USA > Indiana > Marion County > Indianapolis > Memorial record of distinguished men of Indianapolis and Indiana > Part 39
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CHARLES II. MCDOWELL
Charles D. McDowell
HOUGH summoned from the scene of life's mortal endeavors in T the very flower of his young manhood, the late Charles Hamilton McDowell had admirably proved his powers of accomplishment and had achieved definite success through his own energies and well directed endeavors, the while his rectitude, his genial per- sonality and his usefulness as one of the world's productive workers gained and retained to him the unqualified confidence and regard of his fellow men. He built up in Indianapolis a most prosperous business as an interior decorator and as a dealer in wall paper, picture mouldings, etc., and the enterprise established by him is still successfully conducted by his widow, who had been his valued coadjutor in the same.
Charles Hamilton McDowell was born in the city of St. Louis, Missouri, on the 25th of December, 1880, and he thus became a welcome Christmas guest in the home of his parents, John and Flora E. (Davage) McDowell, both of whom are now de- ceased, the father having been a decorator and paper-hanger during the greater part of his active business career. The subject of this memoir was a child at the time of the family removal from his native city to Louisville, Kentucky, where he was reared to adult age and where he availed himself of the advantages of the public schools and a business college. His first employment was in the capacity of clerk in a drug store in Louisville, where he also was employed for some time as a book- keeper. He finally learned the trade of decorator and paper-hanger under the di- rection of his father, and with this line of work he thereafter continued to be ac- tively identified until his death. In 1900 he decided to locate in the city of Memphis, Tennessee, and en route to his destination he came to Indianapolis. He was in- duced to remain in this city at the solicitation of his uncle, Henry Clay McDowell, who was here engaged in business as a decorator. He worked with his uncle for two years and then engaged in the same line of enterprise in an independent way, by opening an establishment at 915 South Illinois street. There be built up a prosperous business in the handling of wall paper and picture mouldings. In con- nection with which he did general interior decorating. After about six months he removed to more eligible quarters, at 933 South Meridian street, where he continued operations until the autumn of 1908, when he purchased the property adjoining, at 935 South Meridian street. The house on this lot he removed to the rear and then erected on the street front a substantial two-story building, for store and factory. At this location the business is still continued by his widow. Energy, progressive policies, the best of service and fair and honorable dealings brought to Mr. McDowell a large and appreciative patronage, and he gained prestige as one of the representa- tive men in his line of enterprise in the capital city. He devoted himself closely to his business and also became a stockholder in the Capital City Brewing Company and the Citizens' Gas Company. His advancement represented the direct results
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of his own efforts and he was honored as a reliable and substantial business man, as well as a progressive and public-spirited citizen.
In politics Mr. McDowell was not constrained by strict partisan lines but gave his support to the men and measures meeting the approval of his judgment. He was affiliated with various Masonic bodies in his home city and in this time-honored fraternity he received the thirty-second degree of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite. He held membership in the Madison Avenue Methodist Episcopal church and was zealous and liberal in the support of the various departments of its work, his widow likewise being a devoted member of this church. Mr. McDowell was but thirty years of age when he was summoned to the life eternal, his death having oc- curred on the 31st of January, 1911. He had a wide circle of friends in Indian- apolis and his death was deeply lamented in the community. His fine attributes of character were exemplified most beautifully in his home life, which was ideal in its relations, and his devotion to his family was of the most intense order. His wife was indeed his companion and helpmeet, and through her assistance in the management of his business she gained an intimate knowledge of the same, this having proved most fortunate, in that she has been able to carry forward the enter- prise with uninterrupted success since he passed away.
On the 10th of January, 1901, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. McDowell to Miss Frances McIntyre, daughter of James and Keziah (Glover) McIntyre, of Franklin, Johnson county, Indiana, where she was born and reared and where ber father still maintains his home,-a surveyor and contractor by vocation. The mother is deceased and of the children two daughters are living, Jennie Jones, of this city, and Mrs. McDowell. Mr. and Mrs. McDowell became the parents of one son, Charles H., Jr., who was born on the 15th of February, 1903, and who is a fine little lad, the chief comfort and pride of his devoted mother.
