USA > Indiana > Marion County > Indianapolis > Memorial record of distinguished men of Indianapolis and Indiana > Part 33
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As touching the family genealogy it may further be stated that representatives of the name settled in America in the early colonial epoch, the original family home having been established at Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1635. The lineage is authentically traced in England back to the time of William the Conqueror, and the family has been one of distinction in Great Britian history.
Captain John C. Conner was born at Noblesville, the judicial center of Hamilton
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county, Indiana, and his death occurred in the city of Washington, D. C., in No- vember, 1873. He was the eldest of the six children of William W. and Amanda (Coggswell) Conner, the former of whom was born at Connersville, Fayette county, this state, and the latter in the province of Ontario, Canada, she having been a sister of General Milton Coggswell, who was a distinguished officer of the Union forces in the Civil war. William W. Conner was an honored and influential citizen of his native state and served eight terms as a member of its legislature, besides which he was otherwise prominent in public affairs. He studied law and was admitted to the bar, but the major portion of his active career was given to industrial and commercial interests. At Noblesville he operated flour and woolen mills and be- came one of the leaders in the developing of manufacturing industries in the state. He held numerous offices of public trust and commanded the unqualified esteem of all who knew him. He was a man of fine intellectuality and great business ability, and left to the state of his nativity a heritage of worthy character and large and valuable achievement. Both he and his wife continued to reside at Noblesville until their death. Their home was one of distinctive culture and refinement and their children were accorded the best of educational advantages. Of the children John C. was the eldest, as has already been noted. William W. Conner is one of the repre- sentative business men and influential citizens of Pendleton, Madison county, this state. Ada C. is the wife of C. F. Woerner, who is now living virtually retired in Indianapolis, where he was for many years one of the foremost figures in business affairs, especially through his connection with the Central Chair Company. He and his wife reside at 1802 North Illinois street, and their attractive home is known for its gracious hospitality. Concerning their children the following brief data are entered: William C. who married Miss Ina Burnett, of Laurel, Mississippi, is one of the representative farmers of Brown county, Indiana, and he and his wife find their home brightened by the presence of their five children,-Charles F., William C., Paul R., Ina May, and Philip Edgar ; Frances W. Woerner is the wife of John F. Engleky, who is city attorney of Indianapolis at the time of this writing, in 1912; Miss Frieda L. Woerner remains at the parental home; and Caroline is the wife of Charles Tinsley Smith, who is engaged in the milling business at Greenfield, In- diana. Lavina Conner, who is now deceased, became the wife of Mr. Conner, and the one surviving child of this union is Charles E., who is engaged in the real-estate business in the city of Los Angeles, California. Another of the sisters of the subject of this memoir is the wife of J. R. Christian, of Noblesville, Indiana, and they have one son, John Connor Christian, who is engaged in the oil business in Texas. Mary E., the youngest of the sisters is Mrs. Bond, of San Francisco, Cali- fornia.
Captain John C. Conner gained his preliminary educational training in the schools of his native place and supplemented this by higher academic studies in Wabash College, at Crawfordsville, Indiana. He later entered the United States Military Academy, at West Point, and in this institution he was graduated. He was but sixteen years of age at the outbreak of the Civil war, and he gave prompt evi- dence of his youthful loyalty and patriotism by responding to President Lincoln's first call for volunteers. In his home town of Noblesville he enlisted as a member of the Indiana volunteer infantry, in which he was made captain of his company,- one of the youngest officers of this rank in the entire history of the Union forces in the war. He was with his regiment in the hardest of service, took part in many of the important engagements of the great internecine conflict, was ever found at the
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post of duty and made an admirable record as one of the gallant soldiers and officers of the Federal armies. He continued in active service until the close of the war and his record is one that will ever redound to his honor, ever lend luster to his name.
