USA > Indiana > Memorial and genealogical record of Representative Citizens of Indiana > Part 17
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Mr. Sommers was a faithful member of the Catholic church and worshiped with the Cathedral congregation. Ile was very fond of fishing, loved children, birds and flowers, and while his early education was not extensive, he remained a student all his life and by wide reading and close observation became a well in-
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formed man. He always kept a pet of some kind about his home. IIe was a kind-hearted, good-natured and gentlemanly man who made friends easily, and who exercised no trouble in retaining them. He was a leading member of the Retail Druggists Associa- tion of Fort Wayne, and immediately following his death the asso- ciation adopted suitable resolutions on his demise.
On January 21, 1884, occurred the marriage of Henry G. Som- mers and Mamie MeGuire, in Fort Wayne. She is a daughter of Owen and Ann (Bowen) MeGuire, both parents natives of Ire- land, where they spent the earlier years of their lives, and, coming to America, lived for some time at Fort Dodge, Iowa; then moved to Fort Wayne, Indiana, nearly a half century ago, being among the pioneers of this city. Owen McGuire followed railroading for a period of sixteen years, and his death occurred on March 4. 1896, and his widow's death occurred at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Henry G. Sommers, on October 10, 1911, after a protracted illness. She was seventy-seven years of age. She was a small child when she arrived in America and here she and Mr. McGuire were married, the wedding occurring in Crestline, Ohio, shortly after she came here in the year 1865. Two sons and two daugh- ters survive her. They are John MeGuire, who lives in Detroit; Peter MeGuire, of Grand Rapids, Michigan; Bessie McGuire lives in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania; and Mrs. Henry G. Sommers, of Fort Wayne, the latter being the oldest daughter of this family of six children, two of whom are deceased. Mrs. Sommers was born and reared in Fort Wayne and received a good education here in the common schools. She has spent her life in this city and has a host of friends here. Her mother was a devout member of the Cathedral of Immaculate Conception and one of the oldest members of the Rosary society.
To Henry G. Sommers and wife three children were born, namely: Frederick Owen Sommers, who married Hazel Seheeman, of Fort Wayne; they reside in Denver, Colorado, where he is en- gaged in the railroad business. Robert Henry Sommers, the ser- ond child in order of birth, lives at home with his mother; and the daughter and youngest child, Marie Katherine Sommers, is also at home and is attending high school at this writing.
FRANKLIN PELEG RANDALL.
Conspicuous in the roll of names of men that have conferred honor upon the profession of the law in Indiana is that of Franklin Peleg Randall, for many years one of the most prominent and in- fluential citizens of Fort Wayne, and whose labors contributed much to the early development and general progress in material and civic affairs of Allen county. He had a great versatility of talents, and exactness and thoroughness characterized all his at- tainments and work. In all the relations of life he was an honor- able, upright gentleman who won the sincere respect of all with whom he came into contact. He belonged to that praiseworthy class of men, found now and then throughout the nation, who have worked their way from somewhat discouraging beginnings to places of leadership and high esteem, and it is still a proud boast of our country that such victors are held of a far greater worth and value to the Union and their fellow men in general than the so- called aristocrat, with his inherited wealth, position and distin- guished name. Mr. Randall rose paramount to environment and all which sought to hinder him, while many of his contemporaries. possessing less mettle and less fortitude, were falling exhausted by the highway we call life, for the maxim which seemed to hold sway over him was "Through struggle to triumph." He believed in doing well whatever he undertook and in extending aid and sympathy to others, and thus as a result of this humanitarian at- tribute, his exemplary private life and his abiding publie spirit, he was held in universal esteem by all classes, and his career is worthy of perpetuation on the pages of the history of his state whose interests he ever had at heart.
