USA > Indiana > Marion County > Indianapolis > Memorial record of distinguished men of Indianapolis and Indiana > Part 6
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42
66
Joseph R. Cbans
At the June meeting of the board of trustees of Earlham College, and of the trustees of its endowment and trust funds held at Indianapolis on the morning of June 1, 1908, the following memorial was adopted:
It is with a deep sense of loss that we record the death of our dearly beloved brother, Joseph R. Evans, who was appointed a member of the board of trustees in 1881 and served continuously until the fall of 1907, when, on account of failing health, he offered his resignation. For fifteen years of this time-from 1885 to 1900-he acted efficiently as president of the board. He was a member and treas- urer of the financial hoard of the college from the time of its creation, in 1890, until the time of his death. During this long term of years he served Earlham College with great fidelity ; he gave freely not only of his time and valued counsel but of his means for the advancement of the best interests of the college, and he has figured largely in placing the college on its present high standard of efficiency.
We believe that not only has the college lost a splendid friend but each of the members of the board has suffered a personal loss in his death, but we know that his good work will follow him.
We extend to the bereaved family our profound sympathy and commend them to the care of the Heavenly Father, who sustains his children in such a sorrow.
It may well be understood that in the sacred precincts of his ideal home the nobility and tenderness of Mr. Evans found their apotheosis, and there can be no de- sire to lift the gracious veil save to enter brief data concerning the family relations. On the 3d of May, 1865, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Evans to Miss Caro- line E. Brown, of Waynesville, Warren county, Ohio, where she was born and reared. She is a daughter of Asher and Esther J. (Jones) Brown, the former of whom was born in Ohio, as a member of one of the sterling pioneer families of that state, and the latter of whom was born in New Jersey, whence she accompanied her parents to Ohio when a child. Asher Brown was long one of the honored and representa- tive citizens of Warren county, where he devoted the major part of his active career to farming and where both he and his wife continued to reside until their death. They were members of the Society of Friends, of which Mrs. Evans thus became a birthright member, and she, like her honored husband, has been earnest and instant in good works in connection with this religious organization. Mrs. Evans passes a portion of each year at her old home in Indianapolis, where she has a wide circle of friends, and the winter seasons she passes at the home in Long Beach, California. In conclusion of this brief memoir is entered the following record concerning the children of Mr. and Mrs. Evans: Willard A., who resides at Sierra Madre, Cali- fornia, married Miss Clara Baldwin, of Marion, Indiana; they have three children, -Arthur T., Joseph R. and E. Florence. Asher B., the younger of the two sons of the subject of this memoir, resides at 2044 Central avenue, Indianapolis. He married Miss Angeline S. Woody, of this city, and they have two children, Thomas W. and Elizabeth F .. Miss Anna M. Evans remains with her widowed mother; and Josephine A., the younger daughter, is the wife of Frank E. Wall, of Long Beach, California, but formerly of Noblesville, Indiana.
Alfred B. Gates
VERY worthy life yields not only its golden harvest in season E but also the gracious aftermath of objective lesson and inspira- tion and of memories to be cherished by those touched by its be- nign influence. The late Alfred Bennett Gates, who contributed materially to the commercial prestige of Indianapolis, was a man who accounted well to the world as a constructive worker and loyal citizen, and his personality, marked by integrity and kindli- ness, could not but beget popular confidence and unqualified esteem. He established his home in the capital city of his native state soon after the close of the Civil war, and here he brought his splendid powers into requisition in the upbuilding of an exten- sive and substantial wholesale business in the handling of groceries, coffees and spices. He was a man ever diligent in business and ever alive to the demands and obligations of citizenship, as shown by his lively interest in all that concerned the welfare of the community. He retired from active business several years prior to his death and, surrounded by a host of warm friends, he continued to reside in Indianapolis until he was summoned to the life eternal, on the 30th of June, 1902.
