USA > Indiana > Indiana and Indianans : a history of aboriginal and territorial Indiana and the century of statehood, Volume V > Part 60
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Mr. Rubush has been a factor in the busi- ness, civic and social life of Indianapolis for many years, is a member of the Colum- bus and Marion Clubs, the Chamber of Commerce, is a thirty-second degree Scot- tish Rite Mason and a Knights Templar York Rite Mason and also belongs to the Mystic Shrine. October 12, 1908, he mar- ried Miss Renah J. Wilcox.
WOODFIN D. ROBINSON is distinguished among the lawyers of Indiana by his long and capable service as judge of the Appel- late Court of Indiana. Thirty-five years ago he began practicing at Princeton, and won the professional honors and successes which preceded his elevation to the bench in Gibson County. Judge Robinson is now practicing at Evansville.
He comes of an old Indiana family, but was born on a farm in DeWitt County, Illi- nois, February 27, 1857. Both his father and grandfather were natives of Virginia, and early settlers in Kentucky and In- diana. His father, James A. Robinson, after settling in Indiana met and married Louisa Benson in Gibson County. She was born in Gibson County and is still living there at the age of eighty-five. Her father, William Benson, was a native Kentuckian, served as a soldier in the War of 1812, and came to Indiana and located in Gibson County before Indiana was admitted to the Union. Soon after his marriage James A. Robinson moved to DeWitt County, Illi- nois, but in the fall of 1865 returned to Gibson County and was a substantial farmer of that community until his death, after he had passed the seventy-sixth year of his life. He and his wife had nine chil-
dren, one of whom died in infancy, and eight reached materity: Martha, now de- ceased, Sylvester B., Woodfin D., William C., Belle, Dove, Ada and Anna.
Judge Robinson was eight years of age when his parents returned to Gibson County. Until he was twenty-two his home was on his father's farm, and when not in school he toiled in the fields and looked after many details of the farm manage- ment. He attended country schools, went to high school at Owensville, and at the age of eighteen entered Indiana State Uni- versity. He took the full four years' liter- ary course, graduating A. B. in 1879. The following year he was principal of schools at Cynthiana, Indiana, and for two years had charge of the schools at Owens- ville. With a professional career as his goal he studied law privately while teach- ing, then attended the law school of the University of Virginia, and completed his preparation in the University of Michigan, where he graduated LL. B. in 1883.
Judge Robinson was admitted to the In- diana bar in August, 1883, and at once en- tered practice at Princeton.
The first important political honor to which he aspired was representation in the State Legislature. He was elected as the candidate on the republican ticket in 1894, and his one term of service satisfied the most sanguine expectations of his friends. In the fall of 1896, at the urgent request of the leaders of his party, but not without considerable sacrifice on his own part, he became the republican candidate for judge of the Appellate Court of Indiana. He was elected and filled that high judicial office for ten years, from January, 1897, to January, 1907. Upon leaving the bench Judge Robinson located at Evansville, where he has enjoyed a large practice for the past eleven years, and is a member of the well known law firm of Robinson and Stilwell.
With a profound knowledge of the law and with an analytical mind, Judge Robin- son has won equal distinction as an able judge and also as an advocate in his pro- fession. In all the relations of his life he has manifested a spirit of justice, sweet- ness of temper, gentle courtesy, and an es- sential kindliness.
For six years he was .a member of the School Board at Princeton, and for three years was a member of the Board of Trus-
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'tees of the University of Indiana. In 1884 Judge Robinson married Miss Jessie M. Montgomery, daughter of F. J. Mont- gomery of Owensville. They have one daughter, Virginia.
GEORGE MONRO DARRACH, M. D. For fully half a century one of the ablest and most widely known physicians and surgeons of Indiana was the late Dr. George Monro Darrach, whose long life was one of con- tinuously devoted service to his profession and to humanity. His name is also hon- ored because of prominent family associa- tions, his ancestors having been men of worth and substantial character, while several of his sons have gained high posi- tions in the business and professional world. One of the sons is especially well known in Indiana, Eugene H. Darrach, who has been a leader in transportation circles for many years and is head of one of the leading transportation businesses at Indianapolis.
The founder of this family in America was Thomas Darrach, a Scotch Presbyte- rian and a native of Antrim, Ireland. He came to America about 1750, locating at Georgetown, Kent County, Maryland, where he was a merchant. Later he moved to Philadelphia, and the family lived there for generations and some of the name are still well known in the Quaker City. A son of Thomas Darrach was James, who mar- ried Elizabeth Bradford.
