USA > Indiana > Marion County > Indianapolis > Memorial record of distinguished men of Indianapolis and Indiana > Part 12
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R
IHRanger
Reb. John D. Ranger
URE constant and noble was the spiritual flame that burned in P and illumined the mortal tenement of Rev. John Hilliard Ranger, who was rector of Christ church, Protestant Episcopal, Indian- apolis, for nearly a decade prior to his death and who, in a quiet and gentle way left a deep impress upon this community, where his memory is revered by all who came within the sphere of his gracious and helpful influence. His life was one of signal con- secration to the work of the divine Master, and his splendid intellectual powers, his exalted character, his abiding human sympathy found expression in his zeal and de- votion in the aiding and uplifting of his fellow men. He fought the good fight; he kept the faith, and the angle of influence continues to widen in benignancy now that he has passed from the scene of his mortal endeavors,-a true soldier of the church militant, a worthy victor in the church triumphant. Mr. Ranger was summoned to the life eternal on the 24th of October, 1895, in St. Barnabas Hospital, a church institution in the city of Minneapolis, Minnesota, where he was in attendance at the triennial convention of his church and where he succumbed after a brief illness, the cause of his death having been pneumonia. In this memorial edition it is most con- sonant that a tribute be paid to this strong and noble man, who, will not soon be forgotten in the city of Indianapolis, where he lived and labored earnestly in his high calling and where he showed forth the healthful spirit of divine grace.
The Rev. John Hilliard Ranger was born at Lyme, New London county, Con- necticut, on the 25th of September, 1848, and was a son of Richard and Margery E. (Hilliard) Ranger, the former of whom was born in England, whence he came to America when a youth, and the latter of whom was born in Connecticut, a daughter of Rev. Jonathan Hilliard, a representative clergyman of the Baptist church in that state. The marriage of the parents was solemnized at Lyme and they continued to reside in New England until their death, the mother having passed away when the subject of this memoir was a child of four years. One other child was born of this union-Anna, who is the widow of George H. Bruce and who now resides at Norwich, Connecticut.
Rev. John H. Ranger gained his preliminary educational discipline in the public schools of Norwich, Connecticut, and thereafter completed a course in the Sheffield Scientific School. His classical or academic training was secured in Yale University. A youth of deep spirituality and earnestness, he early determined to prepare himself for the priesthood of the Protestant Episcopal church, and thus, in 1880, he entered the General Theological Seminary, in New York City, in which he was graduated as a member of the class of 1884, receiving the degree. of S. T. B. In June of that year, in Grace church, New York City, he received the order of the diaconate by Bishop Potter, by whom, on the 21st of December of the same year, he was ordained to the priesthood. After thus receiving holy orders Mr. Ranger at once was assigned to the position of rector of St. Barnabas
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chapel, in the national metropolis, and a few months later he was called to the rectorship of Christ church, at Bay Ridge, Long Island. There he continued his ministrations until 1888, when, upon the resignation of Rev. Edward A. Brad- ley, of Christ church, in Indianapolis, he was called by the vestry to become rector of this important parish. He assumed this position in June, 1888, and shortly afterward he was elected a member of the standing committee of the diocese, in which capacity he continued to serve until the close of his life. He twice represen- ted his diocese in the general conventions of the church, was an influential factor in the councils of the diocesan conventions and was a valued friend and counselor of Bishop Kickerbacker, as was he later of the latter's successor, Bishop White. He was particularly active in the special convention called to elect a successor to Bishop Kickerbacker upon the latter's death, and nominated and urged the elec- tion of Rev. John Hazen White, who was duly advanced to the high office in which he has since continued to serve. In June, 1895, Mr. Ranger was elected one of the four clerical delegates from the diocese of Indiana to attend the triennial con- vention of the church in Minneapolis, and while there he contracted a severe cold, which was followed by pneumonia and resulted in his death. The grief of his devoted wife when this bitter chalice was pressed to her lips was the greater by reason of the fact that she had been unable to reach his side before the final sum- mons came. From an appreciative tribute which appeared in the Indianapolis Journal at the time of his death are taken the following extracts, which are well worthy of perpetuation in this more enduring vehicle:
"Mr. Ranger was one of the best known ministers of this city, although he made no effort to make himself known. He was of a kind and retiring nature and people came to like and love him by association with him. He was not a man who pushed himself forward, but since he assumed the rectorship of Christ church people have become acquainted with him and have learned to appreciate his good qualities. He was largely instrumental in having John Hazen White elected bishop of the diocese of Indiana, and the bishop and Mr. Ranger were the best of friends." Bishop White proceeded to Minneapolis immediately upon learning of the death of Mr. Ranger and accompanied the remains of the loved rector on the sad return journey to Indianapolis. The funeral services were held at Christ church, and the capacity of the edifice was more than taxed to accommodate the citizens who assem- bled, regardless of denominational affiliations, to pay a last tribute of respect to the deceased rector and honored citizen. The Indianapolis News spoke as follows concerning him to whom this memoir is dedicated: "Mr Ranger was a gentleman of polished address and scholarly attainments. He was a member of the Indian- apolis Literary Club, and was known and esteemed in connection with the literary, art and religious influences of the city. His long residence here had extended his acquaintance and influence beyond his own denomination. He was of catholic spirit, devoid of petty feeling and devoted to his friends and the truth."