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William Phelps Ransford
HE life and work of William Phelps Ransford, from 1869 a resi- T dent of Indianapolis, until the time of his death, which occurred on March 18, 1902, was one of varying interests, and a brief review of his career discloses many and divers experiences which throw considerable light upon the versatile character of the man. In the fullest sense, he was the architect of his own fortunes, depending as he did entirely upon his own resources from his early youth. As clerk, then proprietor of a number of stores throughout the country, back to a position of traveling salesman as a result of heavy financial losses, pioneer in the laying out and establishing of a Nebraska town, real estate dealer, gold miner,-all these various occupations took his time and attention up to 1869, when he came to Indianapolis and engaged in the insurance business, and this line of endeavor proved so successful a venture with him that he continued with it until just prior to his demise.
William Phelps Ransford was born at Norwich, New York, on September 7, 1821. He was the son of William and Emily (Phelps) Ransford, natives of Con- necticut, and among the pioneer settlers of Norwich. They were the parents of one other child,-Martha Louise, who married Henry Crouse. The son was an at- tendant of the Norwich schools in his boyhood, and as a lad in his 'teens secured work as a clerk in a local store. When he was about twenty-two years of age he came to Indiana, locating first at Michigan City, where he worked as a clerk in the general store of Mr. Blair, and there he remained for three years, after which time Mr. Blair took him into the business as a partner. After a number of years in that capacity he, together with a clerk of the Blair store, entered into a partnership and went to La Porte, Indiana, where they opened a general store. Like most general stores of that day, they carried a widely varying stock to meet the demands of the trade, and meeting with a fair degree of success the young men established branch stores in various smaller towns in their vicinity and kept a number of wagons on the road in the country districts, for the accommodation of those who found trav- eling to market a difficult matter. They sold out their interests in La Porte even- tually and located in Toledo, entering the same business, but there they met with heavy financial reverses due to the untimely failing of a bank. They next entered into similar business in Des Moines, there meeting with indifferent success. The death of Mr. Ransford's wife disheartened him for further business ventures, and he sold out his interests in the then existing business and took a position as traveling representative for Seamans & Company of New York City. After two years de- voted to that work Mr. Ransford went to Nebraska, and he was one of those who as- sisted in the laying out of the new town called Fort Calhoun, situated about fifteen miles from Omaha. There he engaged in the real estate business, and he accumu- lated a considerable property in that section of the country. In 1858, when gold was discovered in the west, he with a party of others went to Denver and became
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engaged in gold mining. They had one of the first water power plants to be used in gold mining, and their efforts were attended by a fair degree of success at times. Mrs. Ransford now wears a ring made from some of the gold he washed out, and which she cherishes as a valued memento of the life of her husband in the days be- fore she became his wife. He remained in that part of the country for about three years, when the breaking out of the Civil war brought about such a depreciation in the value of properties there that he disposed of his interests and returned to La- Porte, and there he again engaged in his old time mercantile business. His interests were retained until 1869, when he became associated with the Hartford Life Insur- ance Company of Hartford, Connecticut, and came to Indianapolis as state agent for that company. He remained thus connected until the failure of the company just previous to his death, which occurred on March 18, 1902.
Mr. Ransford was a Mason, and was a member of that fraternity for more than fifty years. At the time of his death he was a member of Ancient Landmark Lodge No. 319, F. & A. M. He was also a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He was a strong Republican, and was deeply interested in the welfare of that party, being always active in its behalf.