Mr. Randall was born in Madison county, New York, June 2, in the memorable year 1812. He was descended from a long line of sterling ancestors, members of which have been more or less conspicuous in their localities in America since 1638, and he was thus of the seventh generation of his family born on this continent. The Randalls have been patriotic people and have fought in most all our wars. The paternal grandfather of the subject was an officer in the Revolutionary war, and commanded a regiment at the
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battle of Saratoga, witnessing the surrender of Burgoyne. Ilis father also served as an officer in the war of 1812. The latter was a farmer in Madison county, New York, and there his son Franklin P. spent his boyhood, assisting with the general work about the place during the erop seasons and attending the common schools in his neighborhood in the wintertime. He subsequently attended the Cortland Academy, also the Hamilton Academy, making an excellent record in each, becoming proficient in mathematies, his- tory and other studies. He always had a predilection for botan- ical studies and even in early life evinced a desire for the study of plants and flowers. After finishing his course in the academies, he began his career by teaching a select school in Oneida county, his native state. This school consisted of about sixty pupils, mostly farmers' boys. After teaching this school two years and saving some money, he turned his attention to the West, believing that there were greater possibilities there for the ambitious young man than in the older East.
Having long entertained a laudable desire to enter the legal profession, in October, 1835, Mr. Randall went to Williamsport,, Pennsylvania, where he entered the law office of Judge Ellis Lewis, who was for about fourteen years chief justice of the su- preme court of that state, and under his guidance and tutorship read law. In February, 1838, he was admitted to practice in the courts of Pennsylvania and in April of the same year removed to Fort Wayne, Indiana, and commenced the practice of law. He found here a straggling country village, where a few white people and many Indians had assembled in rude dwellings. As in all frontier communities, the school question was the most important and as it was known that Mr. Randall was a well educated young man he was soon elected school commissioner of Allen county and for four years had the control of the school lands and school funds of that county. In 1847 he was elected state senator for the dis- triet composed of Allen, Huntington, Wells and Adams counties. One of the most difficult tasks at that time with which the mem- bers of the Legislature had to deal was to find means for transit to Indianapolis. It was necessary for them to go on horseback and the trip occupied about a week. Soon after this Mr. Randall received from Governor Wright the appointment of colonel of state militia for Allen county, and in 1855 was promoted by Gov- ernor Hammond to the position of brigadier-general of the Tenth Division of Indiana State Infantry. In 1856 he was appointed
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director of the state prison by Governor Willard and established many reforms in that institution. The same year he was also elected presidential elector and voted for James Buchanan for President, it being the only instance in which a citizen of Fort Wayne ever voted directly for a President of the United States. For many years Mr. Randall was actively identified with all the public affairs of Fort Wayne and prepared the first city charter, which became a law in 1840. Later he was commissioned by the city council to revise the city ordinances at three different periods. He was city recorder in 1840 and in 1841, alderman in 1843, and again in 1855. In 1840 he was also elected city attorney for two years and was re-elected in 1853 and 1865. In 1859 he was elected mayor and was elected to the same office again in 1861, 1863, 1869 and 1871, thus serving five terms of two years each. He was the "war mayor" of Fort Wayne and contributed largely to the cause of the Union. He did perhaps more for the early development of this city than any other man, his counsel being constantly sought in the affairs of the city and as a public servant he discharged his every duty with a fidelity and ability that reflected much credit upon himself and to the eminent satisfaction of all concerned. His family still have in their possession many remembrances of the Civil-war period, among which are numerous old battle-scarred flags of regiments entering the service, from Fort Wayne, while he was mayor.
Not only will Mr. Randall be held in remembrance on account of his long official career, but by his devotion to the interests of his city and county in all projects for their advancement. For many years he was president of the Allen County Agricultural Society, and he was very influential and an unremitting worker in the same, its large success being due principally to his able manage- ment. He always took great pleasure in horticulture and was considered an authority on such subjects. The latter years of his life were devoted almost entirely to the cultivation of flowers and plants, of which he had many varieties, and it was always his pleasure to invite his friends to view his collection at his residence. ITis interest in gathering and preserving the relies of the past have saved to the student many interesting marks of bygone days and his memory was stored with a seemingly inexhaustible treasure of anecdotes and reminiscences of the early history of Fort Wayne and Indiana and his antiquarian treasures, his Indian curiosities,
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old and rare books, and diverse relies of pioneer times, are among the most valuable in existence.
