USA > Indiana > Marion County > Indianapolis > Memorial record of distinguished men of Indianapolis and Indiana > Part 2
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William Landers, father of the subject of this memoir, was ten years of age at the time of the family removal from the Old Dominion commonwealth to Kentucky, where he was reared to maturity and where he received such educational advantages as were afforded in the common schools of the period. In 1820 he came to Indiana with other members of the family, and he was thirty-two years of age at the time. He became one of the prominent agriculturists of Morgan county, served in various local offices of public trust, and well upheld the honors and prestige of the name which he bore. His life was guided and governed by the highest principles and his influence was potent in connection with the civic and material progress of the county in which he was an honored pioneer. At the time of the laying out of Indianapolis the commissioners appointed for this purpose were entertained en route at the home of William Landers. He was a man of wealth and influence, as gauged by the standards of the day, and became seized of a large landed estate in Morgan county, where, through the reclamation of the same, he contributed much to the initial stages of the
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development of that now favored section of the state. His fine estate of one thousand acres is still owned by members of his family. William Landers was active and influ- ential in public affairs of a local order, and was a man of superior intellectual force and exalted integrity, and he ever held a secure place in the esteem of the community to whose development and progress he contributed in most liberal measure. He was twice married. He first wedded Miss Eva Stone, a daughter of Nimrod Stone, who was a native of Virginia and a valiant soldier in the Continental line in the war of the Revolution. After the death of his first wife Mr. Landers married her sister Delila, who survived him by a number of years. He became the father of eleven sons and three daughters, of whom only one is now living,-John Landers of Indianapolis. Of the children the youngest was Jackson Landers, to whom this memoir is dedicated. Another of the sons, the late Franklin Landers, represented Indiana in Congress and was the Democratic candidate for governor of the state in 1880, when he was defeated by Albert G. Porter.
Jackson Landers was reared to manhood on the old homestead farm in Morgan county, and there he learned the lessons of thrift and industry which served him so well in later years. He was fully appreciative of such educational advantages as were accorded him in the common schools of his native county, and the discipline thus received was rounded out and made symmetrical by self-application and by the active and varied experiences of a most successful career. Following the death of his father he lived for many years with his mother on the old homestead, and about 1870, while still a young man, he came to Marion county, where he eventually became the owner of a large and valuable farm in Center township,-a property on which he made the best of improvements and in possession of which he continued for many years. Throughout his entire active career he paid staunch allegiance to the great basic industries of agriculture and stock-growing, and at the time of his death he owned one hundred and four acres of the old home farm on which he was reared and an adjoining tract of five hundred acres, this fine property being situated six miles east of Mooresville, the judicial center of Morgan county, and twelve miles southwest of Indianapolis. His was considered the most highly improved farm in Morgan county, and he took great delight in keeping it well equipped in all modern farm accessories and conveniences. He was a most successful stock-raiser and in later years made a specialty of dealing in mules, which he handled on an extensive scale.
As a staunch and admirably fortified advocate of the principles and policies of the Democratic party, Mr. Landers early assumed measurable leadership in the councils of his party in Marion county, and such was the character of the man, such his partisan loyalty, that he became marked as a most eligible candidate for official preferment. In 1876 he was elected to the responsible office of treasurer of Marion county, in which position he served two years. At the expiration of his term he refused to become a candidate for re-election. The respect and confidence in which he was held in the county was significantly shown in his election to this office, for he succeeded in overcoming the large and normal Republican majority. His administra- tion of the fiscal affairs of the county amply justify the popular trust reposed in him and so definitely indicated by the suffrages of the voters of the county.
At the time of his election to the office of county treasurer Mr. Landers removed from his farm to the city of Indianapolis, where he ever afterward maintained his home and where his popularity was of most unequivocal order. He ever continued to take a lively interest in public affairs and in the activities of the political party with which he was identified. He served as delegate to the county and state con-
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ventions of his party on various occasions but never consented to become a candidate for office save in the one instance to which reference has already been made. In 1886 Mr. Landers became one of the interested principals in the organization of the United States Encaustic Tile Works, of which corporation he was elected treasurer. He gave much of his time to the promotion of the interests of this concern, now one of the most extensive of its kind in the Union, and he continued to serve as its treasurer until the death of John J. Cooper, in 1906, when he succeeded the latter in the presi- dency of the company, an office of which he continued the incumbent until his death.
