USA > Indiana > Marion County > Indianapolis > Memorial record of distinguished men of Indianapolis and Indiana > Part 3
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Dr. Willard A. Short
He, however, left Greensburg little knowing that his most valuable possession was left behind in the little town.
Mr. Short was twenty-one when he came to Indianapolis, and went into the employ of the Stewart Wholesale Drug House. He remained with them for five years, gaining a valuable knowledge of drugs and of the business. While he was with this firm he took up the study of medicine, and no man was naturally better fitted to be a healer of the sick than was he. At the end of these five years he bought his own store, in old Doctor Allen's Surgical Instrument building, and opened up a drug business herein. He was well known and very popular among the men of his profession and his drug store became a speedy success. After two years he sold this property and bought a drug store at the corner of Maryland and Illinois streets, and here he remained for twenty-three years. In small towns everyone knows how the corner drug store is the social center of the town. The exciting discussions of politics, religion and kindred subjects that are tabooed by the feminine portion of society as creative of too much excitement are here threshed out by their husbands and brothers without very many blows being exchanged. The drug store of Dr. Short's was something like these, that is, in so far as it is possible for anything in a city to resemble anything in a small town. The men of the neighborhood knew the worth of the genial Doctor. The older men enjoyed his wisdom and keen insight into human nature, the younger ones liked his sym- pathy and valued the advice which he could give them. He felt, however, that he had been in active business long enough and so retired. But he was too active to be satisfied to do nothing, so two years later he organized the American Hat Company, located at No. 31 South Illinois street. He was president of this con- cern, but sold out the business one week before his death.
He was a firm believer in the great future of Indianapolis, and aided in its material development by the erection of the Willard apartment at 36 West St. Joseph street. This modern apartment building was erected in 1902 and he and Mrs. Short made their home here for some time. Mrs. Short was the sister of a number of men who were interested in the gas industry, and so she induced her husband to go into this business. He took up leases in Decatur county, Indiana, and they have proved to be a paying proposition. Dr. Short had never seen a gas well before this time and he had the pleasure of knowing that the first well he ever saw was his own. There are three wells on the lease, supplying gas to thirty-six families, but Dr. Short just lived to see the successful consummation of his enterprise, for the gas was turned on the day of his death.
Doctor Short was devoted to his home. He had lived in hotels for so many years of his life that he could scarcely be dragged away from his fireside even for a few hours of pleasure. He was a great lover of animals, being especially fond of fine horses. The one he drove was always pointed out to strangers as one of the finest in the city. As a young man he traveled extensively, but as he grew older he was glad to remain at home. He was a member of the Masonic order, as would be imagined, for the love of his fellow man, which was so strong in the heart of the Doctor, would inspire him to join an order which practices the doc- trine of brotherly love.
Dr. Short was twice married first to Miss Gertrude Rudolph of an old Nobles- ville family, their union occurring in February, 1881, and she died in September, 1884.
The marriage of Willard N. Short and Mattie Bird Caster took place on the
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Dr. Willard A. Short
30th of October, 1907, and his honeymoon lasted during the few short months of the remainder of his life. He died on the 4th of November, 1910. The following is an extract from the News of the 5th of November: "Willard N. Short, for many years a well-known druggist at Maryland and Illinois streets, died suddenly at ten-thirty p. m. yesterday at his home in the Willard Flats, 36-38 West St. Joseph street. Immediate cause of his death was heart disease. During the day he had been at Greensburg, where he was interested in natural gas wells. He returned at seven p. m., complaining of severe pains, from which he was tempo- rarily relieved, after which he retired for the night. Three hours later the suffer- ing again set in and he died.
Dr. Short was born in Clifton Springs, New York, on the 26th of July, 1853. He came to this city in 1876 and entered the wholesale drug house of the Daniel Stewart Company. Five years later he opened a retail drug store and continued in that business until five years ago, when he organized the American Hat Com- pany, in South Illinois street, of which he was president. He recently sold his interest in the hat company and intended to remove to Greensburg. He was a member of the Masonic order, of the Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias and of the Elks."
