USA > Indiana > Marion County > Indianapolis > Memorial record of distinguished men of Indianapolis and Indiana > Part 4
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Hannibal S. Tucker
VERY genuine and worthy life has a distinct didactic value, and thus the lessons of biography are not to be held in light E esteem. Such a career as that of the late Hannibal Smith Tucker offers incentive and inspiration and thus record con- cerning the same cannot fail of enduring worth. He came to Indianapolis in 1865, as a young man recently retired from valiant service as a soldier of the Union in the war between the north and south, and he became one of the leading retail merchants of the capital city, where he was engaged in the glove business for nearly thirty years. He was a man whose integrity of purpose was inviolable; he was a citizen who gave his influence in support of all that tended to advance the general welfare of the community; and he held by virtue of his sterling character and attractive per- sonality, a high place in the esteem of the community in which he so long main- tained his home.
Mr. Tucker was a scion of the staunchest of New England colonial stock in both the paternal and maternal lines and claimed the old Pine Tree State as the place of his nativity. He received his personal name in honor of his father's most intimate and valued friend, Hannibal Smith, who was a representative citi- zen of Maine. Mr. Tucker was born at West Peru, Oxford county, Maine, on the 13th of November, 1844, and at his home in Indianapolis he was summoned to the life eternal on the 26th of June, 1904; his remains being laid to rest in beau- tiful Crown Hill cemetery. William Tucker, father of the subject of this memoir, was born in Massachusetts, where the family was founded in the early colonial days, and there he was reared and educated. His wife, whose maiden name was Lydia Ludden, was a daughter of Judge Ludden, a prominent and influential citi- zen and jurist of Maine and a descendent of Joseph Ludden, who was a member of the historic "Boston tea party." Levi Ludden, another representative of the family, was captain of militia in the war of 1812, and Hon. Timothy Ludden, who was a distinguished citizen of Maine, served as captain in the militia of that state in 1841, when the troops were called into action in defending the northeast boundary of the United States. He later served as probate judge and as a reporter of the supreme court decisions of his state. His wife was a direct descendent of George Soule, one of the Pilgrim Fathers. The parents of Mr. Tucker continued to reside in Maine until their death and well upheld the prestige of the honored names which they bore.
To the schools of his native village Hannibal S. Tucker was indebted for his early education, which was supplemented by a course of study in Hebron Academy, at Hebron, Maine. His birthplace, West Peru, is located in the county of Oxford, in the southwestern part of Maine, and the section early developed into one of the most prosperous in that commonwealth. As a boy Mr. Tucker found a full quota of pleasurable experiences in his fishing trips to the Rangely lakes and
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Dannibal S. Tucker
Androscoggin river, on whose banks West Peru is located, and in later years he often referred with deep appreciation to the scenes and episodes of his youth. He was not yet seventeen years of age at the inception of the Civil war, and his youthful patriotism was not long to be curbed. In 1862, when about eighteen years old, he tendered his services in defense of the Union by enlisting as a private in the Twenty-third Maine Volunteer Infantry. He proceeded with his command to the front and while his regiment did not take part in any of the great battles it had the full quota of arduous service. He continued in the ranks until the close of his term of enlistment and duly received his honorable discharge. In later years he perpetuated the more gracious memories of his army life through his affiliation with George H. Thomas Post, Grand Army of the Republic, in Indian- apolis, and his popularity in the same was of the most unqualified order, his com- rades of the post according to him the highest regard.
After the close of his military career Mr. Tucker continued his studies for some time in Hebron Academy, and in 1865, shortly after the close of the war, he came to Indianapolis, in company with his brother Oscar M., who had been called here to assume a position in the public schools and who has long been one of the representative factors in educational circles in Pennsylvania, his home being at the present time in the city of Pittsburgh. Soon after his arrival in the Indiana capital Mr. Tucker secured a position with Gruesendorff's large mercantile establish- ment in West Washington street, and later he became associated with N. R. Smith & Company. About the year 1868 he initiated his independent career by opening a select dry goods establishment at 9 North Pennsylvania street.
