USA > Indiana > Indiana and Indianans : a history of aboriginal and territorial Indiana and the century of statehood, Volume V > Part 50
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"I can see her at the 'Literary' declaim- ing with the patriotic fervor that flashes through her books, while her cheeks glow and her eyes are like stars.
"Again, in a picture of later girlhood, she is sitting, with unwonted meekness, while I tire her hair in a sleek and shining 'French twist,' which she could not achieve
herself. These were the times of my tri- umph, for she was wont to rule me with a high hand, claiming the superior wisdom of her two years of seniority-'for your own good,' she would say, with a prim set of the mouth, but a laugh in her eye.
"The last picture of her days in Arcady is that of a young girl, dressed in soft white, standing in the shady lane, gather- ing the wild roses that trailed over the low, lichened rail fence. There is the delicate flush of the wild rose on her face, and she fastens one in her dark hair. Her brown eyes are full of dreams, as she looks away, across the valley to the blue rim of the dis- tant hills.
" 'The glamour closed about her' then, -after that reality began. She taught a country school at seventeen, attended the University of Iowa the next year, taught some more in the Evansville schools, took up clerical work for a while in a cousin's office, and later married William L. Johns- ton. We had a double wedding, just after a wonderful visit to Europe together. Soon afterwards we published a book of poems together.
"After three years of married life her husband died, and she was left with three step-children, a boy of ten and two older girls. Up to that time she had written only poems and short stories. The follow- ing year she published her first book, 'Big Brother.'
"Never was there a more loving and de- voted mother, and her devotion was tested to the utmost by the death of the younger daughter and the failing health of the son. She traveled all about the country with him, seeking health. In Arizona they lived on the desert, in tents, where 'The Desert of Waiting' gave up its story to her, to comfort hundreds of hopeless hearts. Then they tried San Antonio, Texas, moving later to the hill country of Texas, where they bought a home which they called 'Penacres.'
"After the son's death six years ago she and her daughter went to Pewee Valley, Kentucky, the Lloydsboro Valley of the 'Little Colonel' stories. There she bought the Lawton place, known as 'The Beeches' in her stories, the Mecca of loving pilgrims from all parts of the country.
"It is a beautiful place, with a tangle- wood back of it, an old-fashioned garden at the side of it, with lilies and hollyhocks
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and peonies. All about the lawn stand the great beeches, with branches sweeping to their feet, and squirrels whisking among them.
"Pewee Valley is a typical story-book place, but only a few of the people of her tales move about there now in real life. Aunt Allison is still there, in a lovely home just across the avenue, and Mom Beck, in her eighties, is still interesting and talka- tive. But time has wrought many changes, and the principal characters no longer live there.
"It is just an hour's trolley ride from Louisville, and a short distance from An- chorage, and in these places live other mem- bers of her Authors Club-the creators of 'Emmy Lou,' of ' Mrs. Wiggs,' of the 'Lady of the Decoration,' and others.
"In that happy valley's festivities and frolies my sister cannot take the same share that she did in our country parties. Such a planner of parts, such a designer of costumes, such a decorator of gala scenes as she has been! The business of being an anthor does not allow much of it now, but she enjoys it as hugely as ever, when she has time to participate.
"Never was a more delightful aunt or consin. No birthday is forgotten, no spe- cial occasion left neglected. Her Christ- mas box is the plum of the whole pie, for no one selects, wraps, ties, nor packs just as she does, with such verses and greetings.
"Is that enough of a picture? If not, let me say, in desperation of making a por- trait, she is the thoughtfulest, most unsel- fish, considerate, dependable person one could know. Since childhood she has been at the top of my brief list of those who could be absolutely trusted to keep a secret, and to say just what she thinks if you ask her to.
"It would not be fair to her not to show a later portrait, since she has lived, trav- eled and experienced so much. 'Don't leave out the lines,' she always insists. There are lines of care about her eyes, and there are shadows in them, but there are also the lines of mirth about her mouth, and the mouth and eyes are not long with- out a smile.
"One trait, as yet unmentioned, speaks through all her stories : Her deep religious faith, which has permeated her life and kept optimism alive in the darkest days.