On April 25, 1858, Mr. Ransford married Nettie Campbell, the daughter of Robert and Grace (McIntyre) Campbell, both of whom were born in Scotland and who came to America in early life, settling in Herkimer county, New York, in which county Mrs. Ransford was born. Two children were born to them, both of whom are deceased. Nettie L. died at the age of twenty-two months and Ida G. lived to reach the age of fourteen years and eight months before she was taken from them by death. Both are buried in Crown Hill cemetery, as is also the father, Mr. Ransford. By a previous marriage Mr. Ransford was the father of two children, William H. and Ella, both of whom are also deceased.
Mrs. Ransford has always taken a particularly prominent place in the social life of Indianapolis, as well as in fraternal circles, in which she is particularly inter- ested. She is the publisher of The Eastern Star, a stirring little magazine of six- teen pages devoted to the work of the order. The magazine was founded by Mrs. Ransford in 1888, and was the first paper of its kind to be published. It has an enormous circulation, finding its way to every hamlet and city in America where the Order of the Eastern Star is represented, and even as far distant as South Africa, and the success of the magazine is a high tribute to the executive ability of its publisher. Mrs. Ransford has been a member of the Eastern Star for more than forty years, and was present at the meeting in which the order was organized in Indianapolis. She attended every meeting of the order since organization in the old Masonic hall in 1876, and has ever been foremost in the good works of the society. She has held many offices during the years of her affiliation with the society. She was most worthy grand matron of the General Grant Chapter from 1889 to 1892; grand matron of Indiana from 1879 to 1883; grand secretary for Indiana from 1894 to 1912 and still retains that office; worthy matron of Queen Esther chapter for 1875, 1876, 1877 and 1885; secretary of Queen Esther chapter, No. 3, in 1887; president of Eastern Star Home Board, all of the Order of Eastern Star. In all of these offices, which carry with them much of honor, as well as mul- titudinous duties calling for ability of a high order, Mrs. Ransford has acquitted herself with distinction, winning high encomiums from all who are connected with the work of the order, and being retained in the various offices for several years of consecutive service, a fact which is eloquent of the character and intrinsic value of
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Mrs. Ransford as a woman and as an executive. In addition to her interest in the Eastern Star, she has been prominent in the work of the Woman's Relief Corps of Indiana, and has held many important offices in that worthy organization, and has also been president of the Local Council of Women of Indianapolis.
Mrs. Ransford is a woman of about seventy-three years of age, but has the ac- tivity of a woman of not more than fifty. The fact that she has full charge of the magazine of which she is the publisher amply indicates her splendid vitality of mind and body for a woman of her age. Previous to her connection with the Eastern Star, Mrs. Ransford was manager of the Women's News, published in Indianapolis, in which work she was particularly successful. She is a member of Christ church of the Episcopal faith, and is active and prominent in the work of that denomination. Mrs. Ransford has been a resident of Indianapolis since 1869, and is recognized as one of the most prominent women of her city. By reason of her many admirable traits as a woman of character, education and refinement she has won and retains in the hearts of a large circle of people a secure place which will endure through all time.
Wlilliam F. Kenley
3S A wholesale dealer in men's hats the late William Fluke Henley A long held prestige as one of the representative figures in the commercial activities of Indiana's capital city and metropolis, and here he stood exponent of those progressive policies and that high civic loyalty through the medium of which the city has been advanced to its present important status as an indus- trial and commercial center. He was a man of distinctive abil- ity and his character was cast in a noble mould, so that he eminently merited the confidence and high regard in which he was held in the community that so long figured as his home and the stage of his successful business activities. He came to Indiana as a youth and it was his to represent this state as a loyal and valiant sol- dier of the Union in the Civil war, in which he made an admirable record and one that well lend enduring honor to his name. His career was prolific in worthy achievement and in his death, which occurred on the 30th of March, 1910, Indian- apolis lost one of its representative business men and one of its most loyal and popu- lar citizens.
