USA > Indiana > Memorial and genealogical record of Representative Citizens of Indiana > Part 10
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Always charitable, Mrs. DeWald took an active interest in the welfare of the orphans, and twenty-six years ago she organ- ized the L'Orphelin Society for the purpose of assisting the Sis- ters in charge of St. Vincent's Orphanage. She banded together a large number of noble women of the city, who devoted all their spare time to making clothes for the inmates of the institution
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and otherwise assisting in their maintenance. Never a Christmas day, never a holiday passed that did not see Mrs. DeWald at the orphanage well supplied with gifts for the little ones. A touch- ing feature of her closing days was the solicitude of these charges of hers. Morning and evening during her illness came telephone messages to the DeWald home inquiring after her condition, and the Sisters always found eager listeners when they announced the news to the little girls. Mrs. DeWald's death was character- ized by the beautiful consolations of religion. Her last words were a prayer and she passed away peacefully. She exemplified in her daily life all the grandest qualities of Christian woman- hood. Hers was a noble character, and her charity, never obtru- sive, and but little recognized generally, is known, nevertheless, by hundreds of people who were its beneficiaries. She was per- mitted to continue in the active work of life almost to the very last. It is safe to say that no woman in Fort Wayne has ever exerted a broader influence upon the life of the city. The highest tributes of love and respect were paid her, and the city mourned the loss of one who was at once friend, teacher, counselor, bene- factor and companion. She has gone to
"Join the choir invisible Of those immortal dead who live again, In minds made better by their presence."
SAMUEL HANNA.
Indiana has been especially honored in the character and career of her active men of industry and public service. In every section have been found men born to leadership in the various vocations, men who have dominated because of their superior in- telligence, natural endowment and force of character. It is al- ways profitable to study such lives, weigh their motives and hold up their achievements as incentives to greater activity and higher . excellence on the part of others. These reflections are suggested by the career of one who forged his way to the front ranks of the favored few, and who, by a strong inherent force and superior business ability, directed and controlled by intelligence and judg- ment of a high order, stood for over a quarter of a century one of the leading men of the state, and no citizen in northern Indiana ever achieved more honorable mention or occupied a more con- spicuous place in the public eye than Samuel Hanna, whose earthly career has long been ended, but whose influence still per- vades the lives of men, the good which he did having been too far- reaching to be measured in metes and bounds. In this age of colossal enterprise and marked intellectual energy, the prominent and successful men are those whose ambition and abilities lead them into large undertakings and to assume the responsibilities and labors of their respective fields of endeavor. Success is methodical and consecutive and though the rise of Mr. Hanna may have seemed so rapid as to be spectacular, it will be found that his success was attained by the same normal methods and means- determined application of mental and physical resources along a rightly defined line. To offer in a work of this province an ade- quate resume of the career of this great man would be impossible, but, with others of those who have conserved the civic and com- mercial progress of Fort Wayne and this section of Indiana, we may well note the more salient points that marked his life and labors. He was long a dominating power in public utilities as well as extensive private operations of a varied naturc. He achieved a position as one of the substantial capitalists of the Middle West, gaining his success through legitimate and worthy
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means, and he stood as a singularly admirable type of the self- made man.