"Her books have been blessed, indeed,
to judge by the letters that come to her from those who have learned patience and resignation, purity, service, courage and sacrifice, from her 'Little Colonel' and other stories.
"It would be interesting to know how often the legends and motto lines of her books have furnished themes for papers, names and motifs for clubs; how many boys wear the 'white flower' to remind them to 'keep the tryst,' how many girls string rosaries in token that little duties well done are like pearls, or wear Tusitala rings to remind them of the 'Road of the Loving Heart,' 'Orders of Hildegarde' are formed, 'The Princess Winsom' is played, favorite characters of her stories are copied, on the stage or in young lives.
"In twenty-three years my sister has written twenty-seven books, and fathers and mothers as well as children steadily ask for 'more.' When the 'Little Colonel' married, and 'Mary Ware' followed suit, she determined to let them live, always young in the 'Never-Never Land,' and not pursue them to the time of wrinkles and chimney corners. To take their place she has given us an entirely new and delightful child 'Georgina of the Rainbows.' The sea comes into this story and the quaint old fishing town at the tip of Cape Cod, where the Pilgrims first landed. But there are Kentucky people in it too, so the traditions of the South mingle with the traditions of New England in 'Georgina's' upbringing, and both play a part in all her sayings and doings. The old town-erier in the story gives 'Georgina' a 'line to live by,' from one of Milton's sonnets-'Still bear up and steer right onward.' It is a story of hope, and its message is 'As long as a man keeps hope at the prow he keeps afloat.' 'Geor- gina's Service Stars' has been written since this article."
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JOSEPH A. WERWINSKI. In the career of Joseph A. Werwinski there is to be found material for the writing of a story regarding a young man who may be called not inaccurately a city builder. Only a few years have passed since he entered upon active participation in the affairs of South Bend, but already he is generally rec- ognized as one of his community's most useful and capable citizens, and has at- tained a powerful place in the confidence of the people of the Polish race here. Mr.
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Werwinski was born at South Bend, In- diana, January 14, 1882. His father, Michael Werwinski, was born in Poland, and came from that country to America because, like most immigrants, he was a man of vision, thrift and enterprise who sought larger opportunities that seemed to lie open to him in his native land, a captive country of an intensely liberty-loving people. Wedged in between three powerful neighbors, Poland could only dream of her past glories. From this unfortunate and romantic country came Michael Werwinski, still a young man. He became a pioneer merchant, and not long after his arrival met and married Amelia Kaiser, who was born at Otis, Indiana, and so the first im- portant fact to be noted about Joseph A. Werwinski is that he is well born, in the great free country where his father had settled, from a race which had known per- secution and privation and which had borne these things with fortitude. The spirit of adventure and enterprise which has characterized the young man's career was inherited from his father. Both found the freedom here which was denied to the Polish people at home.
The elder Werwinski cast his fortunes with the city of South Bend, reared his children to be loyal Americans, passed his life in merchandising, and died in 1891. He and his wife, who still survives and re- sides at South Bend, had two children : Joseph A. and Ignatius K., the latter a resident of South Bend, connected with the United States quartermaster's depart- ment. After the death of her first husband Mrs. Werwinski married Antone Beczkie- wicz, a South Bend merchant, who retired from active pursuits some years before his death in 1912. They had three children : Stanislaus, aged twenty-two years, a stu- dent of music of great future promise, liv- ing at South Bend; Peter, born in 1899, attending the South Bend High School ; and Sadie, born in 1901, attending Saint Joseph's Academy.
After thoroughly grounding himself in the principles of education by attending the public schools of South Bend Joseph A. Werwinski allowed himself to follow his in- clinations toward a business career, and for two years attended a business college. After this he went to the normal school at Valparaiso, and following this had a short experience as an educator, teaching in the
schools of Olive Township, Saint Joseph County. Two years of teaching completed his experience in this line, and in the mean- time he had been appointed deputy trustee of Portage Township, the duties of which he discharged in a capable and trustworthy manner. In 1907 Mr. Werwinski entered upon the course which has since made him one of the most energetic, prominent and substantially situated citizens of South Bend. During the first three years he worked industriously as clerk in a real estate office. Then, having gained what he considered sufficient experience, and being possessed of ample self-confidence, he em- barked upon a career of his own and soon became known as a capable and reliable op- erator in realty.