After the close of his long and arduous military career Captain Conner studied law under effective preceptorship and subsequently went to Sherman, Texas, where he engaged in the active practice of his profession and where he gained prestige as one of the ablest and most successful members of the bar of the Lone Star state, besides which he became conspicuously influential in public affairs in that common- wealth. He represented the state in the United States Congress for two terms and in the national legislature he made a most enviable record, being one of its youngest members and showing rare powers as a leader in thought and action. He was a stalwart and effective exponent of the principles and policies for which the Demo- cratic party stands sponsor, and after the completion of his second term in Congress Captain Conner had perfected all arrangements for removal to Indianapolis, with the purpose of engaging in the practice of his profession in this city, but while still at the national capital he was suddenly stricken and passed from the stage of life's mortal endeavors. Though he was in the very flower of his manhood he had made a record of achievement that would have been a credit to one twice his age. His life was guided and governed by the highest principles and his buoyant, genial and kindly nature gained to him the friendship of those with whom he came in contact, the while his fine talents and sterling character brought to him popular confidence and admiration. He was a most active and efficient worker during his two terms in Congress and his speeches on the floor of the house attracted wide and favorable at- tention, besides which his work in the committee rooms was known for its fidelity and efficiency. The elements of true greatness were his, and his life record offers both lesson and inspiration.
Captain Conner married Miss Alice Finch, of Noblesville, Indiana, in which place she was born and reared. She was one of the four children born to Hiram G. and Maria (Passwater) Finch, who continued their residence in Noblesville until their death, the father having there been engaged in the milling business and having been a citizen who was a prominent factor in civic and industrial activities in that section of the state. Captain and Mrs. Conner became the parents of two children, -Julia, who is the wife of Charles N. Thompson, residing at 1824 North Penn- sylvania street, Indianapolis, and Miss Helen Finch Conner, who maintains her home at 1626 North Alabama street, this city.
James R. barnahan
General James R. Carnahan 5
'N THE long line of distinguished men of Indiana, now passed from the scene of life, there are many who will be recalled with I veneration for the value of their public services, and others who, additionally, will be remembered with admiration and affection for their personal qualities, which endeared them to those who were admitted to close companionship. Among these will be numbered the late General James R. Carnahan,-a brave sol- dier, and able lawyer, a model citizen, a loyal friend, a kind and loving husband and careful father and a Christian gentleman.
James R. Carnahan was born at Dayton, Indiana, November 18, 1841, and died at the beautiful family home at Woodruff Place, Indianapolis, Indiana, August 3, 1905. He was descended from Scotch-Irish stock and his pronounced military instinct may have been a heritage. His people were concerned in the early struggles for independence in thought and action in Scotland and Ireland, while his American ancestors bore a part in the War of the Revolution and the peaceable settlement of Kentucky. His father, Rev. James A. Carnahan, was born in Kentucky and was a pioneer preacher of the Presbyterian church, at a time when the teaching of the Word in the Kentucky mountains was almost as great a test of courage as the de- fending of a fortress with muskets. After becoming a resident of Indiana he preached for many years at Dayton, and was one of the three founders of Wabash College, at Crawfordsville. His wife died when their son, James R., was a child.
Until he was fifteen years of age the youth attended school as his father directed, but the latter's means were too limited to ensure a college course for the son and as the latter was ambitious he decided to earn for himself the funds necessary to carry him to his proposed goal. He secured a position as bookkeeper and with great self-denial put aside a part of his small salary and watched it grow with increasing hope, but the panic of 1857 brought disaster to the institution in which his hardly earned money had been deposited and the college course appeared to be an impos- sibility. Not for long, however, for he was in earnest and with his sole capital of six dollars he enrolled as a student in Wabash College, at Crawfordsville, Indiana. He had no idea that any other magic than his own efforts would keep him there, but had determined to work his way as opportunity offered while carrying on his studies and, taking this practical view of the situation, sawed wood, swept floors, made fires and worked at gardening in order to honestly acquire the necessary capi- tal. He was a credit to his teachers and the institution and was already in his junior year when the first call came, in 1861, for soldiers to put down rebellion. Considering the efforts he had made to reach the proficiency in his studies that his standing displayed and with his graduation almost in view, it was something more to him to lay aside his books than for hundreds of others who did the same and endanger his whole future by becoming a soldier.