Dr. William Darrach, a son of James and Elizabeth Darrach, was born June 16, 1796, at Philadelphia, and married Margaretta Monro. He became an honored physician and was a professor in old Jefferson Medi- cal College and the University of Pennsyl- vania, being a graduate of both institutions. He was also author of several books and brochures on medical subjects. He spent all his life at Philadelphia.
A son of Dr. William Darrach, George Monro Darrach was born February 20, 1827, at Philadelphia, grew up in that city, and in 1848 graduated from the Univer- sity of Pennsylvania and in 1850 from the Pennsylvania Medical College. He came to Indianapolis in 1853, but in 1860 re- moved to Napoleon in Ripley County, where he continued practice for several years. On returning to Marion County he located at Cumberland. The last three years of his life he lived with a son in East
St. Louis, where he died February 25, 1910. He was one of the organizers of the Marion County Medical Society, and during the Civil war served as a surgeon in Camp Car- rington. He was a man of irreproachable character, unselfishly devoted to his profes- sion, and like many other physicians of those days remained a poor man because unwilling to press his claims against debt- ors. Prior to the Civil war he had charge of the smallpox epidemie at Indianapolis. He was present at the session of the State Medical Society in 1860, his name appear- ing on the list of original members. On September 25, 1855, at Indianapolis, Doctor Darrach married Miss Maria Louisa Ham- ilton, a daughter of John W. and Jane Elizabeth (Sadler) Hamilton. The Hamil- ton family came to Marion County in 1835. Her father was the first auditor of Marion County and filled that office fourteen con- secutive years. Mrs. Darrach died Decem- ber 17, 1905. Doctor Darrach was faithful to the religion of his ancestors, and was a devout Presbyterian. He and his wife had five children : William Hamilton, who died in infancy; Frank Monro, a resident of East St. Louis, Illinois; James Hamilton, who lives in Washington, D. C .; Charles Sadler, of East St. Louis; and Eugene Haslet.
Eugene Haslet Darrach, of Indianapolis, was born at Napoleon, Ripley County, In- diana, March 15, 1866. Most of his early youth was spent at Indianapolis, where he attended the public schools and spent one term in Butler University. In 1881, at the age of fifteen, he began his railway career as messenger boy with the P. C. & St. Louis Railway Company. His has been a record of continued service and rapid promotion until he has become a prominent factor in the development of transportation business. In 1882-84 he was rate clerk of the Division Freight Office of the P. C. & St. L. Railway at Indianapolis; in 1884-88 was in the chief clerk car's office of the Burlington & Mis- souri River Railway at Lincoln, Nebraska ; in 1888-91 was in the chief clerk car ac- countant's office of the Kansas City, Ft. Scott & Memphis Railway at Kansas City. Missouri : in 1891-92 was car accountant of the Cold Blast Transportation Company at Kansas City; in 1892-93 was superintend- ent of car service of the Eureka Transpor- tation Company at Kansas City ; in 1893-94 was superintendent of car service of the
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North West Dispatch at Detroit, Michigan, and Minneapolis; in 1895-99 was manager of the Commerce Dispatch Line. Mr. Dar- rach was then owner and manager of the special freight dispatch car lines until 1902. In 1901 he organized the Interstate Car Company at Indianapolis, and from 1902 to 1910 was secretary and treasurer and since 1910 has been president and owner of the business.
June 28, 1893, Mr. Darrach married Mary Maude Huntington, whose father, Spencer Huntington, lives at Cumberland, Indiana. Mr. Darrach is the owner of the celebrated Connor Farm near Noblesville, which has a special place in Indiana his- tory as having been the meeting place of the commission which decided upon the per- manent capital of Indiana.
ALEXANDER STAPLES. Undoubtedly the years have dealt kindly with this venerable citizen of South Bend, who has lived there since his birth nearly eighty years ago. He came into the dignity of old age with the esteem accumulated by long years of use- ful business effort, by that patriotism and publie spirit manifested by his individual service as a Union soldier, and by partici- pation in many phases of community im- provement.