With naught of intellectual bigotry or ecclesiastical intolerance, Mr. Ranger showed forth in his church activities and in all other relations of life the true and gentle spirit of a lover of mankind; the abiding faith that makes faithful in all things. He was a man of well fortified convictions concerning economic and gov- ernmental affairs and was firm and outspoken in defense of the principles and policies in which he believed. He was one of the first clergymen to speak from the pulpit on the subject of organized labor, and he received many encouraging
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Reb. John D. Ranger
and appreciative letters from Morris Ross, the well known leader in labor circles. As indicatory of the high regard in which Mr. Ranger was held in the community in which he lived and labored until his death, it is deemed but consistent to repro- duce in this review the memorial tribute given by a representative local organiza- tion of which he was a valued member:
"The Indianapolis Literary Club has not often been called upon to lament the death of one of its members, and never has it lost one who will be more pleasantly and affectionately remembered than will the Rev. John Hilliard Ranger, who died in St. Barnabas Hospital, Minneapolis, on Thursday, the twenty-fourth day of October, 1895. Almost from the beginning of his ministry in this city, more than seven years ago, he commanded the respect and won the love of the people of this community. It is not surprising that this should be so, for the most casual ac- quaintance with him was enough to impress one with his singularly beautiful character, while those who were privileged to know something of his inner life and to enjoy an intimate association with him, could not but marvel at the complete subordination of the man to the principles of that Gospel of which he was so noble a representative. He possessed all the distinctively Christian graces in large measure. He was the soul of sincerity. Cant and hypocrisy were as hateful to him as were sensationalism and self-seeking. He took his profession very seri- ously, and so it was impossible for him to exploit his own personality. The ambas- sador merged himself in his mission. He believed in the inspiration of the min- istry, and his ambition was that the Word which was made Flesh might speak through him. With such a conception of the office of the preacher, it was mani- festly impossible for him to resort to any of the tricks of oratory by which it is sometimes sought to attach men to the church.
"Like all deeply earnest and serious characters, Mr. Ranger was a man of genuine humility. One who believes that he has a great work to do has little time for thought of self. To such a one personal ambition is impossible. Nothing is of consequence except that he may fulfill the law of his being and accomplish the task set before him. Our dead brother was pledged to the service of God and his fellowmen. He was faithful to his pledge. He could not have been faithful to it had he not had a profound love and respect for humanity. His democracy was deep-seated and radical. He made no distinctions among men, for he recognized in the lowest and most depraved a spark of the divine nature in the image of which all men, as he believed, were created. With Mr. Ranger's humility were combined a courage which could not be shaken and a hopefulness which nothing could cloud. He feared nothing except sin, and he did not believe that there was anything which could not be accomplished with the help of God. He was always cheerful and kindly. Even in the midst of physical weakness and weariness he maintained a serenity which kept his mind clear and his soul calm. His gentleness and ten- derness will be testified to by everyone who knew him, especially by those to whom he ministered in their affliction.