In 1878 he decided to specialize in gloves and was the first in the west at least to fit gloves to the hand, clean, repair and issue merchandise certificates. These innovations were soon copied by his business rivals. He built up the largest glove business in the middle west, and was known as liberal and progressive, ready to co-operate in the furtherance of any measure for the benefit of the community. Soon after his death the business which he had founded and brought to a thriving status at No. 10 East Washington street, was removed to 42 North Pennsylvania street, where it is still conducted. It was incorporated in 1910, under the title of the Tucker Glove Company, and Mrs. Tucker retains her husband's interest in the company, of which she is president.
Essentially a business man, Mr. Tucker had no desire to identify himself with the activities of so-called practical politics, though he was loyal to all civic duties and responsibilities and accorded a staunch allegiance to the Republican party. He was a valued member of the Commercial Club and also held membership in other local societies. His religious convictions and faith were dominating elements of his makeup and were shown forth in quiet sincerity and earnest zeal. He was a deacon in the Second Presbyterian church for thirty-one years and was most zealous in all departments of church activity and especially in mission Sunday- school work. He was one of those primarily instrumental in organizing the Sun- day-school from which the Memorial Presbyterian church was developed and also that which formed the nucleus for the Fourth Presbyterian church. Mindful of the pleasures enjoyed in his youthful days, Mr. Tucker never lost his fondness and predilection for wholesome outdoor sports, including baseball. He was spec- ially a devotee of fishing and few men have had a more thorough knowledge con- cerning the many beautiful lakes and rivers of his native state. Nearly every sum- mer found him enjoying the piscatorial lures of Maine, Wisconsin or Indiana and
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this attractive sport constituted his chief diversion. He had to his credit the draw- ing forth of two of the largest trout ever caught in the Rangely lakes so far as record is available, and these two trophies he had finely mounted, as tangible evi- dences of his prowess as a disciple of Isaak Walton. Mrs. Tucker still retains the two souvenirs, which invariably attract the admiring attention of observers.
The intrinsic strength and beauty of the character of Mr. Tucker were shown in kindly thoughts and kindly deeds. He always had time to respond to the needs of those in affliction or distress and his private charities and benevolences were proffered without ostentation. He had no desire to accumulate a great fortune, but realized that it is the duty of every man to achieve such success as lies within his powers, so that he was diligent in business, the while he found time and oppor- tunity to cultivate those things which represent the higher ideals of life.
On the 17th of August, 1870, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Tucker to Miss Robina Henry Sharpe, who was born near and reared in Indianapolis and who is a daughter of Amos Howard and Mary Eggleston (Bush) Sharpe, the former a native of Kentucky and the latter of Marion county, Indiana, where her parents established their home in the early pioneer days. Amos Howard Sharpe came to Indianapolis from Kentucky when a youth, later dying in Missouri. He passed away in 1861, at the age of forty-five years, and his wife was summoned to the life eternal in 1856, at the age of thirty-seven years. Ebenezer Sharpe, grandfather of Mrs. Tucker, was born in Cecil county, Maryland, in 1777, and was of staunch Scotch-Irish lineage, the authentic genealogy being traced back to Donald Thane of Cawdor, counties of Nairn and Inverness, Scotland, in the year 1295. Ebenezer was the early educator in the first classical school in Indiana. Representatives of the Sharpe family were prominently identified with the development and religious activi- ties of Maryland, where four brothers of the original progenitors settled upon their immigration to this country. Four brothers of Ebenezer Sharpe were valiant sol- diers in the Continental line in the war of the Revolution, and one of the number was a member of the military staff of General Washington.
Mr. and Mrs. Tucker became the parents of four children, concerning whom the following brief data are given: William Frederick Tucker, born January 27, 1873, died March 18, 1898; Charles Spann Tucker, born January 19, 1875, died January 2, 1899; Rena Estelle is the wife of Albert R. Kohmann, who has prac- tical charge of the business of the Tucker Glove Company, of which he is secretary and treasurer, and Eleanor Eggleston is the wife of Elliott Durand, engaged in mer- cantile business in the city of Chicago, and they have one child, Elliott III. Mrs. Tucker and her daughters are members of the Presbyterian church. Mrs. Tucker has long been a factor in the best social life of her home city and has been influential in educational, benevolent and charitable affairs. She is specially interested in the work of the Indianapolis Kindergarten Society and Indiana Library School, to the furtherance of whose interests she has contributed much time and energy.