He was born at South Bend June 10, 1840. His grandfather, Alexander Staples, was a native of England and on coming to America located in Portland, Maine, where he spent the rest of his life. Ralph Staples, father of Alexander, was born in Portland, Maine, and had the genius of a Yankee mechanic, a faculty which his son Alexander largely inherited. He learned the trade of millwright and carpenter. In 1835 he moved with his family to Ohio, and a year later settled in South Bend, arriv- ing in that little village of Northern In- diana with a wagon and ox team. From that time forward he was identified with much of the enterprise contributing to the growth of the little city. The first winter he and his family lived in a log cabin. At that time the "Washington Block" the first three-story building in South Bend, was in process of construction, and he lent his mechanical skill in its building. He con- tinued work as a contractor and builder for a number of years, and was also promi- nent in local affairs, serving as postmaster of South Bend and was sheriff of St. Joseph Vol. V-22
County from 1850 to 1852. In 1861 he went West to Pike's Peak, Colorado, and engaged in constructing quartz mills. He met his death there by accident in 1864. Ralph Staples married Miss Hannah Crom- well, a daughter of Olen Cromwell and a lineal descendant of Oliver Cromwell. She survived her husband many years and passed away at the age of eighty-seven. Her eight children were named Emanuel, Alexander, Abraham, Henry, Charles, I. J., Jennie and Ralph. Of these sons Alexan- der, Abraham, Henry and Charles were all Union soldiers, and all of them survived the war by many years.
Alexander Staples had a good education in the South Bend public schools of the '40s and '50s. Being mechanically inclined he learned the carpenter's trade from his father. On December 15, 1863, at the age of twenty-three, he enlisted for service in the Twenty-First Indiana Battery, joining his command in the South and serving as corporal. He was with the Battery during all his subsequent service, including the battles of Nashville and Franklin, and re- ceived his honorable discharge in 1865. Mr. Staples after the war engaged in the business of building moving, and directed an expert organization for forty years, the business giving him the competency which he has enjoyed since 1905.
Mr. Staples had to solve many difficult problems in the course of his business career, and while never technically trained for that profession he became in realty a practical engineer. One of the interesting stories of local history in South Bend told hv Judge Howard in his history of St. Joseph County is a record of Mr. Staples' engineering genius. After a long contro- versy the city authorities had determined upon a solution of the waterworks ques- tion, the central feature of which was to be a large standpipe, which, however fa- miliar in modern times, was then regarded by many as an experimental and uncertain feature of waterworks engineering. The standpipe was to be five feet in diameter and 200 feet high, the different sections being riveted together in a solid column and afterward raised into position upon the concrete foundation. Mr. Staples was one of the committee representing the city gov- ernment and he was chosen for the most difficult part of the entire performance, lifting the pipe into position. On the 14th
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of November, 1873, says Judge Howard, the raising began and on that day was ele- vated about 22 feet. On Saturday the work was continued in the presence of 5,000 people, and at 4 p. m. it had reached an elevation of 70 degrees. Work was re- sumed on Sunday and on Monday at 2:30 p. m. it stood in position. An impromptu celebration followed and Mr. Staples was the hero of the hour.
In politics Mr. Staples has been a life- long democrat. He served as a member of the city council, as a commissioner of waterworks, as a member of the board of public works, and for over forty years was a member of the fire department. He is one of the charter members of Auten Post No. 8, Grand Army of the Republic. He and his wife are Presbyterians.
In 1866 Mr. Staples married Celestia Alexander, who was born in Marshall County, Indiana, daughter of Thomas Alexander, a native of Ohio. Mrs. Staples died in 1883, leaving two sons, Crawford E. and Guy D. Crawford married Emma Renas, and through this son Mr. Staples has five grandchildren, named Dale, For- rest, Raymond, Ruth and Crawford, Jr. Three of these grandsons were soldiers in the World war, Dale, Forrest and Ray- mond, Dale and Raymond serving with a lieutenant's commission.
In 1887 Mr. Staples married Almira Lytle. She was born in Indiana County, Pennsylvania, daughter of William and Sarah Lytle. She received her education in Salisburg Academy and Blairsville Semi- nary, and for many years was a successful teacher in Pennsylvania and taught a year in South Bend before ber marriage.
WILLIAM FREDERICK HOWAT, M. D. The Indiana medical profession honored Doctor Howat, of Hammond, with the office of president of the Indiana State Medical Association in 1911-12, and during his ac- tive career of over a quarter of a century in the state he has attained many other distinctions both in his profession and as a citizen of Hammond.