Mr. Werwinski's first enterprise of ap- preciable proportions was the opening up of a large tract of land on which were erected modest homes for the factory work- ers of various nationalities. This difficult proposition he handled so successfully that he at once rose to a recognized position in the real estate fraternity of the city, and from that time to the present he has been one of the most active dealers and handlers of large properties here. In all, he has built more than 300 houses, which he has sold to workingmen, thereby bringing con- tentment and comfort to hundreds of people and elevating the physical value of the city in a considerable degree. Mr. Werwinski is identified with a number of prominent concerns, business and civic. He is president of the Smogor Lumber Com- pany. He was one of the seven organizers of the Morris Plan Bank, which practically drove the "loan sharks" out of South Bend, and thus gave the man with a small income a chance to borrow necessary sums at small rates. He is one of the directors of this bank as well as a member of its finance committee. Mr. Werwinski has held several offices of a political character and at this time is vice censor of the Polish National Alliance of America, a fraternal institution with net assets of over $3,000,- 000. Possessed of strong publie spirit, he has rendered practical aid to the play- ground movement, to civic center enter- prises, to the movements making for ad- vancement of the community welfare and to business enterprises. He is active in the Chamber of Commerce, of which he is a member, and popular with his fellow-mem-
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bers in the South Bend Country Club. His career is indicative of the spirit of enter- prise so noticeable among a certain class of young men of the twentieth century, and illustrates clearly what may be accom- plished if the spirit is willing and the mind is capable.
ROBERT S. McKEE was for nearly half a century one of the most conspicuous actors in the commercial life of Indiana. His in- terests and activities were widespread, but during the last thirty years of his life they were largely concentrated at Indianapolis. It is for the purpose of recalling some of his services as a business man and citizen and also as a record of other members of a family that has long been distinguished in the state that the following paragraphs are written.
The MeKees were Scotch Covenanters, and when driven out of Scotland settled in Ireland. One of the family was Sir Pat- rick McKee, who had a fine landed estate in the Province of Ulster. James McKee, father of Robert S., was born in Ireland May 23, 1793. December 6, 1813, he mar- ried Agnes McMullan, who was born No- vember 14, 1793, and died in Ireland Octo- ber 5, 1837. James McKee died at Wheel- ing, West Virginia, in August, 1863. The names of their children were: James M., born November 4, 1817; William H., born August 10, 1819, and died November 24, 1867, after a long and prominent military career ; Robert S .; Eliza Ann, born April 29, 1824; Margaret, born September 18, 1825; and Sophie, born August 3, 1828.
Robert S. MeKee was born in Tullycavy, Downpatrick, County Down, Ireland, Jan- uary 8, 1823. He had meager educational advantages, but his early environment did not serve to stifle his ambitious and enter- prising nature. At the age of thirteen he left Ireland to join his brother William, who had settled in Philadelphia. There he went to work as clerk for a company en- gaged in transporting goods over the moun- tains between Baltimore and Wheeling. That experience he subsequently utilized to engage in business for himself. In 1847 he floated down the Ohio River on a flatboat and located at Madison, Indiana. There with Josiah S. Weyer he engaged in the wholesale grocery business under the name Weyer & McKee. This subsequently be- came R. S. MeKee & Company, and the
house became well known all over the coun- try. Before the Civil war its business at- tained to large proportions. From this his interests spread, and he was a factor in the management of the National Branch Bank at Madison with the Madison Fire and Insurance Company. In 1865, remov- ing to Louisville, Kentucky, he founded the wholesale grocery house of McKee, Cunningham & Company. The trade of this concern covered the entire south. Mr. McKee during his residence at Louisville was also a member of the first board of directors of the Citizens National Bank, and there, as at Indianapolis, later became connected with every movement for the upbuilding of the city.
In 1872 Robert S. McKee removed to Indianapolis. Here his business success overshadowed all his earlier achievements. He organized the wholesale boot and shoe house of MeKee and Branham. Later this was incorporated as the McKee Shoe Com- pany. Robert S. McKee filled the office of president of the corporation until his death. Under his guidance the company became foremost among the shoe houses of the country.