Alfred Bennett Gates was born on a farm near Connersville, Fayette county, Indi- ana, on the 13th of November, 1823, and was a son of Anstin and Mary Gates, both of whom were representatives of staunch New England stock, the respective families having been founded in America in the colonial era of our national history. Austin Gates and his wife made the long overland journey from Connecticut to Indiana by means of team and wagon, and they numbered themselves among the pioneer settlers of Fayette county, where they passed the residue of their lives, secure in the high re- gard of all who knew them. Austin Gates was prominently identified with the devel- opment of the resources of that section of the state and in the early days owned and operated a saw mill near Connersville. He whose name initiates this article was reared under the conditions and influences of the pioneer days, but was favored to a greater degree than the average youth of the locality and period, in that his educa- tional advantages were of superior order, including the facilities afforded in an excel- lent academy at Connersville. On the foundation thus placed was erected the fine su- perstructure which in later years marked him as a man of broad information and ma- ture judgment. As a boy he gained practical experience through being employed in a general store conducted by his brother-in-law, a Scotsman, and finally, after careful training in mercantile lines, he engaged in the dry-goods and merchant-tailoring busi- ness at Connersville, where he built up a prosperous enterprise and established a high reputation. That he held unequivocal esteem in his native county is shown by the fact that during the last two years of the Civil war he served as its treasurer,-an office whose affairs he administered with characteristic ability and integrity and with the utmost acceptability. At the time of the war he sold his store and business, and his in- sistent loyalty to the Union was shown by his service as captain of a company of home
67
68
Alfred B. Bates
guards during the period when General Morgan was making his historic raids in Ohio and Indiana.
In 1866 Mr. Gates went to the city of Philadelphia, after having secured a con- cession to sell in Pennsylvania the looms manufactured by a large establishment in Cincinnati, Ohio. All domestic fabrics commanded high prices at that time, and thus there was a great demand for these hand looms, which were utilized in the private manufacturing of cloth. The German citizens of Pennsylvania and other eastern states were specially avidious in availing themselves of the mechanisms, which would now appear primitive in the extreme, and Mr. Gates developed a most successful busi- ness in selling the looms in Pennsylvania and other eastern states. He continued to maintain his residence and business headquarters in Philadelphia until 1869, when he disposed of his business, as the same had begun to wane, owing to the lowering of the prices of regularly manufactured cloths.
In 1869 Mr. Gates returned to Indiana and established his home in Indianapolis, where he engaged in the retail grocery trade, at the corner of Illinois and Market streets, as a member of the firm of Ripley & Gates. He thus employed his energies in an incidental way and as a means to an end, as he was desirous of looking over the field and properly determining conditions before engaging in other and wider busi- ness enterprise. Thus he continued in the retail grocery business about one year, at the expiration of which he disposed of his interest in the same. In 1871 he initiated the wholesale coffee and spice business, by the purchase of the mill and business which had been conducted by a man named McCune, and he soon amplified the enterprise to include dealing in groceries at wholesale, with a well equipped establishment at 31-33 East Maryland street. Under the firm name of A. B. Gates & Company he built up a substantial and prosperous business, and the trade of the houses was ex- tended throughout the territory for which Indianapolis is the normal distributing center. His sons, Harry B. and William N., finally became his coadjutors in the firm . and he continued to be actively identified with the business for more than thirty years, and through his earnest application, careful and honorable methods and progressive policies he built up an enterprise that contributed much to the commercial advance- ment and precedence of the capital city. A specialty was made of the coffee and spice business during all these years, and he retired from active association with the concern a few years prior to his demise by turning the business over to his sons. Somewhat later the sons sold the grocery department of the business, in order to devote their entire attention to the manufacturing of and wholesale dealing in coffee, spices and baking powder, in which they have built up an enterprise which is one of the largest and most important of the kind in the entire United States. The business is conducted under the title of the Climax Coffee & Baking Powder Company, with a fine and modern plant at 33 South Division street, and the trade extends into the most diverse sections of the Union. As progressive and reliable business men the sons have added new laurels to the family name and are numbered among the representa- tive factors in the commercial activities of the Indiana metropolis. Harry B. Gates is president of the company and William N. Gates is secretary and treasurer.