Mr. Randall was twice married. Mrs. George B. Dougan of Richmond, Indiana, is the only child of the first union, which was with Mary A. Ried, who passed away five years after their mar- riage.
During the time Mr. Randall was a member of the state Legis- lature at Indianapolis he met Judge Read, also a member of the Legislature, from Jeffersonville. Judge Read had with him at the capital his three accomplished daughters, the late Mrs. Sarah A. Ransom, the late Mrs. Martha A. Meriwether, and the present Mrs. Mary J. Randall. The subject of this memoir eventually married one of the trio and took her to what was then called his "northern" home, at Fort Wayne. To this union seven sons and three daughters were born, namely: Three, who died in infancy ; Frank M. Randall, who became city engineer of Fort Wayne; Mrs. Carolyn R. Fairbank, Irwin and Alfred L., all of whom estab- lished their homes in Fort Wayne; Mrs. J. C. Downs, who went to Danbury, Connecticut, to live; David J. and George E., who lo- cated in New York City.
Religiously, Franklin P. Randall was an Episcopalian and for over forty years was vestryman and church warden, in fact he was a pillar in the local congregation. Politically, he was a Demo- erat, and his theory was, once a Democrat always a Democrat, and he was most loyal to the principles of the old party. When any fault was found with a Democrat he would always remark that he inust have some good in him by virtue of being a Democrat. His Democracy was of the sterling character, however, for he believed in disciplining his party, but such punishment he thought should come from its friends and not its enemies.
As a father, husband and friend Mr. Randall was indulgent to a remarkable degree. No expressed wish was ever refused if it were within his power to grant it. No ill will was harbored against anyone. When young men arose to take his place in pub- lic affairs, although he loved the excitement of politics, he re- signed gracefully and with no malice toward anyone. The future to him was bright, the past serene, and he had no regrets for his life, having always lived honorably and sought to do his every duty as he saw and understood the right. One of his favorite quotations was "Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof." This great soul and distinguished citizen passed serenely to his rest on May 23, 1892, after a useful, honorable and praiseworthy career,
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having lived nearly eighty years, and through all this vista of time, with its vicissitudes, no enemy arose. His passing away was a transition to a higher plane of existence and not a death.
Something of his high standing among the members of the Allen county bar may be gleaned from the following resolutions passed soon after his death:
"Franklin P. Randall at the time of his death was, with one exception, now living in the city, the oldest in years and in ser- vice of the members of the bar in Allen county.
"With body and mind strengthened by the sturdy and self- reliant work of a farmer's son, he received his early mental train- ing in the common school and academies of his locality, which was supplemented by an experience of two years as a teacher. It is not often that true honor, public or private, that honor which is the tribute of cordial respect and esteem, comes to a man without basis in character and deeds. The world may be deceived by for- tune, or by ornamental or showy qualities, without substantial merit, and may render to the undeserving a fortuitous and short- lived admiration, but the honor that wise and good men value and that lives beyond the grave must have their foundation in real worth, for 'worth maketh the man.'
"Not a few men live unheralded and almost unknown beyond the narrow limits of the city or town wherein their lots are cast, who yet have in them, if ambition or fortune had opened to them a wide sphere of life, the elements of character to make statesmen or the founders of states, or public benefactors of world-wide fame. Compared with the blazon of fame which some regard as the real seal or stamp of greatness, there is a lowlier, and simpler, and yet true standard whereby to judge of them and fix their place in the regard of their fellowmen. During his life of fifty-four years in this city, its people have had means to know what man- ner of man Franklin P. Randall was. The record of testimony was ample that he was a good citizen in the full sense of the term, and worthy of honor and publie trust, ever doing worthily and well the life work assigned to him here. He was for thirty-eight years a member of the vestry of Trinity parish of the Protestant Episcopal church, and for twenty-seven years a junior warden and at the time of his death was senior warden.