He was born June 2, 1869, in Prince Edward Island, Canada, son of John Alex- ander and Mary (Rogers) Howat. He was educated in Prince of Wales College from 1886 to 1888, and graduated in medicine from the University of Pennsylvania in 1892. In the same year he located at
Packerton, Indiana, but in 1895 removed to Hammond, where he has practiced continu- ously. He specializes in pulmonary and cardio-vascular diseases. In 1892 Doctor Howat married Miss Alice A. Webb, of Prince Edward Island.
He was one of the organizers of the Lake County Medical Society and its presi- dent from 1900 to 1908. He was president of the Hammond Public Library Board from its organization in 1903 to October, 1918, and was a member of the Board of School Trustees from 1903 to 1910 and was again elected to the board in June, 1918. He was active in politics as a demo- crat, and has made his profession a medium of service to promote the interests of the country in the war. He has done much Red Cross work, was a member of Medical Advisory Board No. 47, and is an enthu- siastic amateur gardener.
Doctor Howat entered the service of the United States in October, 1918, as captain of the Medical Corps, United States Army, and was assigned to Base Hospital, Camp Dodge, Iowa, where he served until dis- charged in April, 1919.
Doctor Howat is active in all Masonic bodies, is a member of the Hammond Cham- ber of Commerce and the Hammond Coun- try Club, and belongs to the following so- cieties : Lake County Medical Society, the Indiana State Medical Association, Missis- sippi Valley Medical Association, Northern Tri-State Medical Society, National Tuber- culosis Association, Fellow American Medi- cal Association, American Association for Advancement of Science, American An- thropological Society, American Sociologi- cal Society, Association for Labor Legis- lation, American Academy of Political and Social Science, American Asiatic Society, Travel Club of America, Chicago Medical Society, Founder, National Historical So- ciety, Fellow, Royal Society for Encourage- ment of Arts, Sciences and Manufactures, member of the National Geographic So- ciety.
WILLIAM THOMAS, a man of wide and varied business experience, has for a num- ber of years been a resident of Hammond, and is one of the leading business men and citizens of the community. He is secretary of the Hammond Manufacturing Associa- tion.
Mr. Thomas was born at Albrighton,
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Shropshire, England, December 18, 1863, a son of John and Ann Marie ( Hooper) Thomas. His parents were both natives of England and his father died at the age of seventy and his mother at eighty-two. Wil- liam was the third among their six children, four of whom are still living.
Mr. William Thomas had a public school education at Birmingham, England, and also attended Richardson's Commer- cial College. He was trained for a com- mercial career, and his first work and ap- prenticeship was six years employment with J. B. Gausby & Company, wholesale hardware. For about two years he was with Southall Brothers & Barclay, manu- facturing chemists, as an accountant.
On coming to America Mr. Thomas lo- cated at Prince Arthur's Landing in Canada, on the northern shore of Lake Superior, and spent nine years with the Thomas Marks Company in the contractors supply business. In 1892 he went to Chi- cago, and was with the Republic National Bank as chief clerk of the bond department three years. His next service was with the Cudahy Packing Company as accountant in their offices at Omaha, and three years later he came to Hammond, Indiana, and was secretary of the Simplex Railway Ap- pliance Company. When this local indus- try was sold to the American Steel Foun- dry Company Mr. Thomas continued with the old business as works auditor, his pres- ent position.
Mr. Thomas has served as secretary of the Hammond Country Club and is chair- man of the Board of Directors of the Christian Science Church. In politics he is a republican. In 1887 he married Miss Alice Sheldon, who was born at Birming- ham, England, and died at Hammond. In- diana, in 1916. They had one daughter, Beatrice Mignon.
CARL EDWARD BAUER, a mechanical en- gineer by profession, has been an Ameri- can for over thirty-five years, and has an important record of work and experience in American industry. He is now works manager of the American Steel Foundries at Hammond.
He was born in Germany November 5, 1857, son of Ferdinand and Wilhelmina (Bock) Bauer. His parents spent their lives in their native country, his father dy-
ing at the age of ninety-two and the mother at eighty-seven. Of their six children, four sons and two daughters, two are living, Emil and Carl Edward.