Alfred B. Gates was a man of strong convictions, fine intellectuality and broad information. He was an appreciative and constant reader of the best in literature and also kept in close touch with the questions and issues of the hour, the while his civic loyalty and public spirit prompted him to active and helpful interest in those agencies which tend to further the general wellbeing of the community. He was a
69
Alfred B. Gates
charter member of the Indianapolis Board of Trade, and was also a valued member of the Commercial Club, the Columbia Club and other representative local organiza- tions. In the Masonic fraternity he manifested a specially deep interest and he was a close student of the teachings and history of this time-honored order. In the same he received the thirty-third and maximum degree of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite, and he was also active in the various York Rite bodies with which he was affili- ated. The principles and policies of the Republican party received the uncomprom- ising support of Mr. Gates and he was well fortified in his opinions touching political and economic affairs. He never consented to become a candidate for public office after he had established his home in Indianapolis, though at one time he was insis- tently importuned to become a candidate for the office of mayor of the city. He was a man who stood "four square to every wind that blows," and upon his escutcheon appears no blemish. He was strong and true and generous, and he not only compelled but deserved the confidence and respect of his fellow men, to whom his genial nature drew him by indissoluble bonds of mutually appreciative friendship. He was not only one of the essentially representative business men of Indianapolis but was also one of its best known and most popular citizens. He was sincere in his Christian faith, which he showed forth in thought, word and deed. He was a member of the Christian church, as is also his widow, whose father was one of the early clergyman of this faith in Indiana. Mr. Gates' parents were members of the Baptist church and his second personal name was given in honor of Mr. Bennett, who was one of the pioneer clergymen of this church in Indiana and an intimate friend of the family. Mr. Gates was one of a family of seven children, and of the number the only one now living is Mrs. Caroline Robinson, who is nearly ninety years of age and who resides in Indianapolis, she being a widow.
On the 1st of January, 1856, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Gates to Miss Elizabeth Murdock, who was born at New Albany, Indiana, but who was reared and educated in the city of Cincinnati, Ohio. She is a daughter of Rev. Thomas J. and Julia A. (Ross) Murdock, the former of whom was born in Virginia, and the latter of whom was born in Cincinnati. Rev. Thomas J. Murdock was an honored and dis- tinguished member of the clergy of the Christian church and his life was one of signal consecration and ideality, the while he was known for his fine intellectual attainments and his fervor and zeal in the work of the divine Master. For some time he was, in the early days, a member of the faculty of old Lane University, in the city of Cincin- nati, and he also achieved success as a business man in that Ohio city, where he also held an important pastoral charge for a number of years. He finally came to Indi- ana, where he served in various pastoral incumbencies, and he passed the closing years of bis life in Indianapolis. He died in July, 1894, at the age of eighty-four years, and his cherished and devoted wife was here summoned to eternal rest at the age of fifty-six years. Of their children two sons and two daughters are now living. Mrs. Gates is a woman of most gracious personality and distinctive culture. She became a resident of Connersville, Indiana, in 1856; living there until 1866, was then at Phila- delphia for three years, after which she came to Indianapolis. In the past few years she has passed a considerable part of her time at Minneapolis, Minnesota, but still holds the capital city of Indiana close to her heart, as the place is endeared to her by the hallowed memories and associations of the past. Her old homestead in Indian- apolis was at 1712 North Meridan street, and while in the city at the present time she resides at 1903 North Delaware street. Mrs. Gates was for many years one of the
70
Alfred B. Gates