Mrs. Mattie Bird (Caster) Short is a daughter of Ditmore and Matilda (Barnes) Caster. She is a niece of old Turner Barnes, who was well known in this section, and who for many years was connected with the Allen Institute. This venerable old man lived to be over ninety years of age. Mrs. Short's father is living, but her mother died in 1893. Mrs. Short is one of seven children, two of whom are dead. The three older brothers, Thomas, James and Frank are still living. Omar died at the age of twenty-one, and Olive died as the wife of T. J. Marshall. Mary is the widow of James Bacon, and Mattie is the youngest.
John gBroken
John James Cooper
HEN John James Cooper died in 1906, Indianapolis lost one of W her most valuable citizens. He was not only active in the busi- ness world but took a very prominent part in politics. He was well known throughout the state, through his office as state treasurer. He was particularly well adapted to fill such a posi- tion of public trust as this, because he had risen to its high position from the simple rank of a farmer's boy, and he had never lost his sympathy and understanding of the masses that form the largest part of our great American nation. In a state like Indiana, where the greater portion of the state is given over to agriculture, his comprehension of the problems and difficulties that the farmer has to face was of great value.
John James Cooper was born on a farm near the county line in Ripley county, on the 20th of January, 1830. His ancestry on both sides of his house is of the best in the country. The combination of French and English, which is noted for its production of keen, brilliant men, is to be found in the persons of his father and mother. His father was James Cooper, of an old Virginia family, whose father, Robert Cooper, was an officer in the Revolutionary war. James Cooper married Virginia Duduit, who was of French descent, her parents having come to America as members of a colony that accompanied General LaFayette when he came to visit the country in whose independence he had taken so large a share. James Cooper and his wife lived for a time in Scioto county, Ohio, moving to Ripley county, Indiana, in 1827. This was a little over ten years since the admission of Indiana as a state, and the privations and hardships which these brave pioneers had to endure can easily be imagined. The virgin soil of the farm which Mr. Cooper soon had under cultivation began to yield him an ever increasing income, and at the time of his death he was reckoned one of the most successful farmers in Ripley county. A large family of children were born to him, and he and his wife sacrificed much to give them what advantages the condition of the country at that time permitted.
John Cooper knew no life but that of the farm until he grew to manhood. The country schools afforded him an education, which consequently was rather meager, for the three "R's" were about all the country schoolmaster of that date had any knowledge of himself. In the year 1852 Mr. Cooper was married to Sarah Frances Myers, who is the daughter of James Myers, Esquire, who lived in Jen- nings county, Indiana. Mr. Cooper moved to Kokomo, Howard county, Indiana, in 1858, where he remained for six years, and at the close of the war, in 1864, he came to live in Indianapolis. He became extensively engaged in the stock raising business after moving to the city, and during the remainder of his life, when other affairs claimed a large part of his time, his greatest pleasure was in his farm. This large farm was quite near the city, and so it was possible for him to give his per- sonal supervision not only to the blooded stock in the barns but to the growing of
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John James Cooper
the crops in his fields. He was exceedingly successful as a trader, and was known far and wide for his quickness and keenness in judging the points of a horse. This reputation of being the best judge of horse flesh in the state added largely to his success as a buyer and seller of stock. His devotion to his business and the un- tiring energy which he seemed to possess really had more to do with his success than the above mentioned fact. He was a man of wonderful physique, and could get through with an amount of work in a day that would put an average man in bed.
From his youth he had always been deeply interested in politics, and had taken an active part in all of the political campaigns. As a young man he had done this partly for the excitement and love of battle, but as he grew older he saw how greatly men were needed in the political world who were true to fine principles, and really believed that they were servants of the people and not in office merely for the per- sonal advantage they could get out of it. When he realized this, politics was no longer a game but a serious business, in which he enlisted himself on the side of the people. He was a strong Democrat, and in 1876 ran for sheriff of Marion county, but was defeated, as was the whole Democratic ticket. In 1882 he was nominated at the state convention for the office of treasurer of the state, and was elected in the following campaign, assuming office on the 10th of February, 1883.