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John & Burk
John C. Burk
T IS the glory of the American social and industrial system that it affords opportunities for winning success through indi- I vidual effort, no matter how humble the beginning. The ster- ling citizen whose name initiates this review was one who made an admirable record as one of the world's productive workers, and he gained precedence as a representative business man of West Indianapolis, of which section of the Indiana metropolis he may be said to have been a pioneer merchant, as he was among the first to be- come identified with the development and upbuilding of that now attractive dis- trict, where he was engaged in the shoe business at the time of his death. He was well known in Indianapolis and commanded the confidence of the community. He lived an upright, kindly and useful life, and it is but consistent that a tribute be paid to him in this publication. His death was most pitiable in its circumstances, as he was called suddenly and in the very height of his strong and useful manhood. He succumbed to an attack of heart disease while on a hunting trip in Hendricks county. He died on the 13th of January, 1909, and the circumstances attending his demise were noted at the time in the Indianapolis News, which gave the following record: "John Burk, a shoe dealer, whose place of business was in West Indianapolis, was seized with an attack of heart disease while hunting near Amo yesterday afternoon, and died within a short time. He had just eaten his luncheon, which he had carried with him, and his companions went around a hill to scare up some rabbits. Burk waited, expecting to get a shot. After a time his companions, hearing nothing of him, returned and found him lying on the ground dead. Mr. Burk was one of the best known citizens of Indianapolis, where he was engaged in business in one loca- tion for more than twenty-five years."
John Ernest Burk was born at St. Peters, Franklin county, Indiana, on the 8th of June, 1861, and was a son of John E. and Caroline (Sternhauser) Burk, both of whom were born and reared in Germany and both of whom passed the closing years of their lives in St. Peters, Franklin county, Indiana. Mr. Burk was reared ac- cording to the honest and benignant German system, so far as home associations were concerned, and he received such advantages as were afforded in the schools of his native place. As a youth he served a thorough apprenticeship to the shoe- maker's trade, in which he became a highly skilled workman, and he continued to be actively concerned with this line of enterprise until his death, though in later years his activities were more particularly in the conducting of a well equipped shoe store. He learned his trade at Harrison, Ohio, and later was employed as a journeyman in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Mr. Burk came to Indianapolis in the year 1881, when he was twenty years of age, and he opened a small shop on Virginia avenue. His excellent work and sterling integrity forthwith gained to him popular confidence and supporting pat- ronage, and within a short time he was enabled to purchase a lot on South Reisner
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John C. Burk
street, in what was then known as Belmont, but is now West Indianapolis. On this lot he erected a small building of three rooms, two of which were utilized for his residence and the third for his shop. There were very few houses in that section of the city at the time and wheat fields were more in evidence than were metropol- itan conditions. Mr. Burk secured a good trade, even in this somewhat isolated location, and with the upbuilding of the district his success became more pronounced. He was one of the first business men of West Indianapolis and in about 1885 he ex- panded the scope of his enterprise by putting in a small stock of boots and shoes. He gradually increased his facilities to keep in pace with his expanding and sub- stantial trade, and in 1900 he erected on the site of his first primitive building a substantial store and residence structure, in which he continued his business until his death. This building is located at 1352 South Reisner street, in the center of a thriving business district, and since the death of Mr. Burk his widow has successfully conducted the splendid business founded by him many years ago and brought to prosperity through his able, honest and effective endeavors. As a fine workman at his trade, Mr. Burk early secured a representative patronage, and his customers came from distant parts of the city to award their trade during the many years in which he conducted his establishment in the western division of the capital city. His circle of friends was exceptionally large and his intelligence, integrity and loy- alty well entitled him to the high esteem in which he was so uniformly held. He took a lively interest in all that concerned the general welfare of the community and was especially public-spirited in connection with furthering the progress and prosperity of the section in which he maintained his home and business.