Samuel Hanna was born in Scott county, Kentucky, on Oc- tober 18, 1797, the son of James Hanna, who removed to Dayton, Ohio, in 1804, locating on a farm in the southern edge of the town. Hle was one of a numerous family of children, all of whom attained respectable and most of them distinguished positions in life. His early days were passed, like those of most boys in a new country, in assisting his father to clear and develop his farm, and his edu- cational advantages were such as were afforded by the primitive schools of the locality and period. His earliest employment, aside from his labors on the homestead, was that of post-rider, deliver- ing newspapers to the widely scattered subscribers, postoffices in those days being limited almost entirely to county seats. In this humble calling the young man passed considerable time, travers- ing, from week to week, the then wilderness of western Ohio. While still a mere youth there came a pronounced exemplification of the inviolable integrity which ever indicated the man. In tak- ing up a business enterprise in company with another young man, he assumed an indebtedness and was swindled out of the goods purchased, and while his partner secured immunity from payment by plea of infancy, young Hanna refused to resort to this method of evasion, holding the debt as one of honor, and ultimately-pay- ing in full, at a great sacrifice, he being then but nineteen years of age and dependent entirely upon his own resources, and the liability incurred, three thousand dollars, a large sum in those days. Integrity and uprightness thus early evinced, amidst strong inducements to a contrary course, characterized his long and useful career and gave him immense influence over his fellow men. That he made good use of such educational privileges as were his is manifest when we learn that he successfully taught school for some time, his work being so well and thoroughly done that his services were in great demand. With his brother Thomas, he attended the Indiana treaty at St. Mary's, in 1818, in the capacity of sutler or purveyor, furnishing both food for men and provender for horses, all being transported with ox teams from Troy, Ohio, while with his own hands he hewed out the feed- troughs for the stock. The small amount of money realized in this connection was his first substantial acquisition, the corner- stone on which his subsequent colossal fortune was reared. Here, too, his purpose was formed of emigrating to Fort Wayne, where
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he was destined to act so conspicuous and important a part in developing the resources of the country and building up a city. It was in 1819 that he arrived here, being then in his twenty-sec- ond year. He found the place a mere Indian trading post, with very few white inhabitants, and those merely remnants of the old military establishment. Outside of the "post" and its immediate vicinity, there were no white settlers, and the country in every direction, for hundreds of miles, was an unbroken wilderness, the haunts of red men and wild beasts. Mr. Hanna immediately entered upon mercantile pursuits in a small way, at what is now the northwest corner of Columbia and Barr streets. The town was not then laid out, but he had the sagacity to foresee its great future possibilities. His first store-house was a rude log cabin, which he erected principally with his own hands. He succeeded from the first and he was soon in a story-and-a-lıalf frame build- ing, which was in after years replaced by a substantial briek block of business houses. These are still retained by the family. His trade was mostly with the Indians, and by a course of fair and honorable dealing with them, and later with the pioneer white settlers, he acquired a high degree of regard and consideration on the part of the people among whom he lived so many years. This regard and consideration went on increasing in volume and in- tensity while he lived. His splendid fortune was thus not ac- quired by defrauding his customers, but by superior business sagacity, indomitable industry and rigid economy, having pos- sessed these three qualities in an eminent degree.
From the first settlement of Fort Wayne Mr. Hanna, at all times, evineed a strong desire to build up the town, to advance its material interests in every way, and to improve and develop the resources of the country, and, though not inattentive to his indi- vidual interests, the cardinal purpose was kept steadily in view during his entire career. In all meetings of the people for pub- lic improvements or publie welfare in any way he was always a conspicuous and leading actor. He early perceived the indis- pensable necessity of opening and improving roads and other facilities for travel and intercommunication; but to fully appreci- ate his designs in this respect, we have but to recall prevailing conditions at that time. As has already been remarked, Fort Wayne, located in the midst of the wilderness, was not easy of access, being far removed from all improvements. The surround- ing country afforded no supplies except the inconsiderable amount
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yielded by the chase and a very small quantity of corn grown on the bottom lands in the immediate vicinity by the occupants of the fort. Practically all provisions and supplies had to be brought from a distance, mostly from Miami county, Ohio, by way of St. Mary's, being transported by wagons to the latter place, thence on flatboats up the St. Mary's river to Fort Wayne. The facilities for obtaining goods were little or no better. They were purchased principally in New York or Boston, and brought up the Maumee in pirogues, a most laborious task, or packed through the wilderness on horses from Detroit. Thus it will be seen that gigantic difficulties were in the way of building a city at that time and place. Although Mr. Hanna clearly saw and fully real- ized them all in their fullest force, he was by no means discour- aged. They seem to have only excited the ardor and enthusiasm of his indomitable nature, and nerved him to redoubled effort and determination. He and a few other publie spirited men, who gen- erally followed his lead, addressed themselves to the work of their removal with resolute and untiring energy. The fruits of their noble efforts the present generation is enjoying. Think of the change from an Indian trading post in the midst of a far-stretch- ing wilderness in 1819 to a bustling modern metropolis of sixty- five thousand population in 1912; a well cultivated, densely peo- pled, wealthy, productive and prosperous country in every direc- tion; canals, turnpikes, railroads, electric lines and every facility for travel and transportation abound, bringing to the city abund- ant supplies of produce, goods, building materials, and whatever may conduce to the comfort and convenience of the people and add material prosperity to the place, everything indicating thrift, enterprise, progress, culture and prosperity. This wonderful transformation was caused by such strong men as Samuel Hanna. He was emphatically a general in civic life. His name is inti- mately associated and blended with every period in the history of Fort Wayne. No public enterprise of importance was ever under- taken by her citizens without his concurrence and aid. In truth, it would be impossible to write the history of Fort Wayne, with- out, at the same time, writing a large portion of the biography of Mr. Hanna. His vast and controlling influence is visible every- where, and was potential for good wherever it extended.
