery Shop, probably the largest business of its kind in Madison County.
Miss Dawley was born on a farm in Blackford County, Indiana, daughter of Nathan W. and Emma (Sutton) Dawley. She comes of good old American stock. Her early education was that of country schools, supplemented later by three years in the Montpelier High School. After her mother died she went to work, and gained her preliminary business experience in the Purman and Johnston department store at Montpelier. Later for eight years she was saleswoman for H. Mosler & Son at Port- land, Indiana, and during that time ac- quired a great aggregate of experience and skill which served her in good stead when in 1909 she came to Anderson and with Mrs. J. W. Grimes opened a millinery shop under the name Grimes & Dawley. The location then was where the store is now, at 15 West Tenth Street. After two years Miss Dawley bought out her partner, and has since done much to improve and increase her business, remodeling the store and enlarging its facilities. Miss Dawley is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
HENRY KOELLN. Some of the most sub- stantial edifices of brick and stone in and around Michigan City attest the ability and long practical experience of Henry Koelln as a contractor and builder. Mr. Koelln acquired his trade and profession from his father, and has had the business push and energy to enable him to build up an organization that counts in the sphere of building and contracting.
He was born at Waterloo in Waterloo County, Ontario. His father, Claus Koelln, was born in April, 1830, in Schleswig-Hol- stein of Danish parentage and ancestry. He acquired a good education, and in 1853 brought his family to America, being on the ocean in a sailing vessel for seven weeks. His destination was Waterloo, Iowa. At that time there were no rail- roads in Iowa, and it was almost impossible to learn anything of the state. Imme- diately on landing he proceeded to the Province of Ontario, and while still con- templating proceeding westward to Iowa he was informed that a town of the same name was thirty miles away, and thus the
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influence of uame directed him to that lo- cality in Ontario instead of to what is now one of the most prosperous cities of Iowa. He traveled to Waterloo, Ontario, with an ox team and found a small town in the midst of the wilderness. Being a natural mechanic he was soon busy with contracting and building, and has continued to live in this section of Ontario to the present time. He married Anna Van Yahn, also a native of Schleswig-Holstein and of Danish par- entage. She died in 1913. They had six children, named Charles, Henry, Matilda, John, Julius, and Anna. Julius is a con- tractor and builder at Detroit.
Henry Koelln acquired his education in Waterloo and inherited good mechanical talent. He acquired expert practice in the trade of brick and plaster mason from his father, and on leaving home went to Grand Rapids, Michigan, and was a con- tractor and builder in that city for twelve years. Since then his home and business headquarters have been in Michigan City. He has perfected an organization that is widely known in building circles, and he has carried out many large contracts in adjoining states. The Judge Montgomery residence in Lansing, Michigan, was con- structed by Mr. Koelln. In Michigan City he constructed some of the larger buildings of the Haskell and Barker Car Company, including its office building. He also built the Citizens Bank Building, the high school building, the Young Men's Christian Asso- ciation Building, and St. Mary's Par- sonage.
In 1902 Mr. Koelln married Miss Hattie Warkentine, a native of Michigan City and member of one of its old and well known families. Her parents were Henry W. and Louise Warkentine, the former deceased and the latter still living at Michigan City. Mr. and Mrs. Koelln have two daughters, named Ruth and Margaret. The parents are members of the First Church of Christ and Mr. Koelln is affiliated with Acme Lodge No. 83, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and is a life member of Michigan City Lodge No. 432, Benevolent and Pro- tective Order of Elks. In politics he is independent.
MILTON ASBURY WOOLLEN. For nearly half a century the late Milton Asbury Woollen was an active factor in Indian- apolis business affairs, and from January
4, 1905, until 1912 was president of the American Central Life Insurance Com- pany.