Mr. Cooper was a liberal supporter of the Third Presbyterian church in Indi- anapolis, and his widow is a devoted member of the congregation. He had a large acquaintance, not only throughout the state, but among the prominent men of his party all over the country. His geniality and frankness made him popular wher- ever he went, and his firmness and steadfastness of purpose made him a man with whom no one cared to trifle. He stood six feet two in height, and his physical size and power were very typical of the size of his heart and the power of his mind. The death of Mr. Cooper occurred on the 18th of January, 1906, and he was buried at Crown Hill.
Mr. and Mrs. Cooper were the parents of three children. Charles M. lives in Indianapolis and is married to Nellie Johnson. They have two children, Sarah Frances and John James. Virginia Emiline married John M. Wiley, and lives at Buf- falo, New York. They have one son, John Cooper. Caroline married Earl M. Ogle, and they live in the old home place, on the corner of St. Clair and Meridian streets. In 1900 Mr. Cooper built the St. Clair Flats, which are on West St. Clair street, near Illinois street, and were the first modern apartments in the city. The old home is one of the most beautiful of the older places in Indianapolis and is closely asso- ciated in the minds of all who knew him with the late owner.
Lee R. Kahn
F
EW of the business men of Indianapolis, Indiana, were better or more widely known than was the late Lee R. Kahn, presi- dent of the Atlas Paper Company, who, as it were, started at the bottom of the industrial ladder when his school days ended at the age of fifteen years, and who, through quiet, persistent, honorable effort reached a very responsible position in the com- mercial world.
Lee R. Kahn was born at Bloomington, Indiana, January 19, 1857, and died at Indianapolis, Indiana, October 28, 1910. When he was eight years old his parents moved to Indianapolis and the lad was sent to school in a building that then occupied the present court-house site. After seven years of school attendance he was deemed old enough to become self-supporting, and accepted a clerical posi- tion in the dry goods store of his brother-in-law, who was a member of the firm of R. Kirshbaum & Son, at Union City, Indiana. After a beneficial mercantile experience of six years he returned to Indianapolis and shortly afterward went into the cigar line of business on his own account, subsequently becoming a part- ner with his brother, the late David Kahn, in the manufacture of trunks, under the firm style of the David Kahn Trunk Company, which operated a large fac- tory in this city. He was largely responsible for the years of prosperous business that this firm enjoyed but some years later became interested in the paper busi- ness and assisted in the organization of the wholesale paper concern known as the Capital Paper Company, of which he was elected secretary and treasurer and to the interests of which he devoted his entire attention until 1906, when he sold his stock but only in order to attend to the demands made on his time and effort by a new wholesale paper company, the Atlas, which he assisted in organizing and of which he continued president until the close of his busy life. As an expert accountant he had a reputation that extended over the entire state and in this line, as in others, his services were exceedingly valuable to every business concern with which he was identified. Business capacity came to him in part as an inheritance, his father, Samuel Kahn, having prospered in his undertakings.
In 1885 Mr. Kahn was married to Miss Clara Kahn, who was born at Green- castle, Indiana, and two children were born to them, Gertrude and Samuel, the latter being now deceased. The daughter resides with her mother, who retains her husband's interest in the Atlas Paper Company.
Mr. Kahn was a member of the Hebrew congregation of the Delaware Street Temple and for years was a member of its board of trustees. His burial was in the cemetery belonging to the Hebrew congregation, and a touching feature was that almost all the pall bearers were his brothers-in-law, with whom the bonds of affection had been as close as real kindred. He was identified with several wholesale paper organizations of the country and belonged also to the Indianapolis Club. In the quiet enjoyment of home and in the society of congenial friends, Mr. Kahn seemed to find about all the relaxation he desired, together with a few weeks
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Lee R. Kahn
of fishing in some remote lake region of the north, from which he returned to the cares of business apparently refreshed and invigorated. He impressed both his friends and his business associates as a man of high ideals, a lover of all that was honorable, upright and true, optimistic in the face of possible danger and loyal to the extent of his power in matters of conscience. With him, also, charity was but a name for a true and acknowledged responsibility for the welfare and better- ment of those less fortunate than himself.