Soon after commencing operations in Fort Wayne, Mr. Hanna was appointed agent for the American Fur Company, a respon- sible position, which he filled for a number of years to the entire
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satisfaction of the company. He was also associato judge of the circuit court, and was repeatedly elected, at that early period, and in subsequent years, a member of the state Legislature. The importance of some of his services in the latter capacity will be shown later in this article. As his means accumulated, he ex- tended his mercantile operations to other places, particularly to Lafayette, where he was, for many years, concerned in a large house with his brother Joseph; to Wabash, where he was con- nected in business with his brother Hugh, and to South Bend, with Col. L. M. and E. P. Taylor, from all of which he realized large returns. He became an extensive land owner in the Wabash valley and elsewhere. He was once heard to remark in 1843 that he could go from Fort Wayne to Indianapolis, by way of Lafayette and return by way of Andersontown, and feed his horse at his own corn-crib every night during his journey.
Mr. Hanna was the first postmaster at Fort Wayne, keeping the mail in his store on Columbia street.
The American people have been informed that a dim fore- shadowing of a canal to connect Lake Erie with the Ohio river was entertained by George Washington and other carly patriots and statesmen, as one of the possibilities of the far future. But they are indebted to Samuel Hanna for the first practical conception of that magnificent project. He opened correspondence with the Indiana representatives and senators in Congress and secured their favor and influence for the great undertaking. These efforts resulted, in 1827, in a grant by Congress to the state of Indiana of each alternate section of land for six miles on each side of the proposed line, through its whole length, to aid in the con- struction of the canal. Strange as it may seem at the present time, a powerful opposition to the acceptance of the grant by the state was organized in some parts thereof, and Judge Hanna was elected to the Legislature as the especial champion of the canal policy. The contest was ardent and protracted, but resulted in the acceptance of the grant, and an appropriation to purchase the necessary engineering instruments and procure the survey and location of the summit level. Judge Hanna, David Burr and a Mr. Jones were appointed canal commissioners. The first named went to New York, purchased the instruments, and, returning by way of Detroit, carried them from that city on horseback to Fort Wayne. Civil engineers were scarce in the West at that time, but the commissioners procured one, and immediately entered
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upon the survey, commencing on the St. Joseph river, six miles above Fort Wayne, where the feeder-dam was afterwards built, Mr. Burr operating as rod man and Judge Hanna as ax man, both at ten dollars per month. The second day the engineer was taken sick and was compelled to abandon the work, Judge Hanna and Mr. Burr alone continuing and completing the survey of the sum- mit feeder. They made their report to the succeeding session of the Legislature, and Judge Hanna, being again a member, secured its adoption, and the passage of an act authorizing the construc- tion of the Wabash and Erie canal. Thus originated and was in- augurated almost, if not entirely, through the untiring energy, the indomitable perseverance of these two noble pioneers, Hanna and Burr, this stupendous work of internal improvement-the longest continuous line of artificial water communication on the American continent, if not in the world-and which was of such incalculable value to Fort Wayne and all northern Indiana. They are very far in advance of what they would have been had there been no Wabash and Erie canal. Indeed, it is not probable that they would have yet been out of the primeval forests without that great work. Judge Hanna was fund commissioner for several years, and negotiated for most of the money with which the work was carried on, and probably no one contributed more to the suc- cess of the canal policy during the first and trying years of its progress than he did, according to an article in the American Rail- way Review, in 1859, which further said, "From 1828 to 1836 he was successively canal commissioner and fund commissioner, be- sides serving three years in the state Senate and one in the House, representing, as senator, perhaps one-third of the entire area of the state, and filling, in each body, for a part of the time, the post of the canal committee. In these official stations he evinced the same judgment, tact and force of character which, nearly a quarter of a century afterward, enabled him to render important service to the northern section of Indiana, the enter- prise of completing, under financial difficulties such as would have discouraged men less courageous in assuming pecuniary respon- sibilities, that portion of the Pittsburg, Fort Wayne & Chicago Railway lying west of Crestline."
