USA > Indiana > Marion County > Indianapolis > Memorial record of distinguished men of Indianapolis and Indiana > Part 14
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42
The most inspiring and ideal phase of the life history of Calvin Fletcher is that pertaining to his home and its gracious associations. On the 18th of Sep- tember, 1849, he was married to Miss Emily Beeler, and she survived him by about seven years, as she was called to eternal rest on the 27th of November, 1910, secure in the loving regard of all who had come within the sphere of her gentle and gracious influence. At the time of her death she was one of the oldest native-born residents of Marion county. Mrs. Emily (Beeler) Fletcher was born in Decatur township, this county, on the 20th of November, 1828, and was a member of one of the first families to settle in that township. She was a daughter of Joseph and Han- nah (Matthews) Beeler, who established their home in Decatur township in 1819, to the southwest of Indianapolis, when it was a mere forest hamlet. An interest- ing sketch touching the life of Mrs. Fletcher appeared in the Indianapolis News at the time of her death, and from the article are made the following quotations, with measurable paraphrastic latitude:
In an interview about three years ago Mrs. Fletcher was asked if there were Indians hereabouts in her childhood. She said, "They used to come through the woods past our house in small parties of three or four and ask for something to eat, and we always fed them. Once I saw a band of about one hundred Miami Indians moving north, preparatory to leaving the state, after some treaty had been made." Recalling her girlhood, she said: "When I was a girl I used to spin yarn on a spin- ning wheel and my mother would weave the yarn into cloth. There was a woolen mill at Mooresville, and this was operated by a tread-mill worked by oxen. At . that time there was not a mill or factory of any kind in Indianapolis. When I was old enough to go to school I went to the first country school about three miles from our house. I walked to and from the school house every day, and while I knew the way very well I always had something of the childish fear of Indians, though they had all left our part of the country by that time. At one time Caleb Mills, though not the Caleb Mills who became president of Wabash College and state superintendent of public instruction, taught a school at Union, near Valley Mills. One day my little sister Melissa attended the school with an older person, just as a visitor. She was so sweet and well behaved that when she came home Mr. Mills sent a note by her, which read:
"Melissa Beeler came to see The school at Union taught by me; Her behavior, as all have seen, Truly commendable has been. Her manners, affable and mild,- She is a lovely little child."
I kept this note for many years and have never forgotten its contents. My sis- ter Melissa afterward became the first wife of John C. New and mother of Harry S. New, prominent in the political life of today."
Mrs. Fletcher completed her education in Indianapolis, for three years attending the Seminary where Christ church still stands. In 1849 she was married to Calvin
168
Calbin Fletcher, St.
Fletcher, Jr., and in 1899 they celebrated their golden wedding. Her brother, Field- ing Beeler, was one of the most prominent citizens of the county. He served as secre- tary of the state. Mrs. Fletcher was noted for her fine intelligence and cheerful dis- position, and she retained these qualities to the last. She was one of the women whom Governor Morton asked to go to the front and care for the wounded soldiers during the Civil war, and she worked in the Nashville and Murfreesboro hospitals for some time. She was one of the founders of the Home for Aged and Friendless Women in Indianapolis, and was a well known worker in charity.
An interesting account of the golden wedding celebration of Mr. and Mrs. Fletcher was given at the time in an Indianapolis newspaper and is worthy of per- petuation in this connection:
Mr. and Mrs. Calvin Fletcher yesterday celebrated their golden wedding and received congratulations at the home of their daughter, Mrs. Theodore Wagner. Dr. and Mrs. Wagner were married on the thirtieth anniversary of the wedding of Mr. and Mrs. Fletcher, and thus yesterday was their twentieth anniversary. Mr. and Mrs. Fletcher were married on a farm about four miles south of what is now Maywood, on the Mooresville pike. The house is still standing and is one of the oldest in the neighborhood. The marriage ceremony was performed by the Rev. L. H. Jameson, whose widow was present yesterday.
Of the seven children of Mr. and Mrs. Fletcher four are living, two sons and two daughters: Horace Hines Fletcher, Dr. Calvin Ingram Fletcher, Sarah Hill, (wife of Dr. T. F. Wagoner, deceased) and Emily Fletcher, all of whom live in this city.
