USA > Indiana > Marion County > Indianapolis > Memorial record of distinguished men of Indianapolis and Indiana > Part 8
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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
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John G. Pendergast
N ENJOYING the material benefits of a city like Indianapolis, which is noted for its architectural beauty, its efficient public I utilities and its able municipal management, the fact should not be lost sight of that these are not the growth of a day but are the results of the earnest efforts and persistent energy of many who have now passed from the scene of life. They worked planned and wrought for the future, and those who have suc- ceeded them, with their paths made easier thereby, may well pause at times to recall them with regard and gratitude. For many years the late John G. Pender- gast was a useful and valued citizen of Indianapolis. He was born at Reading, Pennsylvania, March 19, 1835, and was a son of John and Barbara Pendergast.
When John G. Pendergast was ten years old the family packed their belongings in their solid old Conestoga wagon and started for Indiana, and he recalled the long overland journey and its many interesting adventures as they appealed to his boyish tastes. For a short time the family lived in what was then the somewhat straggling town of the now handsome capital city and then moved on into Illinois, where all remained except John G., who returned to Indianapolis when he reached his nineteenth year, and when his brother, Enos Pendergast, engaged in business as a builder he served an apprenticeship under him, and for a number of years afterward worked at the building trade and subsequently became a contractor on his own ac- count. He was careful, exact and conscientious and rapidly made headway, and in 1868, was appointed to superintend the building of the north wing of the old Cen- tral Hospital for the insane, this contract occupying three years of his time. Still later he was appointed to superintend the construction of the Marion county court- house, which engaged him for seven years and afterward to superintend the con- struction of the beautiful State House at Indianapolis. For many years he was a very busy man in this line and had charge of the erection of such important build- ings as the First Presbyterian church, the Tucker & Dorsey factory, both at Indian- apolis, and the Indianapolis Paving Brick Company's factory at Brazil, Indiana, and also had charge of the work of extending the Broad Ripple Natural Gas Com- pany's pipes to the gas fields in Hamilton county. For four years he served the city as chief fire engineer. In the fall of 1893 he was appointed building inspector by Mayor Denny and continued in that office during that administration, his methods eliciting great praise from architects and builders who thoroughly comprehended the value of such honest and thorough methods as Mr. Pendergast introduced.
Just prior to his prostration by the illness which resulted fatally, he was appointed to superintend the work of constructing the Shortridge high school building, but others had to assume this responsibility, Mr. Pendergast no longer being able to carry on the work physically which his active brain still planned. A painful illness followed and his death occurred at his home in Indianapolis, January 23, 1905. For more than fifty years he had been a resident and had witnessed the founding of
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many of the city's greatest enterprises and had assisted in the development of its importance in many directions.
On May 28, 1863, Mr. Pendergast was married to Miss Margaret Donnan, who is a daughter of David and Barbara (Pressel) Donnan. David Donnan was born at Edinburgh, Scotland, and was brought to America in childhood, lived through boyhood in Ohio and then came to Indianapolis, where he became prominent in the building trade. He married Barbara Pressel, who was born at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, whose parents were of German birth. Six children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Donnan, namely: Margaret, Carolina, Wallace, Theodore, Emma and Laura. Wallace and Theodore are both deceased. The two younger daughters are public school teachers. For forty-five years Mr. Pendergast was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, being identified first with the old Wesleyan chapel, which later became the Meridian Street Methodist church. He was a member of Center Lodge, Odd Fellows and a thirty-second degree Mason and at one time was commander of Raper Commandery, which has long been famous for its drill corps. Mrs. Pendergast still resides in the beautiful family residence at No. 815 Capitol street, Indianapolis.