William Fluke Henley was born on a plantation in Randolph county, North Carolina, on the 3d of July, 1840, and was the only son of John and Elizabeth (Coffin) Henley, who also had two daughters, both of whom are now deceased. The lineage of the Henley family is traced back to staunch English origin and the orig- inal progenitors in America landed at Nantucket, Rhode Island, in the colonial era of our national history. William F. Henley was a child at the time of his mother's death and he was taken into the home of his maternal grandmother, Mrs. Elitha Coffin, a most noble and gracious woman, under whose earnest and loving care he was reared. With her he came to Indiana when a lad of sixteen years and the home was established on a farm near Amo, Hendricks county, where he was reared to adult age and where he supplemented in the public schools the educational dis- cipline which he had received in his native state. He also availed himself of the advantages of Earlham College, at Richmond, this state, an admirable institution which has long been conducted under the auspices of the Society of Friends, of which his loved and devoted grandmother was a member.
Though a native son of the southland, the sympathies of Mr. Henley were en- tirely with the Union when the war between the states was precipitated, and in July, 1862, he gave patent evidence of his loyalty by enlisting as a private in Company I, Fifty-fourth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, his age at the time having been twenty- two years. He proceeded with his regiment to the front and at the expiration of his three months' term of enlistment the regiment was reorganized and he re-en- listed, as a member of Company B. He took part in the various battles and minor engagements in which his command was involved and was ever found at the post of duty, a valiant and faithful soldier and one who gained the high regard of his com- rades and officers. He took part in the siege of Vicksburg, the engagements at
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William F. Denlep
Black River and Champion Hills, and numerous other conflicts with the enemy, and he was mustered out on the 15th of December, 1863, duly receiving his honorable discharge. He then returned to the homestead farm of his grandmother, and it may well be stated that his devotion and solicitude attended this gracious and loved kinswoman until she was summoned to eternal rest, at a venerable age.
Mr. Henley remained on the farm one summer, during which he recuperated from the debilitating effects of his army life, and he then came to Indianapolis, where he entered the employ of the Conduett & Cook Company, wholesale grocers, with which concern he continued to be connected in the capacity of traveling sales- man for many years thereafter. He severed his association with this company on the Ist of January, 1881, when he effected the organization of the firm of Henley, Hen- derson & Lefler and engaged in the wholesale dealing in hats, caps, gloves, etc. He was senior partner in the firm and held the greater part of its capitalistic stock. The headquarters of the business was established in the wholesale district in South Meridian street and after being identified with the enterprise about three years Mr. Henley disposed of his interest in the same and removed to Omaha, Nebraska, where he was identified with the same line of enterprise about one year. He then returned to Indianapolis and organized the Henley & Eaton Company, with which he was engaged in the same field of enterprise for several years, with headquarters in South Meridian street. The business was finally closed out by the interested principals, and thereafter Mr. Henley lived virtually retired until his death, though he found ample demand upon his time and attention in connection with his official position in the Commercial Travelers' Association, of which he was long one of the most prominent and popular members. He was elected president of this organiza- tion in 1882 and served in this office one year. In 1891 he was elected its secretary and treasurer, and of this dual office he continued the able and popular incumbent for the long period of eighteen years, his retirement coming only when death ended his labors. He was a most careful and discriminating executive and handled the large and important interests of the association with punctilious fidelity, his posi- tion demanding his control of the large financial affairs of the organization, whose every member delighted to call him a friend, while those of the association who knew him personally gave to him a most loyal and affectionate regard.