Fielding Beeler
NATIVE son of Marion county, Indiana, and a member of one A of the state's honored pioneer families, the late Fielding Beeler lived a life of productive industry and signal integrity, and at the time of his death, which occurred on the 19th of November, 1895, he was one of the oldest native citizens of the county which represented his home throughout his entire life and in which he held commanding place in popular confidence and esteem. He was a man of broad mental ken and mature judgment and his benig- nant influence extended in ever widening angle of usefulness. He placed true valuations on men and things and he did much to further civic and material devel- opment and progress in his home state. He represented Marion county in the state legislature, was a leading member of the state board of agriculture for a long period and no citizen took a more lively interest in the furtherance of the develop- ment of agricultural industry in the Hoosier commonwealth. He was summoned to the life eternal in the fulness of years and well earned honors, and as a man, a pioneer and representative citizen his standing was such that he well merits consid- eration and a place of honor in this memorial edition.
Fielding Beeler was born on the homestead farm of his father in Decatur town- ship, Marion county, Indiana, a place now just outside the city limits of Indian- apolis, and the date of his nativity was March 30, 1823. At that time this section of the state was little more than a forest wilderness and the subject of this memoir, the first born in a family of six sons and four daughters, was thus reared under the conditions and influences of the early pioneer epoch. He was a son of Joseph and Hannah (Matthews) Beeler, the former a native of what is now West Virginia and the latter of North Carolina. Joseph Beeler was born in a block house situated about twelve miles from the present city of Wheeling, West Virginia, in Ohio county, and the year of his birth was 1797. The block house mentioned had been erected for the protection against attack on the part of the Indians and the primi- tive fort, a place of refuge for the settlers of the locality, was in charge of Joseph Beeler's father, the place being designated by the name of Beeler's Station and this title being retained for the place to the present day. Joseph Beeler was reared to maturity in his native state and in 1818 or 1819, in company with his widowed mother and other members of the family, he made the trip down the Ohio river, by means of pirogues,-canoes hollowed out from tree trunks. In 1819 he visited the site of Indiana's beautiful capital city, and here he found not even a single cabin or a white settler. His brother George Helm Beeler was the first clerk of Morgan county and the first marriage license issued by this pioneer official was given to Joseph Beeler, on the 10th of May, 1822, when was solemnized the latter's marriage to Miss Hannah Matthews. The young couple settled on a tract of wild land seven miles southwest of Indianapolis, in Decatur township and on the west side of White river. Here Joseph Beeler reclaimed a productive farm and lived up to the full tension of the pioneer days. He was one of the prominent and influen-
169
170
Fielding Beeler
tial citizens of Marion county and served for thirty years as justice of the peace in Decatur township. He continued to reside on his old homestead until his death, which occurred July 12, 1851, and his devoted wife, who had been a true companion and helpmeet, survived him by several years.
The memory of Fielding Beeler compassed the period during which Marion county was developed from a wilderness into the most opulent and prosperous or- game division of the great state of Indiana, and he witnessed the upbuilding of the capital city from a forest hamlet to a great metropolitan center. His reminis- cences concerning the pioneer days were most graphic and interesting, and he was ever ready to relate the tales of the early days. His rudimentary education was secured in a primitive log building, with puncheon floor, slab benches and yawning fireplace, and to attend this "temple of learning" he walked from his home a distance of three miles, during the winter terms, when his services were not in demand in connection with the work of the home farm. On his way through the woods he frequently saw deer, flocks of wild turkeys and other game, while Indians were still in evidence and often passed near his pioneer home. The howling of wolves frequently made the night hideous, and Mr. Beeler stated that on one occasion the wolves killed the little flock of about twelve sheep owned by his father, this being considered a genuine calamity by the devoted wife and mother, whose perturbation was caused by the fact that she thus saw disappear the source of supply for the winter clothing she demanded for the mem- bers of her family. The spinning of wool and flax and the weaving of cloth were a part of her routine work, and it may well be understood that she was as diligent in her household economies as was her husband in felling the forest and developing his land to cultivation.