Jesse U. Power
E LIVED; he died" may be the epitome of a life, but to the broader, H surer vision how much may be compassed between the two ele- mental occurrences over which man himself has no control. The life of Captain Power was such as to justify itself and he left to the world a heritage of worthy thoughts and worthy dceds. All honor was his for the gallant and loyal service which he rendered as a soldier of the Union in the Civil war, and later it was his to gain those decisive victories which peace ever has in store for valiant souls. He maintained his home in Indianapolis for nearly forty years, and here rose to prom- inence and success as one of the representative retail merchants of the city. His was a character that expressed itself in productive effort and impregnable integrity of purpose, and thus he gained and retained the high regard of those with whom he came in contact in the various relations of life. He developed from a modest nucleus one of the finest retail grocery enterprises in the capital city, and with the management of the same he continued to be closely identified until impaired health compelled his virtual retirement, about ten years prior to his death. He was summoned to the life eternal on the 14th of November, 1910, and his name and personality will be honored in the capital city as long as there remain those who were familiar with his character and services. Captain Jesse Taylor Power was born at Brownsville, Fayette county, Pennsylvania, on the 17th of April, 1847, and was about three years old at the time of his mother's death. He was reared in the home of his maternal uncle, Dr. James H. Taylor, of Cincinnati, Ohio, where he received his early educational train- ing. His father and uncle provided him with further educational advantages by sending him to a college in the city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, but his youthful patriotism finally led him to run away from this institution and tender his services in defense of the Union. Soon after the outbreak of the war between the north and south he enlisted as a private in the One Hundred and Fortieth Pennsylvania Volun- teer Infantry. When his father learned of his action he was greatly vexed, as the boy had not sought his advice and was practically under age for military. service. Just before transport started forth with the volunteer forces of which Captain Power's regiment was a part his father came to the docks to bid him farewell and to offer assurance of his forgiveness and continued solicitude. The future officer re- ceived from his father a sum of money at this meeting, which proved to be their last, though he was granted a furlough at the time of his father's final illness, which terminated fatally before he could reach the bedside of his honored sire. In later years Captain Power often expressed his deep regret that he had not consulted his father before entering the service of the Union, as his action had been one of essential disobedience. He proved a faithful and ambitious soldier, was soon promoted corporal and later color sergeant, and finally, when only eighteen years of age, was commis- sioned captain of Company E of his regiment. He thus became one of if not the youngest officer of that rank in the entire northern army, and his commission came
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as a recognition of a special act of valor in the battle of the Wilderness,-one of the last in which his regiment took part. In that memorable engagement he was the youngest member of the color guard, and one after another of his associates of the guard had been shot down, until eight had thus fallen. He held his post, a boy of seventeen years, and picked up the colors, which he carried forward under terrific fire, though he received two severe wounds before the close of the battle. His regi- ment formed a part of the Third Army Corps, commanded by General Hancock, and took part in nineteen of the principal battles in which the Army of the Potomac was involved. The regiment was in the thick of the fray and suffered severe losses in killed and wounded. Out of eleven hundred and thirty-two men enlisted in this gal- lant command only two hundred and ninety-five responded at the time when the regi- ment was mustered in its reunion of 1910. The few surviving members of the regi- ment held a reunion in September, 1910, shortly before the death of Captain Power, and it was a matter of deep regret to him that he was too ill to meet his old comrades once more. The affection they had for him was significantly shown at this time, as they sent to him a beautiful badge, on which appears the following inscription:
Beaver, Pa., September 10, 1910. As the guests of Mrs. Emma Roberts Harter.
Thirty-sixth Annual Reunion One Hundred and Fortieth Pennsylvania Regiment Association. Hancock-Miles-Barlow. Battles: Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Bris- tow Station, Mine Run, Wilderness, Spottsylvania, North Anna, Totopotomoy, Cold Harbor, Petersburg, Strawberry Plains, Deep Bottom, Reams' Station, Hatcher's Run, Boydton Road, Sutherland Station, Sailor's Creek, Farmville, Appomattox.
Total enrollment, 1132; killed, 198; wounded, 539; died, 128; muster at present, 295.
During his last days Captain Power kept this badge on his pillow and manifested great pride in the same, as well as touching appreciation of the incidental tribute paid by his comrades. His service in the army continued until the close of the war and he was incapacitated for active duty from wounds for only a brief interval. He was captured at Gettysburg but his exchange was soon afterward effected, so that he was not long absent from his command. He gained high reputation and popularity as a soldier of the Union and in the later years showed an abiding interest in all that con- cerned his comrades in the great conflict through which the integrity of the nation was perpetuated. He was a valued member of George H. Thomas Post, Grand Army of the Republic, in Indianapolis.