Though he started in life with no mate- rial advantages, he demonstrated the fact that ability and strength of will are supe- rior weapons with which to fight the battle of life. His mental faculties were clear, his mind active and receptive, and his in- telligence keen and broad. He became noted for his intellectual acquirements and remarkable fund of information. His qualities as a leader were unquestioned and he became one of the foremost figures in commercial and financial circles in In- dianapolis. He was a director of the In- diana National Bank, was the first secre- tary of the Belt Railroad and Stockyards Company, and during his later years owned a large amount of local real estate.
The veteran Indianapolis banker, Vol- ney T. Malott, once said of Robert S. Mc- Kee that he "was one of our best citizens, a man of sterling worth, possessed of the highest honor, a merchant of the old school, thoroughly and carefully trained, exact with himself and others in all business transactions. He took a large interest in civic affairs. He was liberal in his contri- butions to his church and various charit- able institutions. As a bank director in Madison, Indiana, Louisville, Kentucky,
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and Indianapolis, covering a period of more than fifty years, he was always prompt and regular in attendance and was a val- uable member of the Board, his business training and large experience rendering him conservatively progressive and, to- gether with his closely analytical mind, making him a valuable counsellor on any board."
Of a most positive character, Robert S. McKee exemplified that force of personal- ity which is associated with the Scotch- Irishman. Perhaps his most notable trend was his abhorrence of debt. His nature was strong and true, and knowing men at their real value had no toleration of deceit or meanness in any of the relations of life. He did not come so largely into the atten- tion of the public eye as did many of his contemporaries who accomplished less and who did less for the world, but he felt the responsibilities which success imposes and ever endeavored to live up to these responsibilities in the straightforward, un- demonstrative way characteristic of the man. He served for many years as an elder of the First Presbyterian Church of In- dianapolis and was a stanch republican, though his name was probably never asso- ciated with any public office, an honor for which he had no ambition. His death, which occurred June 9, 1903, removed from Indianapolis one who had done much to promote its best interests and to bring it to a position among the leading business centers of the United States.
A man of great prominence himself, Roh- ert S. McKee by marriage became allied with some of the historic names in Indiana. In 1850 he married Miss Celine Elizabeth Lodge, a native of this state. She died in 1861, and in 1866 he married her sister Mary Louise Lodge. They were daughters " of William Johnston and Mary Grant (Lemon) Lodge. They were descendants of Christopher Clark, and in the maternal line were connected with the Boone, Grant and Morgan families. William Johnston Lodge's mother was a Johnston, a direct descendant of Christopher Clark, who came to America in 1625 and took a grant of land from the English king. His daugh- ter, Agnes Clark, married Lord Robert Johnston, younger son of the Earl of Shaftsbury. A great-grandfather of Mrs. MeKee was Capt. William Grant, who was born . February 22, 1726. He married
Elizabeth Boone, who was born February 5, 1733, a daughter of Squire and Sarah (Morgan) Boone and a sister of Daniel Boone. In their large family of children the youngest was Rebecca Boone, who was born June 4, 1774, and married John Lemon.
Concerning Capt. William Grant there is a record that he was a man of good education for the time in which he flour- ished, had substantial standing as an ex- tensive land owner, and was a stanch pa- triot during the Revolution, being a trusted member of the Committee of Safety in North Carolina. He also gave active serv- ice in that struggle. Later, in company with his brother-in-law, Daniel Boone, he was among those who defended the frontier, and was one of the few who escaped with Boone at the battle of the Blue Liek in Kentucky. The story of Bryan's Station in Kentucky sets forth that it was founded by those North Carolinians William, Mor- gan, James and Joseph Bryan, of whom the first named was the leading spirit. With them was William Grant, whose wife, like that of William Bryan, was a sister of Daniel Boone. At the battle of Elkhorn William Grant was wounded and his broth- er-in-law, William Bryan, was killed. Two of William Grant's sons, Samuel and Moses, were killed by the Indians. They had come over to Indiana from Kentucky withi Col- onel Johnston on an expedition to punish thieving Indians, and with others were ambushed, a number being killed, among them one of the Grants. The other brother went back to look for him in company with a relative who volunteered to assist him, and they too were slain. Grant County, Indiana, is named in their honor. William Grant lived to a good old age, and to the close of his life was respected as a superior character-a typical gentleman of the old school, dignified, honorable and worthy of the regard in which he was held. He left property including slaves, and many of his descendants still reside in Indiana and Kentucky.