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Selby Parker Fraser
HE lumber interests of Indianapolis have long been of great T importance, associated as they are with building and contract- ing, and a leading firm of this line for many years was that of Fraser Brothers & Van Hoff, of which the late Selby Parker Fraser was an active member until his retirement in 1908. He was born at LaPorte, Indiana, April 17, 1841, and was a son of Joseph and Rebecca (Parker) Fraser. The father, Joseph Fraser, was born in Virginia, and learned the wagon making trade and later became a carriage manufacturer .. At Washington, D. C., he married Rebecca Parker, who was born in Massachusetts. They both died at LaPorte, Indiana, Joseph Fraser surviving his wife for ten years. They had three sons and two daughters: Joshua, who was commissioned a lieutenant during service in the Civil war; Dwight, who also served in the Civil war and won promotion; Selby Parker; Elizabeth; and Annie F., who is the widow of H. L. Van Hoff.
Selby Parker Fraser obtained his education in the schools of LaPorte, Indi- ana, and learned the carpenter and associated trades with his father. In the course of time he became a building contractor and later, in partnership with his brother Joshua, engaged in the retail lumber business. The brothers then came to Indianapolis and went into the lumber business here, an extensive lumber dealer of Michigan City, Mr. Colburn, becoming a partner, and the third brother, Dwight Fraser, also entering the firm, the latter having been formerly postmaster at LaPorte, with his brother Joshua as assistant. Some years afterward Mr. Col- burn retired and then Henry Lewis Van Hoff, a brother-in-law, entered the firm and the business was continued under the firm style of Fraser Brothers & Van Hoff until 1909. As mentioned, Selby Parker Fraser had retired and remained prac- tically disconnected with business affairs until his death, which occurred October 17, 1911. He had been considered an able business man and was an active and reputable citizen. He belonged to the Marion Club, and was a Republican in his political affiliation.
On July 5, 1881, Mr. Fraser was united in marriage with Mrs. Della (Marston) Leonard, who was born at Pason, Illinois, and is a daughter of James and Eliza- beth Marston. James Marston was born in Maine and in his younger days was a seafaring man and commanded a vessel. He married Elizabeth Shipman, who was born in New York City, a daughter of Captain Shipman. When Mr. and Mrs. Marston decided to seek a home in what was then the far west, viewed from a New England standpoint, they started in a wagon with the one son and family possess- ions. They located first in Illinois, where Mr. Marston was a photographer until 1865, when he moved to LaPorte, Indiana, and there continued in the business for many years, his death occurring in 1902, at Portland, Oregon, he being then in his eighty-third year. His widow survived until 1906, passing away at the home of Mrs. Fraser. The latter was the third born in a family of six children, the
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Selby Parker Fraser
others being: James, who is deceased; Alonzo; May, who is the wife of Edwin H. Lee, residing at St. Louis, Missouri; Charles Edward, who died in 1910; and William, who is a resident of Huron, South Dakota.
Mrs. Fraser has one daughter, Helen Mabel who was born to her first marriage. She married Charles E. Judson and they have two daughters: Helen Janet and Josephine Voorhes, both of whom are students at Tudor Hall, an exclusive girls' school at Indianapolis.
470593 Phillip Comin Mutchner
HE life of Phillip Edwin Mutchner is a story of a struggle under T difficulties, and a courageous fight with suffering and defeat that wrings the heart to tell, for he was struck down in the midst of a business career, when he was in the prime of life and when each day saw a broader field in business and in public life opening out before him. He had asked a fair fight and no favors and now when it seemed as though the day had been won, when he had everything to live for, he was forced to content himself with an invalid's chair. No one can possibly realize how a strong, active man suffers when forced to give up his place in a world of men and step back into what is by comparison a world of shadows. It would not have been so bad if Mr. Mutchner had been the subject of a nervous attack, or something that made him feel unlike work, but it was paralysis, and his brain was even keener than ever. He could not let his work go, so with almost superhuman courage he dragged him- self to his office each day, and when that became no longer possible he had an office fitted up at his home, and carried on his business, as well as he was able, from his chair in his own library. Of course he was a success as a business man, what else could be expected from one of his temperament, but it is not his business success that should be emphasized, it is his unconquerable spirit that kept up the battle of life long after the weak flesh would have succumbed.