James R. Carnahan was but twenty years of age when he enlisted as a private
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in the Eleventh Indiana Volunteer Infantry, at Dayton. For two years prior to the breaking out of the Civil war he had been a member of a military company under the command of Captain, afterward Major-General, Lew Wallace, and had profited by the thorough drill and discipline, and this company became the Wallace Zouaves of the Eleventh infantry, which was immediately sent to the front and took part in one of the first battles of the war, at Romney, Virginia. His subse- quent military career was both honorable and brilliant. After the expiration of his first term of enlistment he re-enlisted, in 1862, and was commissioned in the Eighty-sixth Indiana and saw his first service with this regiment in the defense of Cincinnati, at the time of the threatened invasion of Ohio by General Kirby Smith, after which his regiment joined General Buell's army and took part in the battle of Perryville, Kentucky. In December, 1862, he was commissioned second lieu- tenant of Company K, and on September 4, 1863, was commissioned captain of Company I, Eighty-sixth Regiment, which was assigned to General Van Cleve's Division, Chittenden's (Twenty-first) Army Corps, Army of the Cumberland. He participated in the battle of Stone River and that of Chickamauga, and during the winter of 1863-4 was in the Atlanta campaign. During the campaign prior to and including the battle of Nashville, he was serving as aid-de-camp on the staff of Major- General T. J. Wood, then commanding the Fourth Army Corps, and received high commendation from the commanding general, and also from Major General Thomas, the commander of the Army of the Cumberland, for faithful and efficient service. Following the battle of Nashville, after Spring Hill, Columbia and Franklin, in East Tennessee, he took part in the final grand review of the troops of the Army of the Cumberland at Nashville, hostilities having ceased. During his army service he participated in thirty-three regular engagements and through well earned pro- motion became colonel of his regiment. At the close of the war he was tendered a colonel's commission in the regular army, which was a signal honor for so young a man, but this he declined and immediately returned to the walks of quiet life.
In 1866 Colonel Carnahan re-entered Wabash College and completed his inter- rupted course and in the same year was admitted to the bar and for a short time engaged in the practice of law at Indianapolis, later removing to Lafayette. In 1867 he was elected prosecuting attorney for Tippecanoe county, which position he filled for six years, and in 1874 was elected judge of the Tippecanoe criminal circuit court. His whole period of judicial life reflected credit on him as a jurist and emphasized his possession of the qualities which should mark every occupant of the bench. In 1881 he was appointed by Governor Porter adjutant-general of Indiana, a position he was especially well qualified to fill and in which his ample stores of knowledge of military routine and detail enabled him to perfect the military records of the state and to place its militia on a basis of efficiency and excellence unexcelled by any other commonwealth. With the above appointment he was com- missioned brigadier-general of the Indiana State Guard and it was then that he removed to Indianapolis, where he maintained his subsequent home. During his five years of service as adjutant-general he brought order out of chaos and he planned and directed the first state militia encampment ever held in Indiana.
Although his military and judicial activities had already brought him distinction, the real life work of General Carnahan lay in another direction. In 1874 Judge Carnahan became a member of the Lafayette Lodge of Knights of Pythias, and the interest he took in the organization grew into enthusiasm and became the leading
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force in his life. After filling successively the chairs of Lafayette Lodge, he entered the Grand Lodge as representative and in January, 1880, he was elected grand chancellor of Indiana. He was looked on as the founder of the Uniform Rank, the distinctly military organization of the order. In the winter of 1876-77 he organ- ized what was then known as the Lafayette Knight of Pythias Drill Corps and the code of laws regulating this important branch of the order is his work. In 1884 he was commissioned first major general and placed in command of the Uniform Rank, Knights of Pythias of the World. At the Supreme Lodge meetings he had charge and led the parades of the Uniform Rank, commanding from 8,000 to 15,000 men. In 1885 he wrote a history of the order and this is one of the standard works of the fraternity.
General Carnahan was also actively identified with the Grand Army of the Republic from the time of its organization. He served two successive terms as department commander; was a leader in the work that resulted in the building of the Soldiers' Monument at Indianapolis; was largely instrumental in securing, through the Grand Army and by favorable action of the legislature, the establish- ment of the State Soldiers' Home at Lafayette and was one of the commissioners selected to choose its site and for eight years served as president of its board of trustees; and was a member of the Indiana Chickamauga commission and in his office as its secretary prepared a report giving an accurate history of the part that Indi- ana took in that disastrous battle. General Carnahan was also identified with the Masonic fraternity, transferring his membership from Lafayette to Mystic Tie Lodge at Indianapolis. He subsequently was advanced to the thirty-second degree and was a member of the Scottish Rite.
