USA > Indiana > Indiana and Indianans : a history of aboriginal and territorial Indiana and the century of statehood, Volume V > Part 45
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
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 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68
On July 25, 1877, he resigned the presi- dency of the bank, sold his stock in the street railway, and at the time of his death did not own a dollar's worth of stock in any corporation. His fortune was repre- sented by many judicious investments in real estate not only in Indianapolis but elsewhere. Mr. English rendered conspicu- ous service to his home city and the state at large when through his influence an amendment to the Constitution of Indiana was adopted restricting the indebtedness of municipalities to a 2% valuation.
In the evening of his life Mr. English took up literary work, and he filled his days with continuous and arduous devo- tion to the tasks of historical compilation. He wrote a comprehensive history of the conquest of the Northwest, and one of the best of the older histories of Indiana, char- acterized specially by its faithfulness to de- tails, bears the name William H. English on its title page. These works were not completed according to his plans at the time of his death, as he contemplated addi- tional volumes. He was one of the most enthusiastic members of the Indiana His- torical Society, and was its president when he died, and by his will he left a substantial suun to carry on the society's work.
It was a career of such well rounded activities and interests that came to a close in the seventy-fourth year of his life, on February 7, 1896. The biography of such an eminent Indianan would be worthy of a volume at least, and obviously this sketch has had to be content with the briefest summary. Of the many estimates that ap- peared of his life and character only one can here be quoted, an editorial from the Indianapolis Sentinel.
"William H. English hed in him the elements that make men successful in the highest degree. Pre-eminent among his qualities was that sound judgment which is ordinarily called common sense. He had the ability to grasp a fact and infer that practical significance with almost unerring certainty. He had much confidence in his. own judgment, and so had others. Few men were more sought for counsel than he by those admitted to his favor, and the correctness of his opinions in practical mat- ters was almost proverbial. His good judg- ment extended to men as well as measures. He had a keen insight into human nature, whether of men singly or in masses. For
2158
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
these reasons he was a thoroughly practical man, self reliant, firm, resolute. To this was added the one thing necessary for the ideal business man-a scrupulous honesty in his dealings with his fellow men. His integrity was unquestioned.
"William H. English was a man of much greater talent and ability than he was sup- posed to have by those who did not know him well. This was true in the years pre- ceding the Civil war, when he took a promi- nent part in politics and became known throughout the nation by his participation in the great political struggle of his time, but the last thirty-five years of his life was, from choice, largely passed in business and personal pursuits. The chief departure from this was when his party associates called him from retirement for the period of a presidential nomination. This was not of his seeking. The nomination for the vice presidency came through the efforts . of party leaders who knew the man's ster- ling worth and ability. If circumstances had encouraged his continuance in public life he undoubtedly would have gained very high rank, but the disruption of his party and the new alignments produced by the Civil war caused him to prefer a busi- ness life.
"It was a natural result that a man of large means, who was subject to many ap- peals from undeserving purposes, should sometimes have his 'rough side out,' but Mr. English was neither unkindly nor il- liberal. He was always ready to aid in works of charity and relief when they were administered through channels in which he had confidence, and his private benefactions were more extensive than even his intimate friends knew. He did not advertise them. He had a keen sympathy for suffering and misery, and an especially soft spot in his heart for the aged who were destitute. The gray hair and the bowed form were certificates of helplessness and desert that he never questioned."
It is to the memory of this distinguished Indianan that a well known street- English Avenue-in Indianapolis was dedicated. and his name is also borne by the Town of English, the county seat of Craw- ford County. There are bronze statues of him at English and also at Scottsburg. the county seat of his native county. Many of the nation's greatest men, including President Grover Cleveland, paid their ex-
pressions of tribute and respect to his mem- ory at the time of his death. His body, at the request of the governor, lay in state at the Indiana capital before being laid to rest beside the remains of his wife in Crown Hill cemetery. A few years before his death William H. English was made a Mason in Center Lodge No. 23, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons. A distinctive feature of this initiation was the fact that his son William E. was master of the lodge and presided at the ceremonies of confer- ring the degrees upon his father. He was also a member of the Sons of the American Revolution.