Thus reared to the sturdy and invigorating discipline of the home farm, Fielding Beeler early began to contribute his quota to the material and social development of his native county, and with the passing of years his alert mentality enabled him to overcome most effectually the educational handicap of his youth. Soon after attaining to his legal majority he took unto himself a wife and initiated his independent career as one of the world's productive workers. He settled on a farm just west of Eagle creek, on the Mooresville road, and three and one-half miles distant from Indian- apolis, whose corporate limits are now only a short distance removed from this old homestead of his early married life. From the wilds Mr. Beeler reclaimed a fine farm and he became one of the extensive landholders and representative farmers and stock- growers of his native county, where he continued to reside on his homestead until the close of his long and useful life.
Progressive spirit and deep civic loyalty characterized the entire career of Mr. Beeler and in a quiet and unostentatious way he exercised much influence in connection with public affairs. In politics he was originally a Whig, and his first presidential vote was cast for Henry Clay, in 1844. In 1850 he was made the candidate of his party for representative of Marion county in the state legislature, and though he re- ceived the full support of his party he was unable to overcome the normal Democratic majority in the county and was thus defeated. He transferred his allegiance to the Republican party at the time of its organization and ever afterward continued a staunch advocate of its principles and policies. In 1868 he was again nominated for representative in the legislature, and at the election in the autumn of that year he was victorious by a most gratifying majority. He served through the regular and special sessions of the general assembly, proved a substantial, discriminating and valued
171
Fielding Beeler
working member of the house and was assigned to various representative committees. He was chairman of the committee on agriculture and introduced a bill for the appoint- ment of a state geologist and the making of a geological survey of the state. He ably championed this measure, which was carried forward to enactment.
Long and successfully identified with the great basic industry of agriculture, Mr. Beeler was one of its progressive and influential representatives in his native state. He was identified actively with the Marion county Agricultural Society from 1852 to 1860, served five years as a director of the same and two years as its president. After the death of the regular incumbent, Andrew J. Holmes, Mr. Beeler was appointed to succeed the latter in the office of secretary of the state board of agriculture, and in this position he accomplished most valuable results through his earnest and well di- rected executive policies. He was regarded an authority in all things pertaining to practical agriculture and stock-growing and he retained the position of secretary of the state board of agriculture for years. A man of recognized probity and judgment, he was frequently called upon to arbitrate and settle differences and disputes, and all who knew him reposed implicit trust in his ability and his integrity of purpose. Mr. Beeler was an appreciative student of the history and teachings of the time-honored Masonic fraternity, with which he was long and prominently affiliated. From an ar- ticle appearing in an Indianapolis paper at the time of the death of Mr. Beeler are made the following appreciative extracts :
Fielding Beeler was one among the best known residents of Marion county, and by all his friends and acquaintances he was held in the highest esteem. A modest, unas- suming man, he always manifested the interest of a good citizen in public affairs, yet never aspired to office, and his official services were limited to one term in the lower house of the legislature. In all relations of life he was a gentleman in the best sense of the word,-amiable, kind and considerate. No harsh word ever escaped his lips to any members of his family, nor did he speak harshly of those who in the affairs of life came in contact with him or with whom, on public or business questions, there may have been difference of opinion. He conceded to others that which everyone who knew him granted to him,-honesty of purpose. Happy, prosperous and content must be the community that has for its citizens such men as was Fielding Beeler.
On the 18th of September, 1844, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Beeler to Miss Eliza Ann Mars, who was born on a farm where the court house at Greensburg, Decatur county, Indiana, now stands and the date of whose nativity was July 15, 1823. She was a daughter of John and Martha (Doak) Mars, who removed to Marion county about 1837 and located on a farm southwest of Indianapolis, where they passed the residue of their lives. Mrs. Beeler was thus a resident of Marion county from child- hood until her death, which occurred on the 9th of September, 1895. Concerning her the following well merited words have been written: "She was a most devoted wife and mother, an unselfish, generous, Christian woman. She was a member of the Marion County Agricultural and Horticultural Society." Mr. and Mrs. Beeler became the parents of seven children, of whom four are living,-Misses Emma and Ida and Mr. Fielding Beeler, all of whom still reside on the old homestead, one of the beautiful suburban places of Indianapolis, and Laura who married John V. Carter and lives in Marion county, Indiana, on the Crawfordsville road.