As a business man Mr. Landers was far-sighted, enterprising and progressive, and his administrative ability was of a high order. He had naught of ostentation, and gave every man a fair and just estimate, having no regard for the mere fictitious phases of pomp and power. Plain, direct and forceful in his conversation, he was sometimes considered brusque or abrupt, but there was naught of austerity in his nature and his heart was attuned to sympathy, tolerance and generous impulses. Of him it has con- sistently been said that "he numbered all who knew him as friends." As may well be understood, he was man of positive character, and there was nothing vacillating in his attitude in either business or social relations. He was ever ready to extend co-operation in the promotion of measures for the general good of the community and to lend aid to those in affliction or distress. He was a consistent member of the Central Christian church of Indianapolis and exemplified his faith in his daily life. He was a Master Mason, and in the time honored fraternity he was affiliated with Oriental Lodge, No. 319, Free & Accepted Masons, in his home city. In his death Indiana lost one of her valued and honored citizens, and his life itself constitutes his most worthy and enduring memorial.
As a young man Mr. Landers was united in marriage to Miss Georgiana Knox, who likewise was born and reared in Morgan county, this state, where her parents were pioneer settlers. She was summoned to the life eternal in 1876, having been a devout member of the Christian church. Concerning the children of this marriage the following brief data are given: John B., who became a successful stock-grower in the state of Kansas, is now deceased; Lily is the wife of Winfield Miller, a repre- sentative of the Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance Company and a resident of Indianapolis; William F. is treasurer of the United States Encaustic Tile Works and in the capital city of his native state is well upholding the prestige of the honored name which he bears; and Arthur died at the age of twenty-two years.
On the 13th of June, 1878, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Landers to Mrs. Laura (Hayes) Laycock, of Gosport, Indiana. Mrs. Landers still resides in Indian- apolis, and has a wide circle of friends in the community, in the social affairs of which she has taken a prominent part. She holds membership in the Central Christian church. Mrs. Landers was born at Gosport, Indiana, and is a daughter of Lewis M. and Melinda (Alexander) Hayes, the former of whom was born at Greenville, Tennessee, and the latter of whom was the second white child born in Owen county, Indiana. Abner Alexander, the maternal grandfather of Mrs. Landers, was one of the first white settlers of Owen county, Indiana, and was the founder of the town of Gosport. He came with his family from South Carolina and was one of the influ- ential pioneers of his section of Indiana. The lineage of both the Hayes and Alex- ander families is traced back to staunch Scotch origin. Mrs. Landers has one daughter by her first marriage, Maude Laycock, who is now Mrs. Robert McOuat, of Indianapolis. The one child of the second marriage was Eudora, who became the
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wife of William F. Harbison, of Indianapolis, and who died in this city on the 15th of July, 1909. Mr. Landers is also survived by three grandsons. He lived a life of signal honor and usefulness and his character and achievement were such as to render most consonant this brief review of his career, presented in a memo- rial edition whose value is certain to be cumulative, by reason of the representative character of those citizens to whom tribute is paid within its pages.
Reberend Robert Roberts, D. D.
E BUILD monuments to our soldiers, and make memorials for men who in pioneer times gave of their time and energy to the building of this or that town, we laud and praise the names of those who have brought material prosperity to this com- monwealth and to the city of Indianapolis, but we are often in danger of forgetting that brave little group of men who dared the blinding blizzards, the dangers of the forests, long and lonely journeys through scantily populated regions, and all the privations and suffering of the people to whom they ministered. This body of men were the circuit riders and the ministers of the pioneer days. No guest was more welcome at the hut of the settler than was the minister, and he was often called upon to perform duties entirely out of his sphere. He was the minister, teacher and doctor, and was expected to sympathize, encourage, advise, or lend material assistance. One of the noblest of this group of men was the Reverend Doctor Robert Roberts. He was one of the oldest and best known men in the Methodist ministry in the state of Indiana. He was in active ministerial work for forty-three years, all of this time being spent in Indiana. No man in the ministry was held in higher esteem than was Dr. Roberts. He was possessed of much tact, with executive ability and enthusiasm, therefore he was of great value in organizing and building up churches that were weak and lacking in spirit. He was truly spiritual minded and was a man of wide influence. His death was one of the greatest losses the Methodist church has ever been called upon to sustain.
