USA > Indiana > Memorial and genealogical record of Representative Citizens of Indiana > Part 28
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Dr. H. V. Beardsley, Ft. Worth, Texas: "Sixteen years ago, through Providence, or some other source, I met and formed a very lasting friendship with our late departed D. W. Gerard. He has not only been to me as a friend, but he has been to me as a father, and I do not believe there is a single member of the Tribe of Ben-Hur who has felt the loss of his departure more than I have. He was not only a friend of humanity, but he was a close personal friend of those that met him on those grounds."
Rev. Ernest Dailey Smith, Crawfordsville, Indiana: "David W. Gerard was a good man. I know that in forming an estimate of men, a preacher is put to a certain disadvantage. My impres- sions of Brother Gerard from my personal acquaintance with him, and from what those have said to me who have known him inti- mately, is that he was just the same behind a Sunday face and under Sunday clothes as he was in every-day attire. There was
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that evenness and balance and genuineness in him that made him always the same."
W. H. Owen, Crawfordsville, Indiana: "Mr. Gerard was more than a member of the Tribe of len-llur with me. Outside of all of the associations in the fraternal work, he was my friend, and my neighbor, and perhaps I might say an inspiration to do more than was intended when I was launched into the affairs of this work. I feel that I have needed him almost every day since he passed away, and sometimes I get weary, for I could always rely on encouragement and the optimism of this man."
W. B. Ramey, Crawfordsville, Indiana: "For the past ten years it has been a pleasure to me to have been connected with the office, and intimately associated with Brother Gerard, and I know that I voice the sentiments of every employe of the office when I say that we never had the privilege of working for a gen- tleman who has been so dear and kind to us as he."
G. A. Paddock, Auburn, New York: "I have known Brother Gerard personally for some time, and have always honored and respected him."
Mrs. Luey H. Wilde, Buffalo, New York: "The world was made better by the life of our late beloved chief, David W. Gerard. It was no small sphere in which his influence for good was exer- cised while he lived, and there are so many good deeds to his credit that the influence still lives and will continue to live, though he be dead. His whole existence was an inspiration to mankind. Never a word came from his lips designed to wound the feelings of his fellow man. Such a thing as bitterness was absolutely un- known to him."
J. M. Billups, Jeannette, Pennsylvania: "The influence of Brother Gerard was felt to such an extent that I voice the general sentiment of the Pennsylvania members when I say we have lost the most noted and loyal fraternalist of the day. The impression made on me was that I had met and talked with one of God's elect; a noble man in his own country."
H. J. McGinnis, Crawfordsville, Indiana: "I was but a boy when I took up the work of the Tribe of Ben-Hur fifteen years ago, and I feel that if I have attained any degree of success, it has been through the encouragement and the help of our late supreme chief. Ile always had a kindly word of encouragement for the field men."
Thus it will be observed by the readers of this memorial work
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that a great and useful man passed away when David W. Gerard was summoned to close his eyes on earthly scenes. Lives of men such as he have been instrumental in removing the tear from sad faces, that have put the staff of life on the board of the widow, and kindled the fires upon the hearthstone of the orphan, these will be crowned with everlasting honor and glory.
Upon the death of Supreme Chief David W. Gerard, the executive committee of the Supreme Tribe of Ben-Hur met and unanimously appointed Dr. Royal II. Gerard to fill out his father's unexpired term, from January to May, 1910. At the meeting of the Supreme Tribe in May he was elected supreme chief and has, by successive re-elections, been retained in that office and is ably and efficiently carrying forward the work so splendidly inaugu- rated by his father.
DAVID KING.