Phillip Edwin Mutchner was the son of Phillip and Mary (Mitchel) Mutchner. He was born on the 4th of March, 1853, at Eaton, Ohio, and was named after an old friend of the family's the Reverend Phillip. His father was a Methodist minister, who died when Phillip was quite a little fellow. After his father's death his mother moved to Muncie, and here he grew up. His education was received partly at Eaton and partly at Muncie, and since he was an ambitious lad, eager to surpass his playmates in his studies, his health suffered, and when he was through school it was found necessary that he should rest for a time. He therefore went to Columbus, Ohio, to visit and while he was there had the good fortune to be offered a position in General Charles Walcutt's office. This was the revenue office, and after accepting the position, he found the work congenial enough to hold him for eight years. At the end of this time he returned to Indianapolis and entered the offices of Brown & Boyd, grain shippers, and remained with them several years, acquiring a thorough knowledge of the business. He now went into partnership with William L. Higgins, and buying a grain elevator on Virginia avenue, went into the grain business. The firm was known as Mutchner & Higgins, and until 1888 did a very successful business, the energy and close application to business which Mr. Mutchner showed being of supreme importance in this success. In 1888 misfortune first overtook him in the shape of fire which destroyed the elevator, and Mr. Mutchner gave up the grain business and went into the broker- age business. He first had offices in the Board of Trade building and a few years
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Phillip Comin Mutchner
later moved to the Lemcke building. As a broker he was very successful; he had studied the markets for many years, and he added to the knowledge thus gained a keen judgment of men. His reputation for honesty made him a man to be trusted, and his character was such that no man could know him without feeling the underlying firmness of his character. It was at this time, when people were beginning to point to him on the street as one of the coming men, when the big men of the day in the world of finance were watching him, that the blow came. It was in 1893 that he suffered the paralytic stroke from which he never recovered. He and his wife went to New York, and there he was under the care of specialists and everything was done to assist his recovery. They remained there for some time, but at last he saw that they could do nothing more for him, and he announced one morning that he was going back to work. Everyone was sure it was impossible but nothing was said, and he was allowed to return to Indianapolis. On his arrival he had himself driven to his offices and notified his patrons that he was ready for work again. For several years he courageously faced the difficult task of getting down to his office every morning, and of returning in the evening, but at last he had to give it up. He then had a telephone installed in his home, fitted up an office and conducted his business by telephone. One would think that as a business man he would not be very successful by this method, but so much confi- dence was felt in him that people preferred to trust his manipulation of their money over the 'phone, rather than a man who had the use of his two legs and could run all over the town. He was a patient and courageous invalid for seventeen years before his death, and for five years before he died he could not take a step. He died on the 9th of June, 1910, and is buried at Columbus, Ohio.
Mr. Mutchner was a member of the Board of Trade, and of the Commercial Club. He was also a charter member of the Columbia Club. In politics he was a Republican, and to the end of his life he took a deep interest in politics and made political conditions the subject of much study. He was the only child of his father, but his mother was twice married, so he is survived by three half-brothers ; William Marsh of Virginia, Commander C. C. Marsh of the United States Navy and J. R. Marsh, of Muncie. He also has a half-sister living, Mrs. Harriet M. Johnston, of Muncie.
Mr. Mutchner was married at Columbus, Ohio, on the 4th of December, 1889, to Louise Piersche, a daughter of John and Charlotte (Schwede) Piersche. Her father was born in Paris, France, and her mother, although she was born in Newark, New Jersey, was of German descent. They lived in Columbus, Ohio, for many years, where Mr. Piersche was a furniture dealer. They both died in their home city and are buried in the family lot. Mrs. Mutchner has lived in this city since 1889. Soon after she and Mr. Mutchner were married they bought a home at 1537 Broad- way, and here the widow still lives, alone, for they had no children.
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