Dr. Roberts was born in Caroline county, Maryland, on the 22d of August, 1835. He was the son of William and Henrietta (Pratt) Roberts, both of whom were born in Maryland. Dr. Roberts was only a child when he was made an orphan by the death of both of his parents, and he then went to live with an elder brother. He was of a family consisting of five boys and two girls, and he was next to the youngest son. Before his father's death he had lived the life of a farmer's son, but now when his elder brother William talked of going out west, he was eager to accompany him. His brother located near Brookville, Indiana, and here young Robert continued the studies he had dropped to come with his brother. After his education in the public schools was completed he worked for a short time as a cabinet-maker, and then coming to Indianapolis, he took up the tinner's trade with the old firm of Munson & Johnson. He was so faithful, and showed such skill in management, that the firm put him in charge of a branch house at Martinsville. In Indianapolis he had been a member of the old Asbury church, having been a member of the Methodist church since the age of twelve. When the late Dr. Cotton took charge of the Asbury church in 1856, he was much impressed by the personality of young Roberts. One day he ven- tured to suggest to him that perhaps the Lord had special work for him as a minister of the gospel. Dr. Roberts answered that he felt called to the work,
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and from that time he was a student of theology under the direction of Dr. Cotton. With his keen mind he made rapid progress and was admitted to the ministry in 1857. He entered the old Southeast Indiana Conference, and his first charge was the Columbia circuit in Fayette county.
He remained at the above post for two years and then went to the Carthage circuit, Carthage, Indiana, where he stayed one year. The next two years were spent on the Palestine circuit near Indianapolis and thence he went to the Acton circuit, which was also near Indianapolis. After two years here he went to Fair- land, where he spent one year, and thence he was transferred to the St. Paul circuit, where he worked for two years. He was now assigned to the Manchester circuit, and while he was supplying this charge he studied at Moore's Hill College. He combined the dual calling of pastor and student for three years, making a splendid record in scholarship, and at the same time filling his appointments to the satisfaction of those to whom he ministered. He was made pastor of the church at Greensburg, Indiana, at the end of this time. This was his first station, and he remained here for three years. He then was sent to Edinburg church for two years, and from there went to Shelbyville, Indiana, for two years. He was called back to Edinburg, and spent the next year there, then he was sent to Madison, Indiana, for three years. His next charge was Moore's Hill, where he was made presiding elder of the district. The limit of time was then four years and Dr. Roberts remained at Moores Hill the full time. He then went to Jeffersonville for three years, and thence to Connorsville, where the time limit was five years. While there he built a great church, costing $40,000, a monument to his untiring efforts. After five years in Connorsville he was sent to Fletcher Place church in Indianapolis. This was in 1893, and he remained for five years. A metropolitan church taxes the ability of a man to the utmost, but Dr. Roberts was equal to the problems that he had to face, and he will long be remembered for the efficiency of his term of service. It is interesting to note that Fletcher Place church, where he held his last pastorate, was originally Asbury church, where he had received his authority to preach.