There can be no impropriety in perpetuating in this memorial article the following record of a pleasing event, that the statements may be preserved in more enduring
172
Fielding Beeler
form than the files of the newspaper in which they originally appeared,-the Indian- apolis News of September 22, 1894:
An enjoyable reception was given by Mr. and Mrs. Fielding Beeler Tuesday at their home southwest of the city. The day was the fiftieth anniversary of their mar- riage. Over two hundred persons called, many of them having been schoolmates of the host and hostess. Mr. and Mrs. Beeler were assisted by their daughters, Ida, Emma and Laura and their son, Fielding Beeler, Jr., by Mr. Beeler's sisters, Mrs. Calvin Fletcher and Mrs. Harriet Hall; and by their nieces, Mrs. Georgia Mars Thompson, Mrs. Horace Fletcher and Miss Emily Fletcher. Mrs. Calvin Fletcher, Mrs. Ann Duzan and Miss Mcfarland, who were present, attended the original wed- ding fifty years ago. There were four couples present who were married the same year. Mr. and Mrs. Beeler received many valuable and beautiful tokens of remem- brance.
George Tal. Bliss
T O LOOK into the fine face of the late George W. Bliss was to gain the distinct impression of strong, noble and vigorous manhood. His lineaments indicated self-poise, power and determination, even as they gave evidence of the great soul and kindly heart of the man. Through his own efforts he made for himself a large place as a successful and constructive business man and as a citi- zen of great loyalty and public spirit. For nearly twenty years prior to his death he was numbered among the essentially representative business men of Indiana's capital city, and here, as elsewhere, to know him was to admire and honor him. Not in an ephemeral way is his name associated with the word progress, for his was the ambition that knew not satiety. He exemplified in the truest sense the ideal of all that is represented in the oft-misused term of self-made man, and the record of such accomplishment as was his is the record which the true American holds in the highest honor. The business career of George W. Bliss was characterized by courage, confidence, progressiveness and impregnable integrity of purpose, and none had a more secure place as a representative citizen and business man of Indianapolis, where he was executive head of the well known and extensive mercantile house of Bliss, Swain & Company. Of symmetrical and rugged physique, Mr. Bliss had for many years slight fellowship with the ills to which human flesh is heir, and the indisposi- tion which resulted in his death had been of about three months' duration. He suf- fered from rheumatism and in search of relief from the same he went to Hot Springs, Arkansas, where he died suddenly, while seated at breakfast, on the morning of March 12, 1910, the rheumatism having finally affected his heart. His summons, in the very fulness of strong and useful manhood, was a great shock to his family and wide circle of devoted friends, who could scarce believe that the end had come for one whose strength and activity had been so pronounced. Mr. Bliss was for nearly a score of years one of the leading business men of Indianapolis, and his labors, his character and his high standing in the community render most consonant the memorial tribute incorporated in this publication.