Perhaps the wisdom and ability of Judge Hanna were never more strikingly displayed in any single act of his life than in the establishment and organization of the State Bank of Indiana. When the derangement of the currency and financial embarrass-
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ment consequent upon the veto of the United States Bank and other kindred measures occurred, he was a member of the Legis- lature. The President had recommended the creation of more state banks to supply the circulation retired by the closing of that institution. Accordingly, a charter was introduced into the Indi- ana Legislature of such a character that Judge Ianna and other judicious members thought it ought not to pass. Ile opposed its passage with great power and ability, and was principally instru- mental in defeating it; but it was clearly seen that a charter of some kind would pass at the next session. A committee was ap- pointed to prepare a proper charter during the vacation, to be presented when the Legislature again convened. Judge Hanna was made chairman of that committee, and to him was confided the duty of drafting the proposed new charter. How well he per- formed the duty may be inferred from the fact that it passed both houses of the Legislature almost precisely as it came from his hand, within a few days after their coming together, and it was approved January 28, 1834. Thus was created the State Bank of Indiana, by common consent one of the best banking institutions that has ever existed in this country, an institution that con- tinued in operation twenty years, affording the people a safe and sound curreney, and yielding to the state a large accumulated fund at its elose; an institution that exerted a marked influenee on the subsequent bank legislation of many other states. No one ever lost a dollar by the State Bank of Indiana.
A branch was at once established at Fort Wayne, of which Judge Hanna was president much of the time, while it was man- aged with pre-eminent skill and ability.
Judge Hanna platted an extensive addition to the city of Fort Wayne as early as 1836, and eventually he reaped large profits from the same, though through it his affairs were much involved for a time. Multitudes have comfortable homes in this city today, who are indebted for them to the kindness and forbearance of Judge Hanna. It was a rule with him never to urge payment of any one who kept his interest paid up, and many were in arrears for even that for years together, without being disturbed. In 1843 an outlet for prodnee and an inlet for people were opened by the opening of the canal to the lake; the country began rapidly to settle, and the town to improve. The sale of lots was greatly augmented, money became more abundant, and payments more ready. Then Judge Hanna began to reap the benefits of his
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hazardous purchase-to enjoy the reward of his years of toil and embarrassment, and of his generous forbearance toward his poor debtors. "Hanna's Addition" is a very extensive and important part of the present city of Fort Wayne.
For several years succeeding 1836, Judge Hanna devoted himself mainly to the affairs of the Fort Wayne Branch Bank, to the management and improvement of his estate, and to the enjoy- ment of his domestic and social relations; accepting, occasionally, a seat in the Legislature of the state. During this period, his pet project, the Wabash and Erie canal, was opened to Toledo, work- ing wonders in the development of both towns and country, but the roads leading to Fort Wayne were in a wretched condition much of the time, and their improvement became a subject of vital necessity. Judge Hanna and others organized the Fort Wayne and Lima Plank-road Company, he taking the contract for the first ten miles north of this city; others followed his example, all set- ting to work with a will, and within two years the road was com- pleted to Ontario, a distance of fifty miles, the first improvement of the kind undertaken and completed in northern Indiana. Other similar works followed, leading to Fort Wayne, among which was the Lima plank-road. In the construction of this, as in that of the Lima road, Judge Hanna was an active and leading par- ticipant; he was the Hercules, whose shoulder to the wheel pro- pelled both of these works onward to completion, through many obstacles.