At the close of his pastorate in the above church he was made secretary and general agent of the 'Preachers' Aid and Veterans' Home Societies, in which capacity he served for two years. The following clipping is given as an example of the earnest and sincere work that Dr. Roberts did in this capacity: "Dr. Roberts, of Indianapolis, preached an able and eloquent sermon at Centenary Sunday morning, and presented the interests of the Preacher's Aid and Veteran's Home. It was pronounced by all to be the clearest and ablest presentation of the subject they had ever heard. The amount contributed was over one hundred and thirty dollars, with more promised." He resigned his position in connection with the above societies on account of ill health, and his health steadily failed for the two years preceding his death. He was treasurer of the old Southeastern Indiana Conference, and for fifteen years was treasurer of the Indiana Conference Corpor- ation. For twenty years he was a member of the board of trustees of Moores Hill College. Had he been a business man he would have been a success, and it was this business sense of his that made him so successful in managing the financial affairs of the different institutions of which he had charge. Nearly every church of which he was pastor had a heavy debt burden- ing her shoulders at the beginning of his ministry. At the close the church was either freed from this burden or it had been so lightened as to be no longer a
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burden. During the hard-working life of this man he took only one vacation, and that consisted of one month during the Centennial year of 1876. He was a member of the Masonic order and of many Temperance organizations.
The following is quoted from a memoir of Dr. Roberts written by Reverend M. B. Hyde and published in the minutes of the Indiana Conference for 1905: "Nature made Dr. Roberts of the finest fibre. He was chaste in every expression, never forgetting for a moment that he was a Christian, and that means a gentleman of the first order. He excelled in the management of his private business. Every- thing was turned to good account. There was no waste. This gave him the ability, and he had the willingness, to use his means liberally for the various benevolent enterprises of the Church, particularly to the cause of Christian edu- cation. He made a liberal donation to DePauw University, but. Moores Hill College was the object of his greatest care, and shared more largely in his benefi- cence. He had a warm heart and an open hand for the poor, especially for the struggling minister. When a Presiding Elder many of the ministers were helped by him personally, and he stimulated the people to greater liberality and thus blessed many an itinerant's home.
"As a minister of the gospel he was strong. He preached thoughtful and hence helpful sermons. He did not regard himself as a revivalist, but often great revivals came to the churches he served and the converts were so taught that they came to the church well equipped to bear the burdens and knowing the full meaning of personal obligations. The chief attractiveness was the clean person- ality of the man. He gave to every church he served a strong administration. The people followed him because they believed in him. He was strong because he believed in himself and in the divinity of his mission; when assigned to a church, he was the "sent" by order of the church, under the province of God. As a reader he knew modern thought, but true to the traditions of the fathers and large in the faith of the Scriptures no task was too great for him to undertake, and rarely did he fail. He was a diligent student. As a recognition of this DePauw University conferred upon him the Master's degree and later on Moores Hill College gave him the honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity." His loyalty to his old college was touching. Almost his last words were, "Tell the brethren at Moores Hill to stand by the old college. It is a good place."
The winter before his death Dr. Roberts spent in Florida in the hopes of bettering his condition, but to no avail, for a few months after his return, on the 16th of June, 1905, he died at his home, 164 East Twenty-fourth street. The immediate cause of his death was Bright's disease. His funeral was held from the Central Avenue church, the services being conducted by Dr. C. E. Bacon, the presiding elder. The ministers attended in a body and the pall bearers were selected from among them. He was buried in Crown Hill cemetery.