He was born on a farm in Lawrence Township, Marion County, January 18, 1850, son of Milton and Sarah (Black) Woollen and a brother of William W. Woollen and Dr. Greenly V. Woollen of Indianapolis. He had only a common school education. From the age of four- teen for two years he worked as a special messenger with the telegraph office. He then took a commercial course in a business college, and for two years was bookkeeper in the local offices of the Singer Sewing Machine Company. In 1868 he began his independent career as a feed and grain merchant, and in a few years had extended his connections all over Central Indiana. In 1893 he became one of the organizers of a wholesale produce commission busi- ness, and was vice president of the com- pany until March, 1902.
At that date he acquired a very consid- erable interest in the American Central Life Insurance Company of Indianapolis, and was its secretary until he became its president in 1905. · His successor as pres- ident is his son Herbert M. Woollen.
Milton A. Woollen was a republican, and his interest in eivie affairs was largely ex- pressed through his membership in such organizations as the Board of Trade, which he served as president in 1908, the Com- mercial Club, and various charitable or- ganizations. He was a member of the Co- lumbia Club, the Marion Club, was a Scot- tish Rite Mason, and a member of the First Baptist Church. He married Miss Ida Baird, a native of Cincinnati but reared in Indianapolis. Their children were: Herbert M .. Elma, deceased, and Orin Woollen Smith.
HERBERT M. WOOLLEN was born at In- dianapolis December 1, 1875. He grad- nated from the Manual Training High School, attended Purdue University through the Sophomore year, and in 1901 grad- uated as Bachelor of Science from the Uni- versity of Wisconsin. The following three years he spent in the Central College of Physicians and Surgeons and the Indiana Medical College at Indianapolis from which latter college he graduated. His post grad- mate work was done in the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary and the New York
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Polyclinic. Returning to Indianapolis, he was associated in practice for six years with his uncle, Dr. G. V. Woollen. At the same time he became connected with the Ear, Nose, and Throat Clinic and was a lecturer in the Department of Bacteriol- ogy in the Indiana Medical College.
He served as a member of the Board of Managers of the medical section of the American Life Convention, composed of medical directors of insurance companies. In 1904 he became assistant medical di- rector of the American Central Life In- surance Company, subsequently was secre- tary of the company, and in 1912 became its president. He is a member of the As- sociation of Life Insurance Presidents.
He is also president of the Sterling Mo- tor Car Company, a member of the Co- lumbia, Country, University, Woodstock, and Dramatic clubs, is a Scottish Rite Ma- son, and a member of the Phi Delta Theta and Phi Rho Sigma fraternities.
January 7, 1907, he married Miss Irma Wocher of Indianapolis, a graduate of Mrs. Hartman's School for Women at New York City. Mrs. Woollen takes an active part in dramatic and musical affairs in Indian- apolis.
GEORGE J. MAROTT began his independ- ent business career a little more than thir- ty-five years ago in Indianapolis with a capital that would hardly buy a single share of the stock in the various companies and organizations with which he is now actively identified. American people will never fail to admire success of this sub- stantial kind, especially when it has been achieved by the exertion of so much per- sonal ability and in so clean and public spirited a manner as is the case with Mr. Marott. The significance of his success is more than individual. Some of his asso- ciates who are in a position to know say that Mr. Marott has done more for Indian- apolis within the last twenty years than any other one citizen.
The story of his career begins at Daven- try, Northamptonshire, England, Decem- ber 10, 1858. His family were of English ancestry for generations back. His par- ents were George P. and Elizabeth (Webb) Marott. Their six children were Eliza- heth, George, Ellen, Frederick Currlia, Joseph E., and Catherine. All these reached mature years except Frederick.
George P. Marott was a boot and shoe man- ufacturer in England. In 1875 he came to the United States and established a re- tail shoe business at 16 North Pennsylvania Street in Indianapolis, and continued in that line until his retirement in 1900.