When the Pennsylvania & Ohio railroad reached Crestline and it was proposed to extend it to Fort Wayne, Judge Hanna was ready with his powerful co-operation. He was largely instru- mental in inducing the people of Allen county to vote a subserip- tion of one hundred thousand dollars to its capital stock. This was the turning point of the great enterprise at that time. With- out this timely aid the work would have been indefinitely post- poned, if not entirely defeated. In 1852 Judge Hanna, with others, took the whole contract from Crestline to Fort Wayne, one hundred and thirty-two miles, and began work immediately. The company's means becoming exhausted, Judge Hanna was finally elected president and, after considerable difficulty and de- lay, started the work again and brought it to successful comple- tion, the cars from Pittsburg and Philadelphia coming into Fort Wayne in November, 1854, amid great rejoicing.
In the autumn of 1852, while encumbered with the building
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and financial embarrassments of the Ohio & Indiana Railroad, the Fort Wayne & Chicago Railway Company was organized, and Judge Hanna was elected president. The company experienced much trouble in raising funds to prosecute the work, and in the face of formidable obstacles, Judge Hanna went resolutely to work on the new line. He was thus president and chief manager of two companies-both without money, except what his own ex- ertions provided-whose united lines extended from Crestline to Chicago, a distance of two hundred and eighty miles, and a lead- ing contractor for the construction of one of them. Such a load of responsibility would have overwhelmed most men, but he was equal to the occasion in every respect, the difficulties merely nerv- ing him to exert his fullest powers, and caused the brightness of his true character to blaze out in its true effulgence. In 1856 cars began to run over part of the line. Later it was deemed advisable to consolidate these interests and on August 1, 1856, the three minor corporations were obliterated on terms satisfactory to themselves, through the efforts of Judge Hanna, and the great Pittsburg, Fort Wayne & Chicago Railway Company succeeded to their franchises and liabilities, Judge Hanna being elected vice- president of the consolidated company, which he held the rest of his life, the line being speedily completed and soon under sue- cessful operation.
Remaining ever loyal to the interests of Fort Wayne, Judge Hanna was instrumental in establishing here great repair shops and manufactories that constituted an important feature of the city. He was associated in the work of establishing the woolen factory, the great Bass foundry and machine shops, the Olds fac- tories and other industrial undertakings whose inception and maintenance depended largely upon his capital.
Judge Hanna literally remained in the harness until called upon to obey the inexorable summons of death, his final illness having been of comparatively brief duration. It was on June 11, 1866, that he passed to his reward, in the fullness of years and well earned honors. The city of his home and his affections returned then its tribute of grief, appreciation and deprivation. The city council passed resolutions of sorrow, which are reprinted further on in this article, the bells of all churches tolled, and, amid somber draperies on every side, a procession fully two miles in length fol- lowed his mortal remains to their last resting place, in Lindenwood cemetery. Thus ended the pure and noble life of one whose men-
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ory must ever be cherished by the citizens of Fort Wayne, which owes so much to him. In his religious faith he was in sympathy with the Presbyterian church, in which he was a ruling elder at the time of his death. In a fraternal way he was a member of the time-honored order of Free and Accepted Masons.
Judge Hanna's domestic life began on March 7, 1822, when he was united in marriage with Eliza Taylor, who was born in Buffalo, New York, February 13, 1804, the daughter of Israel and Mary (Blair) Taylor. Her father, who was born in Connecticut, was a man of means. Her mother was a native of Massachusetts. Mrs. Hanna received the best educational advantages that the common schools of her girlhood days afforded, she having at- tended school in Buffalo, New York; Detroit, Michigan; and Day- ton, Ohio, her parents having moved from the last named city to Fort Wayne, Indiana, when she was eighteen years old. It was in 1820 that she made her first trip to Fort Wayne, visiting her sister, Mrs. Suttenfield, having come over from Dayton on a sleigh, but, the snow disappearing, she was compelled to delay her return. About the same time her father purchased the land east of Fort Wayne now known as White's Addition, where he built and oceupied the house now known as the Golf Club House. About two years later she and Mr. Hanna were married. Her parents did not live to a ripe old age, but her grandfather Blair passed the century mark. He served in the Revolutionary war as an officer. He stood near General Warren when he was killed, and he par- ticipated in the battle of Bunker Hill.
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