"'His strength was as the strength of ten, because his heart was pure.' Mr. Ranger was a thoughtful, forcible and helpful preacher. The simplicity and real- ity of the man were most impressive. His supreme desire was to feed the flock committed to his care. He was the sympathetic and loving friend and counselor of his people, and the faithful steward of the mysteries of the kingdom of which he and all God's people are citizens. To hear him once was to know that he was
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a good man, wholly sincere and thoroughly in earnest. He had no narrow theory of Christianity. He believed that it was for all men, and he laid much emphasis upon its catholic character. He never sought to refine away or to soften its hard sayings. He did not believe that the morality of the Sermon on the Mount was impracticable merely becanse unregenerate human nature revolted at it. It was this morality which he preached without equivocation and which he tried to live.
"Mr. Ranger was a man of scholarly tastes and wide reading. He kept abreast of the best thought of the day, and was familiar with the best thought of the past. His mental processes were direct and his judgments were the result of sound reasoning. Here, as in his spiritual life, he was honest with the world and with himself. He wanted to be taken for what he was. He never played a part. He was always natural. His reserve was the reserve not of moroseness or secretive- ness but of modesty. Kindly and frank in his intercourse with his fellows, he won friends easily and held them firmly. He loved the world because God made it, and he longed to do whatever he could to redeem it from the bondage of sin. While not an ascetic or recluse, his life was nevertheless one of self-sacrifice. All true men loved him because they knew that he was a true man striving to help forward the cause of righteousness. He appealed to all that was best in humanity. His patience was of the heroic type. He never spoke or thought evil of anyone. He was wholly without malice. It was his invariable habit to try to account for a base or low action in some way that would consist with a belief in the good character of the man who perpetrated it. He was fertile in apologies for the sins of others, always taking the kind and charitable view. His friendship was something to be depended on. He scorned littleness and meanness, and yet he was loth to believe that men and women could be little and mean.
"Such was our friend as we knew him. It is a happy case in which nothing but good can be said of the dead. We do not intend a vain and perfunctory eulogy, for this would be to insult the memory of a man who had no illusions about himself. He had weaknesses common to all men, but he had fewer of them than most men. Those who knew him best will rank him highest. In his death his church has lost a faithful pastor, this club a valued and beloved member, and the city a noble and true citizen. We would close this tribute of loving respect to our friend with an expression of the tenderest sympathy to his bereaved wife and children, and would commend them to the comforting mercy of Him of whom their husband and father was so devoted and true a servant, and who, as they have been taught to believe, is 'a very present help in time of trouble.'"
On the 3d of June, 1885, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Ranger to Miss Emily A. Gillet, who was born at New York City and who is a daughter of N. Halleck Gillet and Eliza (Winter) Gillet. Mrs. Ranger still resides in Indian- apolis, a city endeared to her by many gracious memories and one in which she is a popular factor in church and social activities. Her home is at 19 West Tenth street, and with her remain the four children who survive the honored husband and father, namely: Halleck Gillet, Richard Howland, Margery Hilliard and Catherine. There can be no more fitting conclusion to this memoir than that offered in the tribute paid to Mr. Ranger by Indiana's well known author, Meredith Nicholson, under the title of "Lighten Our Darkness."
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Reb. John D. Ranger
I know not why this thing should be That oftenest winter's twilight dim Should with insistence bring to me The thought of him:
The thought of one who would not stand Safe with successful men aligned, But chose to do with willing hand, What God assigned.
His priestly vestments ne'er were shields Of falsity. In his veins ran Cordial that Nature only yields To make a man.
Yet guiltless of her showier charms, With kingly calm was he endowed, Fearlessly standing 'midst alarms, Serene, high-browed.
Though braving not a desert's heat Nor yet the trackless polar waste, He, with devotion more complete, Himself effaced.
At Christmas, ere the red dawn flamed, While the loved city yet lay still, From the white altar he proclaimed Peace and good will.
Then through the Lenten gloom he made Bright with hope the days forlorn; "Lighten our darkness," thus he prayed Till Easter morn.
"Lighten our darkness"-toward the light With steadfastness he set his aim,- He whose soul was as lilies white, And pure, like flame.
"Lighten our darkness!" This sweet prayer Comes with the winter's twilight dim, Bringing, with hope and rest from care, The thought of him.
Advent, 1897.