George J. Marott was educated in the common schools and was baptized in the Episcopal Church of Daventry, which vil- lage, also, was his birthplace. Before he was eleven years of age he was working in his father's shoe factory, and the only in- terruption to that employment was a year and a half which he subsequently spent in a grammar school at Northampton. For fully a half a century he has been identified with one or another branch of the shoe business. His boyhood was passed in a period when technical education with its manual training courses and almost unlim- ited opportunities were unknown, and his vocational education consisted of a long and thorough apprenticeship at his fath- er's business. He mastered every detail. In 1875, in his seventeenth year, he came to America with his father and until 1884 clerked in his father's shoe store at In- dianapolis.
For several years his wages were ten dollars a week. He had in the meantime become impressed with the great truth that no man deserves success who does not save. He made a resolution to save five dollars a week out of his weekly salary, and at a cost of such self-denial as perhaps few readers can appreciate he succeeded in do- ing it, saving $260 the first year and by wise use of this capital increasing his ac- cumulation until at the end of the third year he had $1,000 in cash and two lots in Emporia, Kansas, which had cost him $100. Having reached this stage of comparative affluence he married, and used up all his capital in furnishing a home and buying a piano for his wife. His wage was still ten dollars a week, and his wife before mar- riage agreed to accept the situation. With all the added responsibilities of a family Mr. Marott still kept up his resolution to save something, but at the end of five years had only $167 in addition to the two lots in Kansas. With this capital he deter- mined to enter the retail shoe business. His resources consisted largely of confidence in himself, but he also had the training and all the qualifications of experience. If ever the old adage about great oaks grow-
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ing from small acorns was justified it is applicable to the Marott shoe business. The story of the founding of the enterprise is of so much interest and has so much inspir- ation in it that the picturesque details may well be told in a few paragraphs taken from an article which recently appeared in "System," the magazine of business.
"Marott showed his sound business sense at the start in his choice of a loca- tion for his store. He selected a room in the very heart of the retail district of In- dianapolis. With the sum of $167 in his pocket he agreed to pay a rental of $1,800 a year. Out of his capital Marott trans- ferred $150 to the landlord, one month's advance rent, but was allowed ten addi- tional days in which to clean up the rub- bish left by his predecessor. His next step was to call upon ten jobbers and manufac- turers with whom he had become ac- quainted while working for his father. He proposed that each one should extend him a credit of $200 on the consideration that it would never exceed this amount. On the other hand the creditors were not to press him unduly but were to permit him to pay off the original indebtedness when he could. Marott had a hard struggle with pessimistic jobbers. One pointed to the appalling failures which had occurred and was occurring in the shoe business in In- dianapolis, cited the case of the man who had failed in the very room Marott had rented and hesitated so long that Marott's heart sank. Nevertheless, this jobber and the other nine finally agreed to extend the credit Marott asked.
"By good fortune Marott learned that the fixtures used by his predecessor were stored in a basement nearby. He imme- diately entered into negotiations for them. He found that he could buy the lot for twenty dollars, because the owner hap- pened to need the basement at once. New, they could not have been bought for five hundred dollars. To avoid confessing that he had no money, Marott suggested to the owner that some of the parts might be missing or damaged and asked if he would make a reduction for anything that might be lacking. The owner agreed to make an' allowance for anything that did not come up to the specifications. So Marott was able to have the shelving removed without confessing that he had no money with which to pay for it.
"Next he applied for a loan of four hun- dred dollars on his household furniture. He needed a line of shoes to complete his stock which he could not buy in Indianap- olis and for this cash was required. He succeeded in securing two hundred dollars, for which he gave a chattel mortgage, and this with a few dollars left from his origi- nal capital, gave him two hundred and seventeen dollars. He took a train to Cin- cinnati. There he gave an order amount- ing to two hundred twenty-eight dollars. He had two hundred seventeen dollars, minus his railroad fare, with which to pay it. He asked the jobbers consent to send a check for the balance when the goods arrived, which was granted.