Dr. Roberts was married on the 11th of September, 1860, to Miss Emily E. Ball. Mrs. Roberts comes of a family noted in the history of our country for their staunch loyalty and service. Her great-great-great-grandfather, Colonel Joseph Ball, was born in England in 1660. He came to this country after he had grown to manhood, and settled in Virginia on the east bank of the Rappahannock river. On his death, which occurred in 1711, he left one daughter and five sons. This daughter, Mary Ball, who was born in 1706, though not an ancestor of Mrs. Roberts in a direct line, is of unusual interest, because she married Augustine Washington, and became the mother of George Washington. It was the third
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son, Joseph, who was the direct ancestor of Mrs. Roberts. He was born in 1698, and lived in Frederick county, Virginia, where he spent all of his life, dying in 1771. Of his family of four sons and three daughters, Zopher Ball, born in 1724, was Mrs. Roberts' great-grandfather. He was born in Frederick county, and about the beginning of the Revolutionary war moved to Washington county, Pennsyl- vania. He served in this war, being an ensign in Captain Rosses' company. The third son of Zopher Ball was Caleb, born in 1755. He also was a soldier, like his father, serving not only in the Revolution, but in the war of 1812. He was an officer of the secret service, and for his services received a grant of land, amount- ing to two hundred acres. One of the most thrilling episodes of his military service happened when he was on board the Gray Hound, which was under the command of Captain Arnold. She was a privateer, with letters of marque and reprisal, and with authority to burn, sink or destroy. This ship was captured, and young Ball was taken prisoner. He was afterwards exchanged at New York. He enlisted in the war of 1812, under Captain Lawrence, in the Twenty-second Regi- ment. Before the war he was married to Phoebe Walton, on the 5th of April, 1792. He afterwards moved to Georgia, and took up the study of law. He became a practicing lawyer, and was sent to congress in 1776. He thus became one of the Immortals who signed the Declaration of Independence. He was twice governor of Georgia, where he died in 1804. The Virginia members of this historic family are buried at White Chapel on the east bank of the Rappa- hannock river, and others are buried in Mercer, Pennsylvania, in the old Ball cemetery. Four generations lie here, in the beautiful park watched over by old, old trees, some of which are weeping willows, which were brought to this country by LaFayette, and planted at Mount Vernon, and transplanted to Mercer by cuttings. Others are Powhattan oaks brought from Jamestown, and others have equally as intimate associations with the history of our country. The father of Mrs. Roberts was Jonathan Ball, who was a native of Pennsylvania. He after- wards migrated to Indiana, and settled as a farmer in Rush county. Here his daughter was born.
Dr. and Mrs. Roberts were the parents of four children, the eldest of whom, Otto Roberts, is living in Sonora, Mexico. Alta M. Roberts, and Grace Greenwood, who is Mrs. C. M. Griffin, reside in Indianapolis. Maude, who married B. H. Scranton, lives in Rising Sun, Indiana. Another son, Arthur W., the third child, died at the age of two years.
Dr. Talillard A. Short
ITH the death of Doctor Willard N. Short, of Indianapolis, W one of the finest gentlemen, using the word with its full signi- ficance, passed from among us. He was a man who was gen- erous to a fault, he knew not how to refuse a man anything, and he was ever anxious to help the poor and suffering. When a man was out of a job he had only to enlist Doctor Short's sympathy, which was easily done and he was pretty sure to have work in a few days. The early life of Doctor Short contained numerous ups and downs, and the steady success which came to him in his later years was no more than his just reward. Although he had studied medicine he was primarily a druggist, and his title was given him by those to whom be had indeed been a physician, perhaps not of their bodily ills, but of their mental and spiritual ones. With such a proof of the high esteem and affection in which he was held by the community one can easily realize how widespread was the grief when he died.
Willard N. Short was born on the 26th of July, 1853, at Clifton Springs, New York. He was the son of Leonard and Amanda Short, who were old resi- dents of Clifton Springs. He lost his father at an early age, being just three when he died. The latter was a man of great culture and refinement, being a school teacher by profession. After the death of his father the little boy was taken to the home of his grandfather Short and there grew to manhood. His grand- father was a prominent resident of that part of the state, having lived there for many years. The town of Shortville, New York, was named for him, and he is still remembered for his fine character and strength of will. As a boy Willard Short attended the public schools and later he was sent to the college at Rochester, New York. His grandfather came of a long line of educated men and women, and he wished his grandson to have as good an education as the times provided.
He worked at various things when he was through with his college course and in a short time had saved a thousand dollars. He went into partnership with an experienced laundryman, and established a laundry business at Clifton Springs. Mr. Short furnished the money and the other man the experience. In a short time the money had vanished and Dr. Short was the man with the experience. He con- cluded then to have nothing more to do with either the laundry business or with men whose sole capital was experience. He had always been fond of travel, and he thought he might as well gratify this taste and at the same time make his living by going on the road for a New York drug house. It was while traveling for this company that he came west. Just here the romance of his life might be said to have begun. While traveling through Indiana with a team of horses he was under the necessity of wintering them somewhere, and he chose Greens- burg, Indiana. This town was the birthplace of his future wife, and this was the very winter during which she was born. He often remarked in his joking way, after she had become his wife, that he had just patiently waited for her.
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