Carl Edward Bauer, the youngest of the family, was educated in the German com- mon schools and also in an institution of collegiate rank, where he was given a technical training as a mechanical engineer. Coming to America in 1882, his first loca- tion was at Terre Haute, Indiana, where he was employed by the Terre Haute Car Works. Later he was with the Muskegon Car Works at Muskegon, Michigan, was in the Indianapolis Car and Machine Com- pany plant at Indianapolis, and in 1897 went to Chicago as secretary of the Simplex Railway Appliance Company. This com- pany put on the market and manufactured a line of specialties used by railways, and in 1899 the plant was removed to Ham- mond. Mr. Bauer continued in the husi- ness under its original title until 1903, when they sold out to the American Steel Company. Since then the Hammond plant has been known as the Simplex Works of the American Steel Foundries. Mr. Bauer is works manager, and as such occupies an important position in this prosperous in- dustrial city.
He is a Knight Templar Mason and Shriner, a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and Knights of Pythias and his name is on the rolls of membership and he participates in most of the annual gatherings of the Indiana So- ciety of Chicago. Mr. Bauer maintains an independent attitude in politics.
In 1887 he married Miss Olga Witten- berg. Six children were born to their mar- riage, two of whom died in infancy. Wal- ter, the oldest son, is now serving with the American army in the infantry. The sec- ond child is Margaret. Carl is an engineer, and Emil, the youngest, is in the United States Auxiliary Navy.
DANIEL BROWN. When on January 7, 1918, Daniel Brown assumed the duties and responsibilities of mayor of Hammond his entry into office was hailed as that of a common sense practical business man, one who could bring an experience with a varied routine of affairs into the handling of the complex duties of municipal admin- istration. His work and record during the
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first year in office have amply satisfied his constituents and crities as to his efficiency and ability.
Mr. Brown is a native of Indiana, hav- ing been born at Rochester November 1, 1875, son of Charles Fredrick and Mary Anna (Reiber) Brown. His parents were both natives of Germany, but the family has been in America for more than half a century. His father was born in 1838 and his mother in 1834. Charles F. Brown came to America with his brother and sis- ter when ten years of age, traveling by sailing vessel to Quebec, Canada, and from there going to Ohio. He took up and learned the trade of butcher and followed it for several years at Newark, Ohio, where he married Miss Reiber. She was a small girl when she accompanied an older brother by sailing vessel, forty-eight days on the ocean, to America. Charles F. Brown was in business until fifty-five years of age, after which he lived with his chil- dren. He was a member of the Evangelical church and a republican in politics. He died in 1913 and his wife in 1902 .. They had eight children, and five are still living, three sons and two daughters.
Daniel Brown, the youngest of his fa- ther's family, was educated in the public schools of Rochester. At the tender age of ten he assumed the responsibility of making his own living and was employed in a hub and spoke factory at forty cents a day. Later he clerked in a grocery store for a year and finally formed a connection which was destined to last for a number of years and bring him many responsibilities. While at Rochester he went to work for the Wells, Fargo & Company Express, and re- mained in the company's employ for about fourteen and one-half years. During ten years of that time he was local agent at Rochester. The company then transferred him to Chicago and put him in the money department, known as the Paid C O D De- partment, where he remained three years. His next work was as agent at Des Moines, Iowa, but on July 26, 1909, he resigned from the company's service and came to Hammond, Indiana. For seven years he was in the restaurant and hotel business at Hammond and then became a brick man- ufacturer. He was secretary and treasurer of the Gary Concrete Brick & Stone Com- pany until October, 1917, when he resigned his office to enter actively upon his çam-
paign for the office of mayor. He was elected November 6th and, as already noted, entered upon the duties of his of- fice for the four-year term in January fol- lowing. Mr. Brown is a member of Gar- field Lodge No. 569, Ancient Free and Ac- cepted Masons, Calumet Lodge No. 601, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and in polities is a republican.
July 30, 1906, he married Miss Grace Curtis. Mrs. Brown was born in Athens, Indiana. They have one son, Robert Cur- tis Brown.
CHARLES MAY MCDANIEL has for over thirty years been a factor of increasing usefulness and experience in Indiana's educational affairs. He has been especially distinguished as a school administrator, one to whom could be safely entrusted the responsibilities of raising and broadening the standards of public school work and keeping the public school in touch with the vital demands and functions of life itself. He has long been a recognized leader in Indiana educational circles and organiza- tions, and his presence has come to be re- garded as indispensable to the success of any convention of school workers in the state.
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