The biographer is glad to herein set forth the salient facts in the eminently enrenceful and honorable cancer of the well- remembered and highly esteemed citizen of Indianapolis whose name appears above, the last chapter in whose life record has been closed by the hand of death, and the seal set thereon forever, but whose influence still pervades the lives of those with whom he came into contact. For many years he was closely identified with the industrial development of the city of his choice. The final causes which shaped the fortunes of individual men and the des- tinies of nations are often the same. They are usually remote and obseure, their influence wholly unexpected until declared by re- sults. When they inspire men to the exercise of courage, enter- prise, self-denial, and call into play the higher moral elements- such causes lead to the planting of great states and great peoples. That nation is the greatest which produces the greatest and most manly men, as these must constitute the essentially greatest na- tion. Such a result may not consciously be contemplated by the individuals instrumental in their production. Pursuing each his personal good by exalted means, they worked out this as a logical conclusion, for they wrought along the lines of the greatest good. Thus it is that the safety of our republic depends not so much upon methods and measures as upon that manhood from whose deep sources all that is precious and permanent in life must at last proceed. These facts were early recognized by the late David King, and the salient points marked his career, for those who knew him best could not but help noticing his many manly attri- butes and appreciating his efforts to inspire good citizenship and right living, in both private and public life, and, because of these many commendable characteristics he won and retained the confi- dence and good will of all who knew him or had dealings with him in any way.
Mr. King was born near Zanesville, Ohio, May 3, 1825, and was the son of William and Sarah (Sullivan) King. These par- ents separated when their son David was young and he was bound out to a family named Burrows, wealthy farmers who lived near Centerville, Indiana, and he remained with them ten years, from
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the age of eight until he was eighteen years old, thus spending his boyhood days on the farm where he made himself useful in the crop seasons, attending the district schools during the winter months. His brother, Cornelius King, had located in Indianapo- lis, where he operated a lumber yard under the firm name of King & Isgrave, which was one of the earliest lumber concerns of the capital city, and they were also contractors and builders. While on the threshold of young manhood David King joined his brother and learned the carpenter's trade, working for the above-named firm for three years, becoming a very skilled workman the mean- time. Ile then went into business for himself, first on a small seale, building houses and other structures. Ile did his work well and conscientiously and his business gradually grew until he became one of the largest contractors in Indianapolis, and to- day may be seen many of the imposing residences, monuments to his skill as a builder. Later Mr. King purchased two squares of the canal, from the Canal Company, from what was then known as Tenthi to Twelfth street, now Twenty and Twenty-second streets, and here he conducted an ice business on an extensive scale for a period of fifteen years. Retiring from this line of en- deavor in 1876, he returned to the contracting business and also purchased two valuable farms, one where the town of Flackville, Indiana, now stands, and the other near Hallville, this state, on the Osterman road, which he hired men to work. In 1896 he built the large, substantial home where his daughter, Mrs. Emma Guliek, now lives, No. 515 North Senate street, Indianapolis, and there he spent the rest of his life, his death occurring on Decem- ber 31, 1899. He is buried at Crown Hill cemetery.
Mr. King was a fine type of the self-made man, and, starting at the bottom of the industrial ladder, he scaled to the topmost rung without any assistance and accumulated a handsome com- peteney, owning at the time of his death considerable valuable property.
Religiously, Mr. King was a faithful member of the Metho- dist Episcopal church and a liberal supporter of the same. When a young man he joined the old Strange Chapel, named after Bis- hop Strange, which later became the California Street Methodist church, and he remained a worthy member of the same until his death, as was also his wife. IIe was charitably inelined and as- sisted in any worthy cause elaiming his attention. Politically, he was a Democrat, but was not a seeker after public honors, pre-
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ferring to devote his attention to his extensive business interests and to his family, being a great home man, and therefore cared nothing for lodges or clubs.
Mr. King was united in marriage with Nancy M. Baylor in October, 1855. She was the daughter of John and Nancy (Sar- gent) Baylor, a highly honored pioneer family of Marion county, Indiana. Nancy M. Baylor was born on the farm. in a log house, on the banks of White river, January 26, 1831, grew to woman- hood there and was educated in the common schools. Her death occurred on August 26, 1883.