most active and influential factors in the social, literary, benevolent and reformative movements of the Indiana metropolis, and here her circle of friends is coincident with that of her acquaintances. She was a prominent member of the local council of women which was organized by Mrs. May Wright Sewell for the purpose of fostering needed reforms in the city, and by this council she was appointed a member of the committee which effected the passing of the city ordinance against spitting on the streets and in other public places. She did most excellent work in this connection, against formidable opposition and official apathy, and the movement was finally suc- cessful, the while it proved an object lesson and led to the adoption of similar or- dinances in innumerable other cities of the Union. Mrs. Gates was also a member of the Indianapolis Flower Mission and a charter member of the Matinee Musicale, of which latter she served as president. She also held membership in the Indianapolis Art Association, was active and influential in behalf of the Boys' Club, and identified herself with various other charitable and benevolent organizations. She has always been an active member of the Home for the Friendless, now the Old Ladies' Home. She is a devoted member of the Christian church, in whose faith she was reared. Mr. and Mrs. Gates became the parents of five children, and in conclusion of this brief memorial are entered the following data concerning them:
Charles M., who died in January, 1882, at the age of twenty-three years, wedded Miss Maria Frazee, who survives him and who is a representative of an old and prominent Indianapolis family; Harry B., who is president of the Climax Coffee & Baking Powder Company, as has been already noted, married Miss Carolina Patrick, of Evansville, this state, and their only child, Alfred B., married Miss Lena Henning- wad, who has borne him a daughter, Cynthia; William N., secretary and treasurer of the Climax Coffee & Baking Powder Company, married Miss Alberta Byram, a mem- ber of another representative family of Indianapolis, and they have three children,- Isabella G., who is the wife of Kelly Jacoby, of Middletown, Ohio, and William B. and Alfred Gerald, who remain at the parental home; Mary is the wife of William H. Lee, of Minneapolis, Minnesota, and in her home her widowed mother now passes much of her time; Edward E., the youngest child of the honored subject of this me- moir, is engaged in the practice of law in Indianapolis and is one of the representa- tive members of the local bar. He has three children by a former marriage,-Vir- ginia, Edward E., Jr., and Elizabeth M., and the maiden name of the present wife was Dorothy Odoms.
Henry Rothe
T HE value of a human life is not gauged by years but by character and achievement, and when Henry Kothe was summoned to eternal rest, in the very prime of his strong and useful manhood, he left the heritage not only of a good name but also the record of large and generous accomplishment in connection with the practical and productive activities of life. He was recognized as one of the most enterprising, resourceful and influential business men of his native city, and here the most effective voucher for his sterling character was that af- forded by the unqualified popular confidence and approbation accorded to him. His life and labors were such as eminently to entitle him to consideration in this memorial edition, in which is given record concerning men who have been representative forces in the civic and material affairs of Indiana's beautiful metropolis and capital city. He won advancement through his own ability and efforts, and he honored not only his native city but also the family name, which has been identified with the history of Indianapolis for more than half a century.
Henry Kothe was born in the parental homestead on Davidson street, Indian- apolis, on the 28th of November, 1861, and thus he was nearly forty-six years of age when he was summoned from the scene of life's mortal endeavors, on the 18th of Oc- tober, 1907. He was a son of William and Christine (Meyer) Kothe, both of whom were born and reared in Germany. William Kothe came to America when a young man and located in the city of Baltimore, Maryland, whence he came, a few years later, to Indiana and established his home in Tipton county. There his marriage was solemnized and there the first of his children was born. In 1856 he came with his family to Indianapolis, where he assumed the position of bookkeeper in the retail hardware establishment of Clements Vonnegut. Later he became head bookkeeper for the Schmidt Brewing Company, and upon the death of Mr. Schmidt, the head of this concern, he was made administrator of the latter's estate. For some time he conducted a small retail grocery on Davidson street. He and his wife continued to maintain their home in Indianapolis until their death and the remains of both rest in Crown Hill cemetery, as do also those of their sons George and Henry, the former of whom was a prominent wholesale grocer of Indianapolis at the time of his death. William, the elder, of the two surviving sons, is engaged in the wholesale grocery trade in this city, and Gustave is a valued city employe. Mrs. Christine (Meyer) Kothe was a child at the time of the family immigration from Germany to America. Her father, who has been a school teacher in his native land, became one of the early settlers of Tipton county, Indiana, where he reclaimed a farm from the forest wilds and where he became a citizen of prominence and influence. The old homestead has remained in the possession of the family and is now owned by one of his grand- sons.