"Marott had selected his stock by twelve o'clock, but he had given the jobber his last nickel. He had eaten nothing since the night before. He had used all his money in purchases of goods. It was mid- night when he reached home. He had not' eaten for thirty hours. But Marott prom- ised his stomach future rewards for the present sacrifice. He asked the Cincinnati. jobber to ship his goods immediately. The carpenters were putting up the shelves in the store and he could not pay them until he had moved some stock.
"When the shoes arrived the drayman paid the freight and presented the check to Marott. Having no money he asked the drayman to hold the check until some other goods arrived. The drayman obliged' him and asked ·no questions.
"As soon as the shoes were in the store- room he plunged into them, verified the in- voice, and prepared to receive customers. Then he went into the highways and by- ways, detained his friends wherever he found them, as well as nearly everyone to whom he had sold shoes, and announced that he had opened a store. He solicited their immediate custom. In this way he sold enough shoes before the formal open- ing to pay the carpenters, the dray-man. and the owner of the shelving and sent a check to Cincinnati.
"The organization when the store opened consisted of three persons: Marott's wife, Marott himself and a boy. George Knodle. Thev sold eighty-four dollars worth of stock that dav, and closed a few minutes before midnight. The profits above all ex penses were eleven dollars, exactly one dol- lar more than Marott had ever earned for
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a week's work. That night was almost the happiest of Marott's life. After clos- ing the store he bought three stogies for five cents, smoked until two o'clock and made plans. Some persons might have sent for a box of the best cigars on the market under the circumstances, but Ma- rott resolved to do without luxuries until he had really a firm foundation under him."
This is sufficient to indicate the quality of courage and enterprise with which Mr. Marott entered the business. In every way he showed himself a progressive mer- chant. He was constantly introducing novelties, was seeking attention by unusual displays and unusual goods, and the re- sult was that the first year he cleared over $3,000. At the end of the fifth year it is said that he had made $25,000 clear of debt. Another significant thing that con- cerns his record is that during the first eight years he was in business downtown all his competitors in the shoe business there failed excepting two. But Marott's establishment continued to prosper and grow, and in 1890 he moved from his orig. inal location and in 1911 leased a seven- story building for twenty-five years at a rental of $20,000, and this is the home of one of the greatest shoe stores in the United States. In fact it has so long been a prosperous concern that most Indianap- olis citizens have forgotten that it was ever a small and unpretentious store.
This business, big as it is, is only one of varied interests which look to Mr. Marott's business ability and judgment for guidance and direction. More than any other local man he carried responsibilities that in- sured the successful organization and es- tablishment of the Citizens Gas Company. In fact he was the real father of that en- terprise and dictated its franchise. He spent thousands of dollars of his own money in bringing about the organization, in fighting the opposition, in educating; public opinion and securing popular sup- port and finally with his selected associates obtained popular subscription to the cap- ital stock. The people of Indianapolis felt a great deal of pride and satisfaction when thev secured gas at 60 cents per 1,000. whereas before they had paid 90 cents, and all who were well informed paid their re- spects and gratitude to Mr. Marott.
For many years he has also been active
in street railway and interurban railway development. In 1890 he became owner of the street railway system of Logansport, becoming president of the company. He sold that property in 1902. Mr. Marott built the road of the Kokomo, Marion & Western Traction Company, now known as the Indiana Railways & Light Company, and is president and principal owner of the stock. This company owns and operates the electric line between Kokomo and Ma- rion and Kokomo and Frankfort, and also the street car system and electric light plant of Kokomo, including the heating system of Kokomo. This company oper- ates the lighting plants of more than twenty small towns in that part of the state.
Mr. Marott has many other important business interests, including much valuable real estate and an active connection with various industrial and business enterprises. A number of years ago he acquired the ownership of the old Enterprise Hotel on Massachusetts Avenue, an early landmark of the city erected in 1870. He pulled down the hotel building, and in 1906 erected a structure with every arrangement and facility for the use and purpose of a modern department store. Owing to the panic of 1907 the building was nnoccupied until 1908, when he organized the Marott Department Store Company, one of the largest concerns of the kind in Indiana.