To David King and wife one child was born, Emma S., whose birth occurred in the house which was on the ground where she now resides in North Senate street. She spent her girlhood in Indianapolis; in fact, has lived here all her life, and she received a good education in the schools of her native city. She married William W. Guliek, and to this union four children were born, namely: David, who died when nineteen years of age; Mabel, who married Raymond Sleight, of Indianapolis; Walter died when ten months old; Margaret lives at home and is attending school.
Mrs. Guliek is a lady of refinement and has long been a favor- ite with a wide circle of friends. She and her family attend the Roberts Park Methodist church, where they stand high in the congregation, as in social circles of the city.
MASON BLANCHARD THOMAS.
That life is the most useful and desirable that results in the greatet good to the greatest number, and, although all do not reach the heights to which they aspire, yet in some measure each can win snecess and make life a blessing to his fellow men. It is not necessary for one to occupy eminent public positions to do so, for in the humbler walks of life there remains much good to be accomplished and many opportunities for the exercise of talents and influence, that in some way will touch the lives of those with whom we come in contact, making them better and brighter. In the list of Indiana's successful and useful citizens the late Mason Blanchard Thomas, the able and popular dean of Wabash College, of Crawfordsville, long occupied a prominent place. In his record there is much that is commendable, and his career forcibly illustrates what a life of energy can accomplish when plans are wisely laid and actions are governed by right prin- ciples, noble aims and high ideals. In his public career, as well as his private life, no word of suspicion was ever breathed against him. His actions were the result of careful and conscientious thoughit, and when once convinced that he was right, no sugges- tion of policy or personal profit eould swerve him from the course he had decided on. His career, though comparatively brief, was complete and rounded in its beautiful simplicity; he did his full duty in all the relations of life, and he died beloved by those near to him, and respected and esteemed by his fellow citizens. In offering the following resume of his life history it is believed that it will serve as an incentive to the youth whose careers are yet matters for the future to determine.
Professor Thomas was born in New Woodstock, New York, December 16, 1866, and he was the only son of Mansier Connable Thomas and Anna (Blanchard) Thomas. He grew to manhood on the home farm near the above named village. After complet- ing the work in the graded school at New Woodstock, he went to the seminary at Cazenovia, New York, and from there to Cornell University at Ithaca, where he made a brilliant record. He had been successful in a contest for a scholarship in that institution in the summer of 1886, and entered the same the following au-
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tumn. He was graduated there with the degree of Bachelor of Science in 1890. Ile spent the following year at Cornell, doing post-graduate work, having earned a scholarship in biology. He therefore decided to continue his studies in the field of botany and became a candidate for the degree of Bachelor of Philosophy. In the following year, however, he resigned his fellowship in order to come to Wabash College to accept the professorship in biology, made vacant by the resignation of Prof. John M. Coulter, and which was divided a year later, permitting him to devote his entire attention to botany. The department of botany has developed at Wabash College under his care until it has given fame and stand- ing to the institution throughout the scientific world. Students desiring to make botany their life work have come from great distances to study under Professor Thomas and graduates of the college who have specialized in this work have taken high rank in all parts of the country. But he did not confine his activities to his own department. From the very beginning, in 1891, when he first came to Crawfordsville, he entered into the active life of the college and the student body. Having been a successful athlete in the university, he became interested in the athletics of Wabash and almost ever since his arrival here was chairman of the com- mittee on athletics. In 1904 he was appointed dean of the fac- ulty and served the college in that capacity until the time of his death. He was continually organizing and pushing some enter- prise which would reflect honor on Wabash College and give her prestige. Typical of these were the memorial tablet in honor of the Wabash students who had served in the Union army, the bust of Doctor Kane and the many class memorials on the campus in- spired by his suggestion. Neither did he confine his boundless energies to the college. The whole community is his debtor for his help in every good cause and for his leadership in many. The Culver Union hospital is one of the monuments of his initiative and resourcefulness. He was active in promoting the movement for the beautiful soldiers' monument at Crawfordsville and in the various campaigns against the saloons he was a tower of strength. As his devotion to public causes and his ability to successfully promote them became known over the state his services were de- manded in other places, and he never refused, even when past the limit of his strength. Among these outside interests that have claimed his attention is the Indiana Forestry Association, of which Hon. Charles W. Fairbanks is president, and of which he
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has been a director, also vice-president and chairman of the educa- tional committee, and also the Indiana Boys' School at Plain- field, of which he was a trustee by appointment of Governor Mar- shall. In spite of his varied activities, he never neglected his chosen profession of teaching and the science of botany, which was his life work. Always a student himself, keeping in touch with the latest progress in science, he was an ideal toucher. The results of his research were given to the scientific world in numer- ous publications and he was a member of many scientifie societies whose meetings he frequently attended, including the Botanical Society of America, the American Forestry Association, the Am- erican Phytopathological Society, the Botanical Society of the Central States, and the Indiana Academy of Science; a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science; and a director of the Indiana Society for Savings. In 1901 he was president of the Indiana Academy of Science.