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John Osterman
John Osterman
IKE many other American cities, Indianapolis has owed much of its civic and industrial progress to sterling citizens of Ger- L man birth or lineage, and the personnel of its German-Ameri- can population has ever been one of which the city could well be proud. Of this worthy and valued element of citizenship one of the best known and most honored representatives was the late John Osterman, who maintained his home in the capi- tal city for half a century and who rose through his own ability and well directed efforts to a position of prominence and influence in business activities, besides which he gained such strong hold upon popular confidence and esteem that he was called upon to serve in the important office of treasurer of Marion county. He was a man of fine mentality and distinctive business acumen and he was also guided and governed by those high principles of integrity and honor which ever beget objective esteem and which make for strong and useful manhood. His strength was as the number of his days and he accounted well to the world as one of its sterling and productive workers,-one who was in the most significant sense the architect of his own fortunes. He showed marked facility in overcoming the opposing forces which confront every person dependent upon his own resources, and for many years he was numbered among the essentially representative operators in the grain-commission trade in the capital and metropolis of Indiana. When he was summoned to the life eternal, on the 22d of May, the city lost one of its most hon- ored citizens and one whose civic loyalty had been of the most ardent type, as shown in constant and lively interest in all that touched the progress and general welfare of the community.
John Osterman was born in the beautiful Palatinate or Rhine province of the kingdom of Bavaria, Germany, and the date of his nativity was November 29, 1843. He was a son of Herman and Margaret Osterman, both representatives of staunch old families of that section of the great empire of Germany, and his father was a substantial grain and provision dealer in that part of Bavaria,-one of the most fertile and picturesque districts in Europe. Herman Osterman died in his native land, when comparatively a young man, and when the subject of this memoir was a lad of fourteen years he came with his widowed mother and other members of the family to America, where the mother soon afterward died, the family having located near Cumberland, Marion county, Indiana. John Osterman gained his rudimentary education in the schools of his native land and after coming to the United States his educational advantages were very limited, as he was soon thrown upon his own resources and compelled to apply himself diligently to such work as would provide for his necessities. His native intelligence enabled him to learn the English language with remarkable facility and through self-discipline and long and active association with men and affairs he effectually overcame the educational handicap of earlier years, with the result that he became a man of broad and prac-
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John Osterman
tical information and mature judgment. For several years he was employed on the farm of his elder brother, near Cumberland, and about the year 1858 he came to Indianapolis and sought opportunity for advancing himself in life. He finally ob- tained a position in the grain store of Fred P. Rush, one of the early business men of the capital city, and he became one of the valued and confidential assistants of Mr. Rush, with whom he remained until about the time of his marriage, which oc- curred in 1866. In this connection he gained his initial experience in the line of enterprise to which he devoted virtually his entire active life and through the medium of which he gained large and substantial success, with incidental and secure pres- tige as one of the leading representatives of the grain trade in Indianapolis.
On the 1st of January, 1866, Mr. Osterman engaged in the grain and seed business in the old Metropolitan theater building, at the northwest corner of Wash- ington street and Capitol avenue, the site of the present Park theater. In this enterprise he was for some time associated with Messrs. Emerick & Faught, but he eventually gained full control of the business, in which he continued at the original location for nearly a quarter of a century, and slowly and surely by careful and honorable operations, accumulated a substantial competency, no shadow resting on any part of his long and successful business career nor upon his record as a loyal citizen and noble and generous man. He finally became associated with William H. Cooper in the grain-commission trade, with offices in the old Chamber of Commerce building, and in this connection the firm of Osterman & Cooper gained large and definite success and precedence. Mr. Osterman retired from active business about seven years prior to his death, and thereafter he found his chief diversion and active interest in supervising the affairs of his fine farm, about ten miles distant from Indianapolis. He made other judicious investments in real estate and in all his business activities he manifested marked discretion and fore- sight, with the result that he left to his family a very substantial competency. He made of success not an accident but a logical result; he never resorted to equivocal expedients and was exceptionally conservative in his methods and policies. He enjoyed life and had deep appreciation of its higher ideals, so that his busi- ness interests did not prevent him from gaining and giving much in connection with the affairs of the home and family, to which his devotion was supreme, the while he also enjoyed social intercourse with his wide circle of friends in the city that so long represented his home and the stage of his productive endeavors. He was for many years one of the most active and valued members of the Indianapolis Board of Trade, with which he was identified for fully twenty-five years, during fifteen of which he served as its treasurer,-an incumbency indicating the unqualified confidence reposed in ·him by the local business community.