In 1847, while serving as a clerk in the treasury department at Washington, Mr. English married Miss Emma Mardulia Jackson, of Virginia. She died in 1877. They had only two children, a son, William E., and a daughter, Rosalind. Rosalind became the wife of Dr. Willoughby Wall- ing, a prominent physician and surgeon of Chicago, and at one time United States Consul at Edinburgh, Scotland. The two grandsons of William H. English, William English Walling and Willoughby George Walling, have attained no small measure of distinction, especially the former, a promi- nent settlement worker, a leader in the socialist party, and a student, writer and lecturer on many phases of sociology and of Russian affairs, in which country he spent a long period of residence. The other grandson, Willoughby G., is a Chicago banker and well known business man, and is one of the leading officials in the Red Cross organization of the United States.
WILLIAM E. ENGLISH. Born to wealth and high social position, William E. Eng- lish has proved in every relationship of his career thoroughly worthy of his opportuni- ties and honors. He inherits many of the enviable qualifications of his father, Wil- liam H. English, especially in his mastery of business affairs and his distinguishing power as a leader among men.
Born at the old family home, Englishton Park, in Scott County, Indiana, William Eastin English lived there during his early boyhood years, attending in the meantime both private and public schools. After the family came to Indianapolis he completed his education in Northwestern Christian University, now Butler College, and later graduated from the University Law School.
2159
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
For five years he engaged in the private practice of law at Indianapolis under the firm name of English & Wilson, his partner being Hon. John R. Wilson, deceased. After giving up the law Mr. English spent about three years abroad, visiting every country in Europe, from Norway to Greece, and also extending his travels and observa- tions around the Mediterranean, in the Holy Land, Egypt, and North Africa. He is one of the most widely traveled men in the State of Indiana. Out of his travels he has contributed to the local press many interesting letters and other writings.
As the only son of Hon. William H. Eng- lish he has always had heavy business re- sponsibilities in managing the large real estate holdings of the English family. He owns the English Block, one half built by his father years ago and the other half by himself in 1898, and one of the landmarks of the Indianapolis business district. The English Block includes both English's Opera House and the Hotel English.
Politics has afforded an outlet for some of the most intense activities of his career. He grew up with a firm allegiance to his father's party and was one of the promi- ment democrats of Indiana until the great division in that party in 1896. Since then his affiliations have been as a republican. He began doing political work even before reaching his majority. He acted in the early days as a member of the city, county and state committees, and in 1878 was chairman of both the Marion County and the Indianapolis Democratic Committees. In the same year he was nominated for the . Legislature from Marion and Shelby coun- ties, and succeeded in overcoming a strong opposition majority by more than 200 votes. During his service in the Legislature of 1879-80 he was the youngest member of the Lower House and represented what was then the largest district in the state. He was several times called upon to preside as speaker, and he showed much of the par- limentary ability which had distinguished his father. He was chairman of the stand- ing committee on the affairs of the City of Indianapolis and a member of the reap- portionment committee. He was author of the law for the limitation of the indebted- ness of Marion County, also for the con- gressional reapportionment of the state, and a number of other important bills. He declined nomination to Congress in 1880
because his father was in. that year demo- cratic candidate for vice president on the ticket with General Hancock. In 1882, however, he accepted the nomination for Congress, and after one of the most turbu- lent campaigns known in the annals of the state overcame a large opposition majority and was elected. He was thus a member of the Forty-Eighth Congress from 1883 to 1885. Among the bills introduced by him were those providing for an international copyright law, the issuance of coin certifi- cates of small denominations and the in- crease of pensions for crippled soldiers and sailors. He was also chairman and author of the report made by the Committee on the Alcoholic Liquor Traffic Commission. He was the youngest member of the House of Representatives during that session. After the close of his term he declined re- nomination.