Though he never cared to take an active part in political affairs, Mr. Burk had strong convictions regarding governmental policies and accorded an unswerving al- legiance to the Democratic party. He was a charter member of the Knights of Pythias, lodge No. 244, with which he was affiliated at the time of his demise, and was also a popular member of the Masonic fraternity, lodge No. 669, the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows, lodge No. 658, and the Improved Order of Red Men, lodge No. 120. His religious faith was sincere and zealons and he was a prominent and influential member of St. John's Second Reformed church, with which church his widow and children also are closely identified. The most gracious con- ditions and influences marked the home life of Mr. Burk, and his devotion to his wife and children was reciprocated by the utmost love and consideration on their part, so that his sudden death proved a bereavement whose poignancy was lessened only by the memories of his gentle and kindly life and his loving sympathy and care. He was a good man, a loyal citizen, and he performed well his part in life, though his career furnishes no dramatic phases. His remains were laid to rest in Crown Hill cemetery, where a fine monument has been erected to his memory.
In Indianapolis, on the 19th of November, 1885, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Burk to Miss Louisa Roth, who was born and reared in this city, where her father was for many years a successful carpenter and builder. She is a daughter of Jacob and Pauline (Engler) Roth, both of whom were born in Germany, whence the former came to America in 1868 and the latter in 1865, their marriage having been solemnized at Terre Haute, Indiana, from which point they came to Indian- apolis many years ago. Mr. Roth gained secure place as a representative con- tractor and builder and held the unqualified esteem of all who knew him. He died in this city in 1903, and his widow now lives with her daughter, Mrs. Burk. Mr.
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John @. Burk
and Mrs. Burk became the parents of three children, who survive their honored father: Edward J., who was born October 23, 1886, is engaged in the machinist's business; John E. Jr., who was born November 14, 1888, and who married Miss Martha Baker, is also a machinist by trade. He managed the shoe business which his father left for two and a half years, and it was later handled by Edward J., but is now being closed out. William H., born June 27, 1891, still remains in the ma- ternal home, and is an expert machinist, in common with his brothers.
W. HDe lotte
Dr. William Dolman De Motte
N THE death of Dr. William H. DeMotte, a great man passed from among us. He was one of those whose places may be I taken by others but never filled. It would be best, perhaps, be- fore telling the story of this man's life of self sacrifice to give some idea of his personality by quoting the words of some who knew him best. In an address upon the life of Dr. DeMotte that H. H. Hornbrook made before the Sunday-school of Mer- idian Street Methodist Episcopal church, he said, "Some men walk in darkness; others in the dusk; others in shifting shadow and light. He walked in the brilliant light of God's truth at all times. If I were asked to name his most striking char- acteristics, I would first think of these,-his sympathy, his faithfulness and devo- tion, his sweetness and fervency of spirit, his open mindedness, coupled with a firm conviction as to fundamental things. How broad his sympathy, his life given to the unfortunate, his joy in aiding those who were not blessed as we with the full measure of normal human faculties. To the deaf, with whom he spent most of his days from his young manhood, he was the teacher, leader and inspirer. Of his faithfulness-who can say enough? So many times when it has seemed a burden to come out to some meeting we have found him there, coming miles to our squares, and always cheerful, happy and content. And who does not recall with gladness his sweet and fervent spirit? How glad and joyous he was, how kind, how lovable. He drew you to himself by the very lovableness of the man." Dr. Joshua Stans- field says of him, "Dr. DeMotte had a fine native endowment, which, enriched by Divine grace, made his life one of exceptional beauty and strength. Added to a liberal education of the schools, there was in him the ever-widening culture of a close observation, and a true sympathy with and love for others. His sympathy with and appreciation of individuals was a marked feature of his character, and of the hundreds of pupils who have been under his care, many cherish, as a precious mem- ory, his' personal interest in and love for them." Dr. DeMotte's life was given al- most in its entirety to the cause of education and in particular is he remembered in his connection with the State School for the Deaf at Indianapolis. The Wisconsin Times in speaking of Dr. DeMotte as a teacher, says, "In the death of Dr. W. H. DeMotte the cause of education has lost one of its strongest and most earnest workers. Dr. DeMotte's liberal education, well-stored mind, and kindly nature made his work in the schoolroom especially effective. He stood in the front rank as an educator. His long and useful life has been brought to a close-his work is laid aside, but the influence which he has exerted will live after he has passed away, and recollection of him will be cherished and revered by the many whom he taught and helped. In his death the deaf of the nation lose a staunch friend and advocate, the Indiana school loses a sterling and highly successful instructor, and the world loses a manly man of God."