'The degree of Doctor of Philosophy was conferred upon Pro- fessor Thomas by Wabash College in 1907. He was also a Phi Beta Kappa scholarship man in his class at Cornell, and a mem- ber of the scientific fraternity of Sigma Xi. He was a devout member of the Central Presbyterian church.
On June 21, 1893, Professor Thomas was nnited in marriage with Annie Davidson, only daughter of Judge and Mrs. Thomas F. Davidson, at their home on the corner of Green and Franklin streets, the late Dr. Cunningham performing the ceremony. This union was without issue.
Mason Blanchard Thomas was called to his reward on a higher plane of action on Wednesday, March 6, 1912, after a brave fight for life against odds too great even for his indomitable energy and will, at his home in Mills Place, Crawfordsville, after an illness of several weeks which baffled expert physicians from Indianapolis and New York. In its issue of the following day, The Indianapolis News said, in part: "He was dean of Wa- bash College for twelve years and a warm personal friend of Governor Thomas R. Marshall. His death removes one of the most enthusiastic and untiring workers for the success and ad- vancement of the interests of Wabash College, and a man who was beloved by students and esteemed by citizens. Out of respect to his memory college classes were dismissed today. Many beau- tiful tributes to his memory and to the value of his services and
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devotion to Wabash were paid by professors, students and towns- people."
The funeral of Professor Thomas was held the following Friday afternoon in the Central Presbyterian church, of which the deceased had been a worthy member ever since taking up his residence in Crawfordsville, the services being conducted by Rev. Walter Johnston, pastor of this church, and Dr. G. L. Mackintosh, president of Wabash College. The services were simple and were very largely attended. The students of the college formed a double column, which continued from the residence to the church. The flower bearers, all students of the advanced classes, who acted as pall bearers, were: Cecil Thomas, Will Elza, Louis Massey, Jacob Weimer, Paul Kerr and Mr. Chupp.
The address of Dr. Mackintosh follows: "When a friend, and especially one who has been a companion in arms, falls, we are shocked and astonished. However common death may be, it comes to our own door as an unwelcome and unexpected visitor. In a sense we are never prepared for it. It is with profound sadness and regret we contemplate the passing of our friend and brother, Professor Thomas, in the prime of his years. He had reached the time when men have the fullest command of their powers, and suddenly he vanished from earthly scenes. He had bare time to interpret life and know its relative values and now his exper- ienees have ceased for all time in the world that is under the sun. To the intelligence of Him that is the Most High, all is plain enough, but to us mortals this matter bears the aspect of tragedy. Today, while we bow in submission, as we ought, we would have it otherwise if we could.