General Carnahan was united in marriage with Miss Sue E. Patterson, who is a daughter of John P. and Amanda (Harrington) Patterson. The father of Mrs. Carnahan was born and educated at Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, later came to Nobles- ville, Indiana, where he married and embarked there in the dry goods business. Later he continued in this line at Indianapolis, first with a Mr. Russell, and after- ward engaged with William H. Morrison, in the wholesale grocery line, under the firm style of W. H. Morrison & Company. For many years this firm was widely known in Indiana and the partnership continued until Mr. Patterson retired. His death occurred when he was eighty-one years of age and his burial was at Crown Hill cemetery. Politically he was a Republican and fraternally a Mason. At the time of his decease he was one of the oldest members of the Roberts Park Presby- terian church. The mother of Mrs. Carnahan was born at Mt. Clemens, Michigan, and died at Indianapolis at the age of seventy years. Two daughters of the family survive: Mrs. Carnahan and Nellie, who is the widow of Daniel Winnings and a resident of Indianapolis. Mrs. Carnahan was born at Noblesville, Indiana, and has always lived in her native state. She still owns the old family home in Woodruff Place, one of the stately old mansions of the beautiful city of Indianapolis. Mrs. Carnahan is a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution through her great-grandfather, Elisha Clayton, who served with bravery in the Revolutionary war. The three daughters born to General and Mrs. Carnahan survive and all have domestic circles of their own. The eldest, Lorene, is the wife of Michael Steel Bright and they have one son, Michael Carnahan, and reside at Superior, Wisconsin. The second daughter, Lida, is the wife of Herbert A. Ashbrook and has one daugh- ter by a previous marriage, Elizabeth. They reside at Cleveland, Ohio. Nellie A.,
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the youngest daughter, is the wife of Professor R. H. Hess, of the Wisconsin University. General Carnahan was a deacon in the Second Presbyterian church at Indianapolis for many years and Mrs. Carnahan has been active in its charitable and benevolent work.
In summing up the life and services of such a man as General Carnahan, no necessity is found for flowery fiction or glittering generalities. His work stands for itself and proclaims him to have been worthy of the great esteem in which he will ever be held. Whether as soldier or civilian, whether before the public eye or in the quiet home circle he was a dependable man, one of poise who was never swayed by prejudice or led from performing what he deemed his duty by any temptation. In his life there rests much to think over and his example may well be brought before the youth of the day, its lessons being the teaching of industry, persistence, integrity and a deep and abiding patriotism.
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Calbin F. Darnell
L ONG a resident of Indianapolis and a native son of Marion county, the late Calvin Fletcher Darnell was a scion of one of the honored pioneer families of this section of Indiana and here he passed his entire life. His individuality was pronounced and his character was the positive expression of a strong and noble na- ture. His personality was not one to be obscured, and he is re- memhered with sentiments of gracious appreciation by all who knew him, for his genial and buoyant disposition, his ready wit and humor, his alert mentality and his unfailing kindliness of spirit made him always a delightful companion, the while his sterling character entitled him to the unqualified confidence and respect in which he was held in the community. Few men not in public life in Indianapolis were better known, and to know him was to admire and esteem him. He was an ever welcome figure in and about the city and it may consistently be said that he added to the goodness and gladness of life. The major part of his active career was devoted to successful operations as a contractor and builder, and as a citizen he was essentially loyal and public-spirited. He died in the attractive old homestead at 1422 North Illinois street on the 11th of October, 1902, and his vener- able widow passed the residue of her life in this home, in which they had main- tained their ideal companionship for nearly a half century.