"Such employments and such calling for intelligence, ability, integrity and fitness, and ever faithfully and worthily filled by him, carry their own evidence of the esteem in which Mr. Randall
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was held in this community and of his personal interest in all that most directly concerned the welfare of his fellow citizens in his own home. They indicate a life governed by a high and patriotic sense of all the duties of good citizenship-the life of a man trust- worthy and trusted. While Mr. Randall's efficient and patriotic public service as mayor of the city during the period of the Civil war won for him the honorable cognomen of 'The War Mayor of Fort Wayne,' the general tenor of his life, his tastes, his employ- ments, were eminently peaceful. Ile was a lover of nature, a lover of the garden and the fields, a lover of trees and buds and flowers and other country things. By inherited and natural taste and aptitude he was a farmer and an agriculturist, a florist and well informed in theory and expert in the art of agriculture and gardening. He was prominent and active in all that concerned the farming interests of the country, serving as president of the agricultural societies of the county, when such existed. His rare and costly collections of flowers and plants, native and exotic, were ever things of beauty and joy to him, and he was free to make his fellow citizens share in the pleasure of their exhibition. Kindred to his taste for the rare and beautiful in vegetable nature, was his taste for rare books and coins, and curious and historie things, the possession of which made his home a cabinet of curios- ities, and a source of refined pleasure to himself and family and to many an ever-welcome visitor. For many years before his death, Mr. Randall had withdrawn from active practice as a law- yer and it may be doubted whether that was the best field suited to his tastes and capabilities. But with such tasks and surround- ings as he possessed to employ his hours and thoughts, old age came to Mr. Randall calmly and peacefully and the later years of his useful life had no physical or mental paralysis to darken his passage from the life that now is, to that brighter and purer and higher life which opens beyond the grave to all such as have faith in the eternal verity of man's immortality.
"Therefore, in testimony of our appreciation of the life and character of our deceased brother, Franklin P. Randall, and of our sorrow for his death, and as our tribute to his memory, it is by the members of the bar of Allen county,
"Resolved, that the career and public service of Franklin P. Randall during his life and residence in this city entitle him to rank as one of the foremost of the venerated and now deceased pioneer citizens of Fort Wayne who laid the foundation of its (13)
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prosperity and who aided in its material and moral advancement to its position as one of the chief cities of the state.
"Resolved, that Mr. Randall as a lawyer was well informed in his profession and faithful to his clients and the law. His mind was strong, judicial and well balanced, impartial and just. He possessed a rare equanimity of temper and kindness of heart, which won for him the sincere regard of his associates at the bar. He was an honest and fair practitioner, and took no part in the tricks of the pettifogger or lawyer of low degree, which sometimes cast odium upon a profession which should ever be one of truth and honor. His nature was genial and social and his manners courteous and attractive. His mind was rich in the fruits of a long life of reading and observation. In all facts and reminis- cences which make local history he was an authority and freely gave of what he possessed. He had no personal enemies and pro- voked no one to enmity, for the simplicity and cordiality of his nature and manners invited friendship and forbade or disarmed enmity. His personal character was above reproach. He was a man of robust frame and manly presence, a man of pure morals, temperate and self-controlled. His domestic life was exemplary, his home was a genial and happy one. He was an affectionate and faithful father, and his sons and daughters have cause to honor him and revere his memory. He was a hospitable man and cordially responsive to all social claims, and his home was well equipped and attractive to all whom he numbered in his list of friends, and he had no enemies. The death of such a man, even in the rounded fullness of a very long life, where his work had ceased to be more than an example, is a great public loss, and not alone his associates at the bar, but the people of the city, and all who knew him, mourn for him as one whose place cannot soon be filled. He leaves to his family the rich memory of an unstained name, and to the city he loved so well and served so long and faithfully, the record and example of an honorable and well spent life.
"Resolved, that the judges of the circuit and superior courts, respectively, be requested to order this memorial to be entered upon the records of those courts and that an engrossed copy, duly attested, be delivered to the widow of the deceased and that the same be also published in the press of this city.
"Resolved, that in further token of our respect, the members of this bar will attend the funeral of the deceased."