Robert S. MeKee was the father of six children, four by his first marriage and two by the second. The oldest is William J. McKee of Indianapolis, who served as a brigadier general of Indiana volunteers in the Spanish-American war. The second is Edward L., noted on other pages. James Robert has attained a high executive posi-
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tion in the General Electric Company, and married Miss Mary S. Harrison, daughter of the late President Benjamin Harrison. Frank Latham, the fourth child, is a New York business man. Richard Boone died at Indianapolis in 1907. Celine Lodge mar- ried Charles W. Merrill, of the Bobbs Mer- rill Company, publishers of Indianapolis.
EDWARD L. McKEE, a son of the late Robert S. McKee, has for many years been one of the fortunate and valued citizens of Indianapolis. He was fortunate in coming of a family of such worthy associations with the city and state and also fortunate in his choice of a business environment in which his talents have brought him signal success.
He was born while his parents lived at Madison, Jefferson County, Indiana, March 13, 1856. He began his education in the public schools of that town and at the age of nine removed with his parents to Louis- ville, Kentucky, where he continued to at- tend public school and later was again in high school at Madison. Sixteen years old when the family came to Indianapolis, he began work with a wholesale shoe house, and that one line of business has been fol- lowed by him, though not without numer- ous other interests, to the present time. In 1879, at the age of twenty-three, he became associated with his brother James McKee and Aquilla Jones in founding the whole- sale shoe company of Jones, McKee & Com- pany. The founders of this business were all well known and enterprising men, and built up the prestige of their house beyond the borders of Indiana. In 1896 it was re- organized as the McKee Shoe Company, with Edward L. McKee as vice president. During the past twenty years Mr. McKee's business associations and interests have been constantly broadening. In 1896 he was elected vice president of the Indiana National Bank, but resigned that executive office in 1904, though remaining a director. He also served as a director of the Union Trust Company, vice president of the retail dry goods house of H. P. Wasson & Com- pany, and president of the Atlanta Tin Plate and Sheet Iron Company. Perhaps the business with which his name is chiefly identified is the Merchants Heat and Light Company, of which he was one of the or- ganizers and incorporators and of which he became president in 1904. Mr. McKee's
success in business has been of a most sub- stantial character. He undoubtedly in- herited many of his father's splendid quali- ties, and also had the advantage of care- ful training under that veteran merchant and business man.
Mr. McKee during the last forty years has been a factor in every prominent move- ment undertaken to broaden the power and responsibilities of Indianapolis and im- prove local conditions. However, he has not been in polities beyond exercising his personal influence in behalf of a worthy municipal program. He is a republican, a member of the First Presbyterian Church, and his wife belongs to the Second Church of Christ, Scientist. February 21, 1900, Mr. McKee married Miss Grace Wasson. Her father was Hiram P. Wasson, another prominent Indianapolis merchant. Mr. and Mrs. McKee have two children, Ed- ward L., Jr., a captain in the United States Army, and Hiram Wasson.
JOHN COOPER PROPS. The City of Mun- cie has no more public-spirited citizen than John Cooper Props, who has been identi- fied with that community successively as newspaper man, farmer and lawyer, but chiefly as one of the leading distributors of automobiles. Mr. Props is secretary and general manager of the Props-Dunn Motor Company, which is the oldest automobile concern in Delaware County and through which and Mr. Props' personal influence over a thousand Ford cars have been sold in Delaware County alone. The Props- Dunn Motor Company is counted as one of the model Ford agencies in Indiana, and the success and prosperity of the' business is largely attributed by Mr. Props to the fact that he has always endeavored to fol- low the policies outlined by Henry Ford.
Furthermore, Mr. Props represents a family of historical interest in this section of the state. Particularly in the Missis- sinewa Valley do the annals of the Props family go back for several generations to the very pioneer and frontier period.
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