Although Mr. Henley was essentially liberal, progressive and public-spirited as a citizen, he never sought or desired the honors or emoluments of political office. He was affiliated with the Masonic fraternity and his interest in his old comrades of the Civil war was one of the most insistent and appreciative order. He was a valued and honored member of George H. Thomas Post, Grand Army of the Re- public, in Indianapolis, and it is worthy of special note that he had the distinction of being the contributor of the first dollar to the fund which eventually made pos- sible the erection of the magnificent Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument in Indian- apolis,-one of the finest in the world and one that gives to the city a peculiar dis- tinction. The religious faith of Mr. Henley was that of the Methodist Episcopal church and he was most earnest and zealous in the furtherance of the various depart- ments of its work. He held membership in the Central Avenue church of that de- nomination for more than a quarter of a century and was one of the oldest adherents at the time of his death. He was a class leader in the same for many years and also served as one of its stewards. The associations of his home constituted the main solace and interest of Mr. Henley, and concerning the ideal relations of the domestic chapter in his career there can be no desire to enter into details other
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than those of simple statement. In the city of Indianapolis, on the 9th of May, 1878, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Henley to Miss Eva L. Coffin, who was born in North Carolina, and who was a child of three years when she accompanied her widowed mother to Indiana, her father having died in North Carolina. She is a daughter of Cyrus and Martha (Cook) Coffin, both likewise natives of South Carolina. On coming to Indiana the mother established her home at Knights- town, Henry county. Mrs. Henley has been a resident of Indiana's capital city for thirty-five years and is a popular factor in its social activities, as well as those of religious, charitable and benevolent order. She has long been a member of the Central Avenue Methodist Episcopal church, and in the same has been active in the work of the various women's societies. She now resides in the fine Victoria apartment building. Concerning the children of Mr. and Mrs. Henley brief record is given in conclusion of this memoir : May W. is the wife of Stoughton A. Fletcher, president of the Fletcher American Bank, and a representative of one of the oldest and most important families of Indianapolis, and they have two children,-Louisa and Stoughton A., III. Martha is the younger of the two children of Mrs. Henley.
Christian F. Heinrich
A
MAN of no little prominence in German circles of Indianapolis and one who by his inherent traits of thrift, honesty and pro- gressiveness achieved a pleasureable degree of success in a busi- ness way, and who by his many worthy qualities of citizenship left an undeniable imprint upon the annals of that city, was Christian F. Heinrich, a citizen of Indianapolis from 1866 up to the hour of his death, which occurred on March 21, 1910.
Christian F. Heinrich was born in Wurtemberg, Germany, on November 6, 1847. He was reared and educated in the town of his birth, coming to America at the age of nineteen years and locating directly in Indianapolis. He was the only child of his parents, and was the only one of his family to immigrate to America; thus he was practically alone in this country until he assumed marriage ties and became the head of a family. On settling in Indianapolis the young man secured employment in the butcher business, and in a comparatively short time was able to enter into business on his own responsibility. His efforts in that line were attended by suc- cess and he was soon the proprietor of a thriving retail meat business, which he maintained throughout his life-time, although he gradually took over other interests and became known as one of the prominent business men of the city. He became interested in real estate, and with the passing of years was able to accumulate a goodly estate, his holdings at the time of his death assuming splendid proportions, and representing a lifetime of worthy endeavor in the interests of his family. He was one of the best known men of his class, and was among the oldest men in his line of business in point of number of years in continuous devotion to the work, and was for twenty-two years located in one place, between Eleventh and Twelfth streets. From the beginning Mr. Heinrich was a dealer of splendid repute, and much of the success of his life was due to the unerring instinct for fair dealing which was in him so marked a characteristic.
Death came to Mr. Heinrich in a most unexpected manner. While working about the home premises he fell from a step-ladder, breaking an arm and leg and receiving serious internal injuries. Peritonitis conditions developed two days fol- lowing the accident, and he passed away on Good Friday of the same week in which the accident occurred. His death was wholly unexpected and was a pitiful shock to his family and to the many friends who continue to mourn his loss. Of his un- timely passing, the News of Indianapolis, under date of March 26, 1910, has to say: "Christian F. Heinrich, well known among the Germans of this city, died yes- terday evening as the result of a fall of several days ago. Mr. Heinrich was sixty- two years old, and lived on North Capital avenue. At the time of the accident he was trimming his grape vines and to reach the topmost vines he climbed to the top of the arbor. The farmework gave way and in the fall to the ground he broke his arm, hip and leg, all on the left side. He was born in Germany and came to America in 1866, settling in this city. He was engaged in the meat business for
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