With such brevity of statement concern- ing Mr. Marott's career it is possible that a just appreciation of his position and in- fluence in Indianapolis and Indiana may be lacking. However, it is possible to quote from two unimpeachable sources of testimony to his life of effectiveness and public spirit that will serve to supplement what has been told so briefly in the pre- ceding paragraphs.
The following are the words written a. few years ago by Volney T. Malott, presi- dent of the Indiana National Bank: "George J. Marott is one of the leading business men of Indianapolis, and through his active ability and foresight has placed himself in the foremost ranks of the mer- chants of the Middle West. Started with meager beginnings, he has by the strict ob- servance of good business principles arcu- mulated a large fortune. His operations. have not been entirely confined to mercan- tile pursuits, for he has been a heavy in-
Charles & Hacker
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vestor in real estate and in public utilities within the state."
More of his personal character is revealed in what was said of him by the veteran In- dianapolis editor and financier John H. Holliday. In Mr. Holliday's words, "George J. Marott is one of our successful men and owes that success to his persistent energy, good judgment and close adher- ence to business principles and methods. As a merchant he has taken a comprehen- sive view of modern conditions and adapted his business accordingly. As an investor and promoter of enterprises he has been shrewd and daring, yet at the same, time conservative, putting money only in. such things as promised well in the future and managing those concerns with extreme care and efficiency. He always calculates the cost, never goes beyond his depth, and makes no engagements that he does not keep."
Mr. Marott was always a staunch demo- crat until quite recently, but with no par- ticipation in party affairs beyond lending his influence and encouragement to good government policies. He is a member of no denominational religion and is in thor- ough accord with the spirit and practice of Masonry, in which he holds the thirty-sec- ond degree of Scottish Rite and is a mem- ber of the Mystic Shrine. November 27, 1879. he married Miss Ella Meek, daugh- ter of Jesse and Nancy Meek. Her father and mother were pioneers of Richmond, Indiana, and her father was for many years an active business man of Richmond.
EDWARD R. DYE. Though his home and many of his business interests are still rep- resented in White County, where the Dye family have been prominent for many years. Edward R. Dye is an almost daily attendant at his offices in the Traction and Terminal Building at Indianapolis, and from that point directs one of the leading coal production firms of the state.
Mr. Dye was born in West Virginia Oc- tober 31. 1861, a son of James W. and Nancy (Tavlor) Dye. His father was also: a native of West Virginia, and the paternal ancestry goes back to Scotland. George Dve. grandfather of Edward R., was in his day a stock raiser and feeder for the export trade. He lived in a southern state and owned his slaves, but after they were freed several of them remained faithful to
their master and refused to leave his home. He died in the early '80s. In his family were seven sons and four danghters, and two of the sons are still living. James W. Dye was educated in the common schools of West Virginia, and in 1866 located in White County, Indiana, where he became prominent as a farmer and stock dealer. He died in 1904. He was a member of the Baptist Church.
Edward R. Dye is the oldest of three. sons. He was reared and educated in, White County, and in 1897 engaged in the lumber business at Wolcott in that county. About five years before the death of his father he and his brothers bought the Ium- ber business which was conducted under the name of J. W. Dye & Sons and rein- corporated the company. Since then they have established branches and yards in a number of Indiana towns, and Mr. Edward R. Dye is still a member of the firm.
In 1901 he entered the coal industry, taking charge of the Indianapolis office of the United Fourth Vein Coal Company in December, 1905. In 1913 he become pres- ident, general manager and treasurer of the company. This company owns valua- ble mines in Greene County, located in the Linton district and at Jasonville. The mines are now producing capacity tonnage. The coal from these mines is especially adapted to domestic and manufacturing purposes because of its low percentage of sulphur. It is also extensively used in e'av products manufacture.
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