Calvin Fletcher Darnell, named in honor of Calvin Fletcher, one of the most dis- tinguished of the early settlers of Indianapolis, was born on a farm six miles west of this city, near the old National road, on the 22d of December, 1832. His father, Lewis Darnell, was one of the pioneer farmers of that locality and was a man who ever commanded secure place in popular confidence and esteem, both he and his wife having continued their residence in Marion county until their death and the names of both meriting enduring place on the roster of the sterling pioneers of the county to whose social and material development they contributed their quota. Cal- vin F. Darnell was reared to the sturdy discipline of the pioneer farm, and in later years he frequently reverted in appreciative reminiscence to the time when, as a youth, he had been accustomed to drawing cord wood from the home farm to the embryonic metropolis of the state by means of an ox team, with a horse as leader: he received seventy-five cents a cord for his fuel. He continued to he actively iden- tified with agricultural operations until 1846, when, at the age of fourteen years, he was thrown from a horse and so injured that he became a cripple for life, one of his legs being much shorter than the other, owing to the improper manipulations of the attending physician, who was intoxicated at the time. He had previously attended the pioneer school in the vicinity of his home and after the accident noted he con- tinued his studies in a primitive log school-house on Eagle creek. He became a specially skillful penman and for several years he devoted more or less attention to the teaching of penmanship, a work in which he was most successful. Taking into account his physical infirmity, Mr. Darnell determined to turn his attention to some
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vocation in which the same would not constitute a special handicap. Accordingly, in 1851, he entered upon an apprenticeship at the carpenter's trade, and during his apprenticeship he received the liberal stipend of fifty cents a day, from which he provided for his own board. In 1853 he purchased, for a consideration of two hundred dollars, the lot on which his old homestead still stands, on North Illinois street, and at that time the locality was hardly considered as a part of the city of Indianapolis, as the district still was literally in the woods. In 1854 he erected on this lot a small house of one room, and in the following year he married and brought his bride to this modest domicile. Their marriage was one of romantic order, as they eloped and thus disregarded the wishes of the bride's parents, who had entered objection on account of her youth, her age at the time having been but seventeen years. The young couple bravely faced the problem of life and, sustained by mutual affection and common interests, they made their modest little home justify the name. The present attractive old homestead was erected by Mr. Darnell about the year 1877 and is now occupied by his foster-daughter, Mrs. Wilmer H. Cast.
In 1856 Mr. Darnell engaged in independent business as a contractor and builder, and to this line of enterprise he continued to devote his attention with ex- cellent success for a term of years, but he lived virtually retired for many years prior to his death. He is credited with having devised the Australian ballot system now so uniformly used in political elections throughout the United States. Mr. Darnell knew Indianapolis in its infancy and none took deeper interest in its de- velopment and progress, his loyalty being shown in both words and works. He was elected to the city council in 1873, from the old Eleventh ward, and was chosen as his own successor in the election of 1875, notwithstanding he had as opponents some of the most prominent and influential citizens of the ward. Then, as ever, he showed his strong hold upon popular confidence and esteem. As a member of the council he took advanced ground and was zealous in the support of all progressive measures. His indefatigable efforts in securing the opening of new streets gained to him the title of the "Great American Street-opener." In 1878 Mr. Darnell was elected county recorder and at the expiration of his term he was re-elected, so that he continued the incumbent of this office for four consecutive years, during which he gave a most admirable administration and proved one of the most valued and popu- lar of the county officials. He cast in his lot with the Republican party at the time of its organization and ever afterward continued a stalwart and uncompromising advo- cate of its principles and policies, as an influential factor in its local councils. From an article appearing in the Indianapolis News at the time of his death are taken the following extracts, which are well worthy of reproduction in this more enduring vehicle: "Mr. Darnell was one of the best known characters of the city council during his two terms, 1873-5. He lived in and around Indianapolis all his life. * * Fond of argument, 'Cal,' as he was generally known, was a familiar fig- ure about all the public offices during the last few years. He was a jovial soul and had many friends. Nothing pleased him better than a political argument, and his especial loafing place was the mayor's office, where he was always welcome." His genial presence was sorely missed in the city which had so long been his home and in which he had hosts of loyal friends. In a reminiscent way it may be noted that the father of Mr. Darnell was one of the most prosperous farmers of Marion county. He came here with his father from North Carolina in 1823, and it is a matter of record that he molded some of the brick that were utilized in the erection of the old court house about that time. His brother Samuel filled in the yard about the old and
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