Mr. English was a delegate to the Chi- cago National Democratic Convention of 1892, and the Indiana delegation unani- mously chose him to make the seconding speech favoring the nomination of Grover Cleveland for president. That speech in the opinion of the press and the other dele- gates was one of the happiest conceived and best received speeches of the convention. He was also chairman of the committee on rules and order of business in that conven- tion, and during the following campaign was vice president of the National Associa- tion of Democratic clubs. In the National Democratic Convention at Chicago in 1896 he was again a delegate from the Seventh Indiana District, and was one of the man- agers of the campaign of Governor Claude Matthews, who was Indiana's favorite sou for the presidential nomination that year. When William J. Bryan was acclaimed the leader of the democratic party Mr. English refused to support his platform on the free coinage issues, etc., and took no active part in the campaign that followed. In the McKinley and Roosevelt campaign of 1900 he was one of the most popular figures and speakers in all republican gatherings and exercised a great influence in behalf of those candidates throughout the State of Indiana. He accompanied Mr. Roosevelt on his tour of the state. Again in 1904 he canvassed Indiana from one end to the other in behalf of Mr. Roosevelt and his fellow townsmen and neighbor, Charles W. Fairbanks, again accompanying the vice
2160
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
president's special train over the state. His services as a campaigner were again in demand during 1908, in which year he ac- companied President Taft on his speaking tour of the state, and was also on the spe- cial train of Senator Beveridge and that of James E. Watson, the republican candidate for governor. Mr. English was a delegate to the Republican National Convention at Chicago in 1912. Since 1900 he has also been a delegate to numerous city, county, district and state conventions of the party. In the city campaign of 1901 he was a mem- ber of the Republican Executive Commit- tee, and after the election was appointed president of the Board of Safety, or police and fire commissioners, serving in 1901-02. He was president of the Board of Park Commissioners of Indianapolis in 1898-99. He was a member of the Marion County Republican Executive Committee in the campaigns of 1906 and 1908, was vice president of the Republican State Conven- tions of 1902 and 1918 and chairman of the committee on rules and order of busi- ness in the State Convention of 1904, chair- man of the committee on credentials in the convention of 1906, and chairman of the Marion County Delegation in the State Conventions of 1910, 1912 and 1914. In 1908 he received 13,000 out of the 16,000 votes cast at the republican county prima- ries for the office of state senator, and at the general election ran far ahead of the defeated party tieket. In 1910, again a nominee of the unsuccessful party for state senator, he received the highest vote cast at the primary election of any candidate upon the entire republican ticket.
In 1916 he was again nominated unani- mously as a candidate for state senator by the republicans of Marion, Hendricks and Hamilton counties. This was the largest district in the state, containing some 100,- 000 voters and near 400,000 inhabitants. After a strenuous speaking campaign he was elected by the overwhelming majority of 9,188 votes, being ahead of his general ticket in each of the three counties.
He was one of the recognized leaders of the Senate during the session of 1917, and was the author of numerous important measures introduced into that body or enacted into law at that session. He was especially recognized as an authority upon constitutional questions and was made chairman of the standing committee on con-
stitutional revision, to which all proposed amendments or changes in the constitution were referred.
He was the author of the amendment to the constitution prohibiting the extension of terms or increase of salaries during official terms, which passed both Houses of the Assembly and was signed by the gov- ernor. He was also the author of eight other important Constitutional amend- ments which passed the Senate practically unanimously. He also served on the im- portant committees on judiciary, military affairs, rules, agriculture, rivers and waters and soldiers monuments. One of the most important laws enacted at this session of the Legislature was his bill providing for absent voting by soldiers, traveling men, railroad employes, etc.
Among various other important acts of which he was the author was the important law providing for the destruction of infe- rior court records against juvenile offend- ers who have reformed, the law providing an age limit for enforced jury service, changing the name of Monument Place to Monument Circle, etc.