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Dr. William Holman Deflotte
The DeMotte family are of that race noted for their courageous devotion to their ideals, the French Huguenots. The founders of the family in America fled from France at the time of the religious persecutions that followed the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1585. They sought that haven of refuge, Holland, and after a short stay there, sailed for America, where they settled on Long Island and in the New Jersey colony. After the Revolutionary war several members of the family, having decided that they wished to go west, formed a company and bought a tract of land in Kentucky, near Cove Spring, between Danville and Harrodsburg. It was in this vicinity, on a farm between Harrodsburg and Perryville, that William Holman DeMotte was born on the 17th of July, 1830. When he was about a year old his parents moved to Indiana, and settled near Rockville, Parke county. His father, Daniel DeMotte, who followed the tailoring trade, had become so convinced of his duty to his fellow men that he now gave up his trade and offered himself to the conference of the Methodist church, to which he was admitted as a circuit rider in 1836.
This move of his father had considerable effect on the life of William DeMotte. In the first place, since his father could be at home only five days in the month, his rearing fell to the hands of his mother. She was a woman of "great sweetness of temper and quietness of behaviour," and was a powerful influence for good in the community. She must have been a strong element in molding William DeMotte's character. His father was looked upon as a good organizer, and he was conse- quently in demand in many places. The moves therefore were frequent, and this in itself, while a great hardship to the patient mother, was not only fine fun for the boys but was really beneficial. The variety of their life served as an education and there was little about the woods, with their trees and flowers and animal life, that they did not know. The opportunities for education in this pioneer country were very meager, and so when at last the family settled in a good sized town there was much rejoicing.
This town was Greencastle, and they moved there in 1844. William was en- tered in the preparatory departmen of Asbury University, now DePauw, a few months before he reached the age of fourteen. Five years later, in 1849, he was graduated, being salutatorian, and delivering his address in Latin. His career as a teacher began the following winter, when he taught the school at Lewisville, a small town near the home of his parents, which was then at New Castle. On the 1st of June, 1850, he was elected to the faculty of the State Institution for the Deaf in Indianapolis. This was the beginning of the work that was ever afterwards to hold first place in his heart.
In 1864 he was appointed Indiana state military and sanitary agent at Wash- ington. His duties consisted in looking after the sick and wounded soldiers of the Indiana regiments, and through him soldiers could get into communication with their loved ones at home. Dr. Joshua Stansfield says of this work: "For some time dur- ing the Civil war, under the appointment of Governor Morton, he filled the position of Indiana state military and sanitary agent at Washington, D. C., and, while there, he was in numerous instances the living link between families at home and loved ones at the front. Many were the cases where he sought out and restored to In- diana households loved ones of whom all trace had been lost, and he will be held in lasting remembrance by families in our city for his characteristic work in those dark days."
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Dr. William Holman De Motte
He next became president of the Indiana Female College at Indianapolis, and remained here from 1865 to 1868. It, however, was deemed best to meet changing school conditions by merging this school and its property with that of Asbury Uni- versity at Greencastle, and so Dr. DeMotte resigned his position and accepted the presidency of a similar school, which has since become the Illinois Woman's College at Jacksonville, Illinois. He remained here seven years, from 1868 to 1875, and they were years filled with many difficulties. Dr. Joseph R. Harker, of the above institution, in making the address that was there delivered at the funeral of Dr. DeMotte, said, "Here was performed in seven heroic years his greatest public ser- vice; about these halls clung many of his most cherished and sacred memories. Dr. DeMotte's relation to the college and to myself has been especially intimate and helpful. I do not think he ever failed whenever an important announcement was made to write a letter expressing his special interest and pleasure. It has seemed to me that above everything else Dr. DeMotte was a teacher, and that in teaching he found his chief happiness and success. As college president his greatest delight was in the classroom work, and his students remember him more vividly as a teacher, for his class work and his chapel talks, than as an executive or as president. He had the peculiar ability of the horn teacher to live in the atmosphere of the student and to partake of his life. His knowledge was always accurate and full, and he could let himself down to the plane of the pupil, walk along with him, and grad- ually lift the pupil to his own higher level. It is the greatest of all professions, and Dr. DeMotte held high rank in it."
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