In politics Mr. Osterman gave an unqualified allegiance to the Democratic party and, well fortified in his opinion, he aided much in the furtherance of the principles and policies of the party of his choice. Though he had no definite ambi- tion for public office, his sterling character, party fealty and unqualified popularity marked him as eligible for such preferment, and in the autumn of 1888, as candi- date on the Democratic ticket, he was elected to the responsible and exacting office of treasurer of Marion county. He gave a characteristically careful, faithful and businesslike administration of the fiscal affairs of this county, which is of course the most populous and important of all in the state, and his course met with un- equivocal and popular approval, as he put forth every effort to conserve the best
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interests of the county and its people. He retired from the office of county treas- urer on the 4th of September, 1891, and his administration of the office was passed on to record as one of the best ever given in Marion county. After his retirement from this position Mr. Osterman was appointed, by the governor of the state, as a member of the board of trustees of the Indiana Central Hospital for the Insane, located in this city, and in this position he manifested the same fidelity that marked his course in all other relations of life, his incumbency of the office continuing for a period of twelve years. During the year of 1895 he served on the board of public works. Mr. Osterman was a member of the Hendricks Club, a semi-political or- ganization, and also held membership in the German-American Association and other local organizations of civic order. He was a man of most genial and gracious personality,-sincere, outspoken and generous,-and his very bearing indicated his sterling character, the while he won to himself the most inviolable friendships. He was fond of travel and indulged in several most gratifying trips to Europe, where he found special pleasure in visiting the scenes of his boyhood. He was a good man and true, and his memory will long be cherished in the city which he aided in upbuilding along both civic and industrial lines and in which his interests was ever of the deepest order.
On the 15th of October, 1866, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Osterman to Miss Josephine Coon, and in conclusion of this memoir are entered brief data concerning the three daughters of Mr. and Mrs. Osterman: Lulu May is the wife of Walter Goodall, of Indianapolis, and they have one child, Eleanor; Anna is the wife of Edward Harman, of Indianapolis, and their one child is Josephine; and Miss Mary Josephine, the youngest daughter, a teacher, resides with her mother at 1827 North Penn street.
НА Вантов
Thomas Al. Bassett
I
N RECALLING the business men of Indianapolis who have passed from the scene of life no name comes more quickly to mind than that of Thomas Manchester Bassett, who for more than nineteen years was closely identified with the mercantile interests of the city.
Mr. Bassett was born in the town of Tiverton, Newport county, Rhode Island, on the 17th of June, 1832, and the house in which he was born stood on the state line which separates Rhode Island from Massachusetts, the place of his nativity being near Westport, Bristol county, Massachusetts. He was a son of Eben and Salome Bassett and was the younger of the two children, the other of whom was Mary. When the children were very young the family removed to New Bedford, Massachusetts, and in that place the years of Thomas M. Bassett's youth and early manhood were passed. The father died when the children were not yet of adult age and their care and education thus devolved entirely upon the widowed mother, who accorded to them the best advan- tages possible, as gauged by her limited financial resources. Mr. Bassett worked for his own support as far as possible while he was attending the district school and until he was fourteen years of age, at which time he obtained his first perma- nent employment,-in the dry-goods store of Samuel Southgate, of New Bedford. Four years later Mr. Southgate transferred his business to Taunton, Massachusetts, and was accompanied by Mr. Bassett, who continued in his employ for several years, and who finally availed himself of an opportunity to become connected with the dry-goods house of George W. Warren, in the city of Boston, this establishment having been eventually developed into the present great dry-goods house of Jordan Marsh & Company, the largest of its kind in New England. Mr. Bassett's services were retained by Jordan Marsh & Company and so favorable an impression did he make that the firm gave him charge of a wholesale department. He remained with this representative concern for twelve years and resigned his position to ac- cept a very flattering offer from the firm of William M. Whitney & Company, of Albany, New York, and the firm of Neal & Company, of Baltimore, Maryland, to become joint buyer for the two houses. This engagement necessitated his removal with his family to Stamford, Connecticut.
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