Henry Kothe received his early educational discipline in the German-English school, which was long one of the excellent institutions of Indianapolis, and this train-
71
72
Denry Rothe
ing was supplemented by an effective course in the Shortridge high school. His busi- ness career was initiated by his obtaining a position in the insurance office of John Spann, and later he was employed in the fancy grocery establishment of Henry Schwinge. In 1883 he went to the city of Chicago, where he was employed about two years in the extensive wholesale grocery house of Sprague, Warner & Company, but he returned to Indianapolis at the request of his mother, to whom his devotion was ever of the deepest order. In 1885 he here engaged in the retail grocery business at the corner of Ohio and Illinois street, but he disposed of the business after a short interval and assumed the position of city salesman for the local wholesale grocery house of Schnull & Krag. Shortly after his marriage his father-in-law, the late Herman Lieber, prevailed upon him to assume the supervision of the photographic- supply department in the extensive Lieber establishment. Mr. Kothe remained as a valued executive with H. Lieber & Company until the year 1895 when he became one of the organizers of the Marion Trust Company, of which he became second vice- president and treasurer. He continued the incumbent of these executive offices until 1898, when he retired from the same and turned his attention to the real-estate busi- ness. In 1902 he became associated in this line of business with Benjamin A. Rich- ardson, who had previously been a partner of George Kothe, eldest brother of the subject of this memoir. The enterprise was conducted for some time under the firm name of Richardson & Kothe, and after the admission to the firm of Albert E. Uhl the title of Richardson, Kothe & Uhl was adopted. This became one of the leading con- cerns in the real-estate, insurance and loan business in Indianapolis, and Mr. Kothe continued his active association with the same until his death.
A man of distinctive initiative and constructive ability and of progressive ideas, Mr. Kothe identified himself with other important business activities in his native city, and his interposition was invariably an augury of success. At the time of his death he was a member of the directorate of the Marion Title & Guaranty Company, of which he was one of the organizers; was president of the board of directors of the American Miners' Accident Association; was a director of the German Home Build- ing & Loan Association; and was treasurer of the Commercial Life Insurance Com- pany, another thriving concern of Indianapolis. His loyalty to his home city was one of the most intense order and he was zealous in the support of measures and enterprises tending to advance its civic and material welfare. He was an active and valued member of the Commercial Club and was identified with the German House, the Marion Club, the Socialer Turnverein and the Lyra Casino Club. The various organizations, both business and social, with which he was identified passed resolu- tions of respect and sorrow at the time of his death, and his wide circle of friends mourned the loss of one whose kindness, buoyancy of spirit, sterling integrity and un- failing generosity had made his friendship and companionship things to be valued.
Mr. Kothe was distinctively ambitious and progressive, as his advancement in life well showed, and his diligence in business was equaled only by his devotion to his home and family, in the ideal relationships of which his fine and noble characteristics found their greatest manifestation. Though he never had any political predilection for the honors or emoluments of political office, Mr. Kothe accorded a staunch alle- giance to the Republican party, and he was signally alert and public-spirited in his civic attitude. He was a strong man and true, and he accounted well to the world in all the relations of life, the while he was dear to the hearts of his many friends, whom he had veritably grappled to his soul "with hoops of steel."
73
Denry Rothe
On the 28th of April, 1887, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Kothe to Miss Ida Lieber, elder daughter of that honored and influential citizen, the late Herman Lieber. Mrs. Kothe was born and reared in Indianapolis and has long been a popular figure in its leading social activities,-with a circle of friends that is coincident with that of her acquaintances. She continued to live in the homestead which was erected by her husband in 1888 until the summer of 1912, when she removed to her present attractive home at 1409 Central avenue. In conclusion is entered brief record con- cerning the children of Mr. and Mrs. Kothe: Herman W., who was graduated in the Indianapolis manual-training high school, later entered the celebrated University of Michigan, at Ann Arbor, in which he was graduated as a member of the class of 1910, and he is now engaged in the practice of law in Indianapolis, as one of the representa- tive younger members of the bar of his native city; Elsa C., who remains at the ma- ternal home, was graduated in the Shortridge high school, as a member of the class of 1909, and finished her education at Miss Moxley's school for American girls in the city of Rome, Italy, she being a popular factor in the social life of her home city; Henriette I., is a member of the class of 1913 in the Shortridge high school; and Wil- liam J. is attending the public schools,-all of the other children remaining with their widowed mother, whose interests are centered in them.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.