George W. Bliss was born at Concord, Fleming county, Kentucky, on July 12, 1849, and was a son of Martin and Harriet Bliss, representatives of sterling old families of the Blue Grass state. His father was a merchant tailor by vocation and the family were in moderate financial circumstances during the boyhood and youth of him to whom this review is dedicated. The parents finally removed to Indiana and they passed the closing years of their lives at Rushville, this state. Even as he was the architect of his own fortunes, so also was George W. Bliss educated largely through self-discipline, as his early advantages were exceedingly meager. When a lad of thir- teen years Mr. Bliss showed his youthful patriotism by running away from home and tendering his services in defense of the Union, whose integrity was in jeopardy through armed rebellion. He represented himself to the Union officers as being eighteen years of age and he secured a position as drummer boy. He gained a due
173
174
George W. Bliss
quota of experience through his service in the ranks, and after the war he came to Indiana and located in Rushville, where he secured a position as clerk in the clothing store of Jacob Block. Concerning his career as a business man an appreciative estimate appeared in the Indianapolis Star at the time of his death, and from the article quotation is here consistently made, with but slight paraphrase:
Mr. Bliss was looked upon as one of the important factors in the clothing business in Indiana. His experience in that line extended from the time that, as a boy, he started in as clerk in the store of Jacob Block, at Rushville, Indiana, until his death. He had been engaged in active business in Indianapolis for nineteen years, at Shel- byville, where he and Mr. Swain had owned a business together for four years, al- though Mr. Bliss never lived there. After leaving the store of Mr. Block in Rush- ville Mr. Bliss went into business for himself in that place, in association with Frank Wilson, and later his brother William was admitted to the firm, which then became known as Bliss Brothers & Wilson. Mr. Wilson later retired and the firm title of Bliss Brothers was then adopted. After a successful business career at Rushville Mr. Bliss became associated again with T. A. Swain, who continued as one of his partners until the relation was severed by the death of Mr. Bliss.
The business of Bliss, Swain & Company was opened in Indianapolis September 2, 1891, in the east end of the Wasson building, on Washington street, and under the title of the Progress Clothing Company. This name was later abandoned, as Mr. Bliss did not approve of the title. When the State Life building was erected, eleven years ago, Bliss, Swain & Company moved into it and there the business has since been continued, the enterprise being one of the largest and best conducted of the kind in the state.
Besides his Indianapolis interests Mr. Bliss traveled a part of each year, through- out Indiana and in parts of Ohio, Kentucky, Illinois and Michigan, besides which he also visited some of the cities of New York state. He was well acquainted with the clothing trade, having been on the road thirty-two years. For twenty-nine years of that time he traveled for Stern, Lauer, Shoal & Company, of Cincinnati, and the last two years he had been representing the Joseph Feiss Company, of Cleveland, Ohio.
As a business man Mr. Bliss was known for his fine initiative powers and progres- sive policies, and as a citizen his loyalty and public spirit were of the most insistent order, as shown in his zealous co-operation in the furtherance of all measures and enterprises tending to advance the material and civic prosperity of his home city and state. He was a stockholder and director in the Marrott department store, one of the leading mercantile concerns of Indianapolis, and was a popular and influential member of the Indianapolis Merchants' Association, to the furtherance of whose high civic ideals he contributed much. This representative body gave a special tribute of respect and honor at the time of his demise and a copy of its resolutions was sent to the bereaved family. Mrs. Bliss also received at the time innumerable letters and telegrams of sympathy from friends of her husband in most diverse sections of the Union. As a traveling commercial salesman he had gained a particularly wide acquaintanceship and to know him was to be his friend and admirer, so that such tributes of respect were the more appreciated by the wife and children, to whom Mr. Bliss had been the soul of devotion.
Though never desirous of entering the turbulent stream of practical politics, Mr. Bliss was firm in his convictions as to matters of public polity and was broad and liberal in his views. He gave unqualified allegiance to the cause of the Republican
175
George W. Bliss
party, was a prominent and influential member of the Columbia Club of Indianapolis, was identified with the Indiana Commercial Travelers' Association, was affiliated with the Benevolent & Protective Order of Elks and the Knights of Pythias, and in the time-honored Masonic fraternity he had attained to the thirty-second degree of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite.
In the Indianapolis Star of March 15, 1910, appeared an article which is well worthy of perpetuation in this memoir, as indicating the high regard in which Mr. Bliss was held as a man and a citizen:
Tribute of eloquence to his lifelong friend was paid by the Rev. J. A. Sargent at the funeral services for the late George W. Bliss, held yesterday afternoon, at the family home, 2302 North Meridan street. The services were attended by practically all of the members of the Merchants' Association in a body and by representatives of the various fraternal and social orders to which Mr. Bliss belonged. Employes from the store of Bliss, Swain & Company were present without exception. The di- rectors of the Merchants' Association met in special session yesterday to pay respect to the memory of Mr. Bliss. A letter of condolence was addressed to the widow and children.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.