Mr. English made a notable record in the Spanish-American war. Soon after the outbreak of that war, notwithstanding his large business interests and other home du- ties, he was offered appointment by Presi- dent Mckinley as paymaster in the army, with the rank of major, but he declined this in order that he might secure service at the front. May 17, 1898, President Mckinley appointed him to the rank of captain of United States Volunteers in the quarter- master's department. ยท Again he made an urgent personal request for service that would put him on the firing line, and on June 10, 1898, was assigned to duty as an aide upon the personal staff of Maj. Gen. Joseph Wheeler, commanding the cavalry division. In that capacity he served throughout the Santiago campaign. He was one of the first soldiers to embark for Cuba, and had the distinguished honor of being the only Indiana volunteer in Gen- eral Shafter's entire army. In the bom- bardment of El Paso Hill during the battle of July 1st before Santiago he was disabled by his horse rearing and falling backward with and upon him as the result of a wound from a Spanish shrapnel shell. The horse's shoulder was wounded, several men were killed nearby, and Col. Theodore Roosevelt
2161
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
sustained a slight wound from the same shell. Captain English was crushed be- neath the falling horse and was found to be dangerously injured internally. Other complications developed, and the army sur- geons soon ordered his immediate removal from Cuba. A short time before he left the island the home newspapers in Indian- apolis bulletined his death. After several weeks of suffering and gradual recovery he returned to Indianapolis, where he was given a remarkable demonstration of wel- come and personal esteem by various or- ganizations, including the Veterans of the Grand Army of the Republic. One token which he especially appreciated was a jew- eled officer's sword presented to him by his brethren of the Masonic order, with the words engraved upon it "As a token of his services to his country." As a result of his injury and continued illness Captain English was given an extended sick leave, and was granted his honorable discharge on December 31, 1898. He declined to ac- cept any pay for his services from the government, and more than $1,000 were returned to the Federal treasury. After retiring from the United States army he was honored by Governor Mount with the appointment as paymaster general on the staff of the governor, with the rank of colo- nel. In 1900 he was appointed inspector general, with the rank of colonel on the staff of Governor Durbin and later as aide de camp, with the rank of colonel. on the staffs of Governor Hanly and Governor Goodrich.
Captain English was one of the three founders of the national association of the United Spanish War Veterans, and was elected its first commander in chief. He gave to it the name which the association bears. He was the first department com- mander of Indiana of the association of Spanish-American War Veterans, and has heen vice commander of Indiana Com- mandery, Military Order of Foreign Wars, and senior vice commander in chief and department commander of Indiana Com- mandery of the Naval and Military Order of the Spanish-American War. He is a member of the Society of Veterans of For- eign Wars, whose membership is confined to soldiers who have personally served on for- eign soil in time of war, and is a charter member of the Society of the Army of Santiago de Cuba, made up of soldiers who
served in the Santiago campaign. He also commanded the division of Spanish War Veterans in the inaugural parade when Theodore Roosevelt became president of the United States and was on the staff of the chief marshal at the inauguration of Presi- dent Taft. At the death of his old com- mander, Gen. Joseph Wheeler, the latter's family selected Captain English as one of the pall bearers at the military funeral in Washington.
Captain English became interested in military affairs at an early age. He was one of the charter members of the Indian- apolis Light Infantry and as a member of the State Militia, he did active service through the Coal Creek riots and on vari- ous other occasions. The "William E. English Guards," named in his honor, was organized and mustered into the state serv- ice May 16, 1886, and was the first colored company in the state to enter the Indiana National Guard. The William E. English Zouaves of Indianapolis was likewise named in his honor and for many years was one of the crack organizations of its kind in the Union. "Captain William E. English Camp" No. 64 of the National Association of Spanish-American War Veterans was also named for him.
Captain English is one of the most emi- nent Masons of Indiana, an authority on its history and has filled the highest office in the state, that of grand master of the Grand Lodge of Indiana, from May 26, 1903, to May 24, 1904. He is a life mem- ber of Indiana Consistory of the Scottish Rite, in which he has attained the thirty- second degree, is a member of the Shrine, and has filled all the various chairs of pre- siding officer in the different Masonic bodies of the York Rite. He is also past grand exalted ruler of the Order of Elks of the United States, and was the first exalted ruler or presiding officer of Indianapolis Lodge. Captain English is author of the History of Early Masonry in Indiana, pub- lished in 1902. That work may possibly receive additions, but it constitutes an au- thority in the main which will never be supplanted.