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The above resolutions were drawn up and signed by such familiar names as Joseph K. Edgerton, John Morris, William H. Jones, R. S. Robertson, W. H. Coombs, C. M. Dawson, chairman, and R. B. Hanna, secretary.
The following resolutions were drawn up by Maurice Cody and Robert B. Hanna, representing the common council of Fort Wayne:
"Whereas, it has pleased Divine Providence to take from our midst our esteemed, honored and distinguished citizen, Hon. Franklin P. Randall, and
"Whereas, in his death the city has lost a true, devoted and loyal citizen, whose name is coupled with that of the early history of the city of Fort Wayne, and up to the time of his death his voice was always heard in the advocacy of all measures that pre- tended to the progress and enlightennient of our city, and
"Whereas, he stood deservedly high in the esteem of the peo- ple of this eity and was called to serve them in many honorable and responsible stations, having filled among others, the position of city attorney, alderman and mayor for five terms, all of which offiees he filled with distinguished ability and fidelity, and
"Whereas, we desire to express our appreciation of his valu- able services, both as a private citizen and publie officer,
"Therefore, it is resolved that these resolutions be spread on the city record, that a copy of the same be presented to the family of the deceased, and that all the city officers and the police attend the funeral in a body."
The following tribute to Mr. Randall was read at a meeting of the vestry of Trinity parish, May 26, 1892:
"A little more than a year since this vestry placed upon ree- ord its tribute to the memory of one who had for many years been the faithful senior warden of the parish, the late Isaac D. Nelson. We are now called upon to pay the same sad duty to his life-long friend and colleague, and his successor in office, Hon. Franklin P. Randall, in whose death we mourn the loss of the last official repre- sentative of the earliest generation of the parish.
"Affiliated by birth with another ecclesiastical body, Mr. Randall, many years since, led by a firm conviction of the just claims of the church, was enrolled in the number of her dutiful children. Occupying every position in the parish open to a lay- man, he has since given to Trinity church the love, veneration, faithful, loyal and carnest services of his whole life. Quiet, un-
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assuming and unobtrusive, he has impressed himself and his char- acter upon the parish, and it is reserved for the last great day to reveal how deep, how true, how righteous has been that impres- sion.
"To his own family, and to them alone, can be fully known his whole worth as a man, as a husband, a father and friend, and even by them it can be fully measured only by the great .void measured by his death. Pure, true, upright, and lovingly con- siderate of all dear to him, he has left to them in his memory an imperishable legacy.
"A resident of Fort Wayne for over half a century, he has been honored by his fellow citizens with all the important offices created by the original charter of the city, of which charter he was the author. He has also served them in the counsels of the state. All offices, all trusts confided to him have been so admin- istered as to command the admiration and approval of all.
"In his professional and business life Mr. Randall was ever governed by the law of honor, integrity and charity. The rights of others, rather than his own, his own responsibilities rather than theirs, commanded his attention and action. In all this his per- sonal welfare may have suffered; his share of this world's goods may have lessened; but he gained the respect, the admiration, and esteem of his fellow men, the approval of his own enlightened conscience, but above all commended himself to the all-wise Judge. Mr. Randall was possessed of strong natural abilities and faculties of mind, which he had cultivated carefully and sedulously, but such was his natural and inherent modesty as to his own merits, that to very many this was unknown. But to those admitted within the line of his reserve he was known as a correct, a broad, and an accurate student in many things beyond the knowledge of most men. No man had a more profound, a truer, or a more abiding faith in the Christian religion. To him his God was an ever-present loving Father, and our blessed Saviour, not only his God, but his true elder Brother. But he lived his religion, he did not talk it, and he lived it faithfully. Perhaps the strongest char- acteristic of Mr. Randall, as known to his fellow men, was his in- tense love of nature and of all that was beautiful in nature. His plants and flowers occupied a large part of his time and attention, and they answered to his loving care with ahnost human apprecia- tion and response. No grounds in Fort Wayne have ever been so richly or so profusely adorned as his, yielding pleasure of the
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