"There are some men who, on account of what we call per- sonality, make a lasting impression upon friends, and even change acquaintances; others pass in and out of our lives and leave scarce a trace of their existence. Professor Thomas was one of the former class. He was a man not easily forgotten. He had that mingling of qualities which caught and held attention. It is not so well known in Crawfordsville as it might have been had mat- ters been otherwise, that Mason B. Thomas was a man of national reputation as a teacher of botany; in fact, a very great teacher. The art of teaching includes a two-fold interest. First, interest in the subject tanght; second, interest in those who are being taught. He had this double interest to an absorbing degrec. Ile taught not only botany, but also manliness and a wholesome re-
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gard for truth and righteousness. He was anxious not only that his men should have good grades, but also that their lives be good and true. It is not too much to say that many Wabash men owe to him not only a clear sense of what scholarship and science mean, but also of what manhood and honor mean. It is scarcely necessary to say that Professor Thomas was a martyr to his pro- fession and the institution which he served Had he taken more care of himself and less care of others, he might have reached old age. But he was an enthusiast. On his death bed he could not refrain from directing the work of his department. He poured his very life, not into unusual work, but into every-day work. After twenty years of continual service in the same department, he taught with all the rare earnestness and enthusiasm of a man who had just made a discovery. His daily work was never com- monplace to him. He dealt not with things or men only, but with men and things, and he had an ever-present sense of their rela- tionship. He said to me more than once: 'I do not wish to use my department to make botanists only, but to make men.' He was eminently successful in realizing his wishes. But Professor Thomas was not a hermit scientist. His interest in life was wide. It is almost superfluous to say here that his interest in the good of this city was absorbing and continuous. In the days not long since, when the interest of the community seemed to be peculiarly at stake, he gave days of his time to the cause. Indeed, at times, he seemed as much absorbed in social service as in the duties of his profession.
"One way-not the only one-in estimating the stature of a man, is to find the space left vacant on his departure. By this standard Professor Thomas was a large and commanding per- sonality. He has left a place in this community and Wabash Col- lege which we cannot hope to fill easily, if at all. From the at- tendance today of alumni and others outside the city, we can judge how large a place he filled in the lives and affections of old Wabash men. In return he gave his undying affection, his service and his very life to his students and to the college.
"Though all that was his is now swept into the past, it is not engulfed. While memory lingers, those days when he was so large a part of our college and civic community will remain with many of us fresh and green despite the hurry of the years. The men whom he helped to find themselves will surely not forget the service. Our beloved friend has finished the journey of life, he
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has already commenced the journey of which Plato speaks, and which God in His mercy has prepared for those who love Him. Sometimes above the din and hurry of this life we think we hear the chimes of the eternal city. Surely there is consolation for us in the thought that if a man die he shall live again, and that though the house of this earthly tabernacle be dissolved we have a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. I do not forget that there are those here today who live in a deeper shadow than the students and the members of the faculty of Wabash Col- lege or the citizens of this community, but I cannot in this public fashion speak to them, but let us hear the words of the Master, 'Let not your heart be troubled; ye believe in God, believe also in mne; in my Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so I would have told you; I go to prepare a place for you.'
"As a token of the esteem in which Professor Thomas was held by the college men of the state, I desire to read a short tele- gram from the president of Hanover College:
" 'The faculty of Hanover College mourns with Wabash and the state of Indiana, in the untimely loss of Professor Thomas.'
"Governor Marshall, an old friend of Professor Thomas and a trustee of the college, is with us and will add a few words."
Governor Marshall spoke extemporaneously, as follows:
"What I shall say will be simple, yet sincere. I know if he were here today he would want me to do what he always advised me to do-say the thing I really believed. We are on the wrong side of the loom where divine destiny is weaving the tapestry of history to understand why there are to our view so many broken strands of thread in this life. Neither with our faith, nor with our philosophy can we to a certainty speak of the reason why one whom we thought to be just at the zenith of his power and his influence should suddenly be removed. And yet I think we ofttimes judge life awry in imagining that it consists in length of years rather than in high aspiration, in duty done, and in lofty purpose. It has helped me ofttimes in the past, as it helps me today, to have a faith of my own, not based upon anything that I can prove, but just arising out of the innate necessities of iny own nature as I have faced, time after time, just such sorrowful scenes as this, to believe that no good man engaged in a good work will ever be removed from earth until that work is done. This is a strange thing for one to say who loved the man whose ashes are here before him. It is inexplicable to me; I can't understand it;
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