Some of the many other interests that fill up the time of this busy Indianapolis citizen may be gathered from the following organizations of which he is a member : Indianapolis Commercial Club (Chamber of Commerce), of which he has served as
2162
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
president; Indiana Society of the Sons of the American Revolution of which he is an ex-president; and an ex-vice president ; ex-president of the Indiana Society of Colo- nial Wars; vice president of the Indiana Historical Society; vice president of the Indianapolis Benevolent Society; vice president of the Old Northwestern Genea- logical Society; member of the Society of Cincinnati ; Huguenot Society of America ; Holland Society of America; Indiana So- ciety of Chicago; Society of Indiana Pio- neers; Western Writers Association; In- dianapolis Bar Association; Indianapolis Art Association; Indianapolis Board of
Trade; Indianapolis Gun Club ; New York Lambs Club; Army and Navy Club of Washington ; Indianapolis University Club, Columbia Club, Marion Club, Country Club, Woodstock Club and Canoe Club. He has also been made an honorary member of three labor unions, Local No. 3, Indian- apolis Musicians Protective Association, Local No. 30, International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees and Local No. 7, International Alliance of Bill Porters and Billers.
Captain English makes his permanent home and legal residence at the Hotel Eng- lish, Indianapolis, where he resides in a handsome apartment of eleven rooms with his only child, his daughter Miss Rosalind English. They spend a great deal of time, however, at their beautiful country resi- dence "Englishton Park," the ancestral home in Scott County, Indiana, which has successively sheltered five generations of the English family, and which comprises some 800 acres within its boundaries.
BERT MCBRIDE is a native son of the Hoo- sier state, and comes from sturdy Scotch ancestors, who immigrated from Scotland to this country in 1776 and settled on Fish- ing Creek in South Carolina in 1780. The battle between Colonel Tarleton, in com- mand of the British, and General Gates, in command of the American troops, was fought on the land that they entered, and losing all their property during this battle they moved to Kentucky and later moved to Rush County, Indiana, where Mr. Me- Bride was born.
The blood of his Scotch ancestry has evinced an unfailing initiative, independ- ence, ability and determination which have brought him both practical leadership and
the confidence of his associates. He re- ceived his rudimentary education in the district schools and later continued his studies in the University of De Pauw at Greencastle, Indiana.
He was born on a farm in Rush County on the 20th day of February 1870, and is a son of William P. and Clarissa (Kirk- patrick) MeBride, both being born in Rush County, Indiana, and both being of ster- ling pioneer families of Indiana. They now maintain their home in Knightstown, Indiana, where they live retired.
On June 9, 1892, Bert McBride was united in marriage to Mary Amelia Widau, who was born in Dearborn County, In- diana, her parents having moved. to Rush County when she was a child. They have one child, Richard Eugene, born January 4, 1902.
Mr. McBride was for eighteen months after his marriage in charge of the opera- tion of his father's farm in Rush County. He then moved to Knightstown, where he was engaged in the carriage and farm im- plement business as a wholesale and retail dealer. He continued in this business until 1900, in which year he sold his interest in Knightstown and moved to Indianapolis, where he engaged in the real estate busi- ness until the year 1905, at which time he took charge of the real estate and insurance department of the Security Trust Com. pany. In 1906 he was elected secretary of the Trust Company and a year later elected to the presidency of the company, in which office he continued until 1916, when he resigned to accept the presidency of the Continental National Bank, one of the leading financial institutions of the state, and of which he is still president.
He is a member of the Ancient and Ac- cepted Scottish Rite Masons and a mem- ber of several social organizations. He maintains his residence at 2012 North Dela- ware Street.
WILLIAM J. CLUNE is president of M. Clune & Company, furniture manufactur- ers, an old established industry that has been growing and prospering in Indian- apolis for half a century and has been re- sponsible for no small share of the credit and prestige of this city as a manufactur- ing center.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.