After the close of the war Captain Power, in company with his cousin, likewise a young man, went to Tennessee, where they secured government land, but the rancor and enmity engendered by the war made him persona non grata in that section of the south and hoth he and his cousin found conditions so unpleasant, not to say hazardous, that they were virtually compelled to return to the north. With a little patrimony of five hundred dollars received from his grandfather, Captain Power determined to make a home for himself in Indiana. He first located at Muncie, where he conducted a general merchandise business for a time, upon a modest scale, and in 1874 he came to Indianapolis, which city continued to be his home during the residue of his life. Soon after his arrival in the capital city Captain Power opened a commission store on East Washington street, near Alabama street, and about a year later he disposed of
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the same and purchased an interest in a retail grocery business, which was thereafter conducted under the title of Kelley & Power until he sold his interest to his partner and engaged in the same line of enterprise in an individual way. For several years he conducted business on Pennsylvania street, near the corner of Washington street, and he then removed to a store on what has long been locally known as "The Circle," -surrounding the magnificent soldiers' and sailors' monument, one of the finest in the Union. There he conducted a large and representative business for a number of years, and finally more extensive and eligible quarters were secured on North Pennsyl- vania street, where the enterprises continued to be conducted until his death,-one of the largest and finest grocery establishments in the city. The Captain had been in ill health during virtually the last decade of his life and had given over the active man- agement of his business to his elder son, who still continues the same. Prior to his death he had seen and approved the plans for the erection of the fine block built by his estate after his death, at the corner of North Delaware and Michigan streets, and in this building the business founded by him so many years ago is still carried forward under the title of J. T. Power & Son,-a title which will be retained as long as the family interests are preserved in the same. Captain Power was a thorough, enter- prising and conscientious business man, and made of success not an accident but a logical result, the same having its basis on his invulnerable reputation for fair and honest dealings and unfailing courtesy. Aside from the exactions of business his dominating interests were sequestered in his home, and his devotion to his family was of the most insistent order, so that the home life was ideal. Aside from his member- ship in the Grand Army of the Republic he manifested no desire for identification with social or fraternal organizations. He was broad-gauged and liberal in his civic attitude and at all times ready to support measures and enterprises tending to advance the best interests of the community. In a generic sense he gave stalwart allegiance to the Republican party, but in local affairs he gave his support to the means and meas- ures meeting the approval of his judgment. The spiritual verities made strong ap- peal to him and, with his family, he attended the First Presbyterian church, of which his widow is a zealous member. At the time of his death the following appreciative statements concerning Captain Power appeared in the Indianapolis News: "Captain Power was a modest man, and seldom spoke of his war record, enviable as it was. He was of deeply sympathetic nature and was bound by ties of comradeship to the soldiers of the Civil war." It may be noted in this connection that he was mustered out at Harrisburg, the capital city of Pennsylvania, on the 3rd of February, 1865,- only a short time before the close of the war.
On the 20th of May, 1875, was solemnized the marriage of Captain Power to Miss Carrie S. Todd, the officiating clergyman having been the bride's father, Rev. O. M. Todd, who was at that time pastor of the Presbyterian church in Muncie, Indi- ana, and who passed the closing years of his long and noble life at Richmond, Indiana. Mrs. Almira (Clark) Todd, mother of Mrs. Power, was a member of the old and in- fluential Clark family whose name has been prominently linked with the history of Cincinnati, Ohio. She died at Muncie, Indiana. Mrs. Power was born on the old Clark homestead, on the Reading road, near Cincinnati, Ohio, and she has lived con- tinuously in Indianapolis from the time of her marriage. Her beautiful home, at 2046 North Alabama street, was bought by Captain Power in 1893, and was one of the first to be built in this attractive section of the city,-the district formerly used by the old state fair grounds. Mrs. Power and all members of her family are en-
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rolled as members of the First Presbyterian church, and she has long been active in various departments of its work, as she is identified with the different church societies for which women are eligible. She is a woman of culture and most gracious person- ality, has been long identified with the leading social activities of the capital city, and prior to her marriage had been a successful and popular teacher in the public schools.
In conclusion of this brief memoir is entered brief record concerning the children of Captain and Mrs. Power: Taylor C., who is executive head of the firm of J. T. Power & Company, has successfully continued the business established by his honored father and is held in high esteem in his native city. He married Miss Mayne Lee, and they have one son, Allan. Percival O., who is individually engaged in the retail grocery business in Indianapolis, married Miss Beatrice Williams, and they have one daughter, Marian. Claire E., is the wife of McDonald Nixon, of Indianapolis; and Marguerite is the wife of Irwin C. DeHaven, of this city. Mrs. Power is favored in having all of her children about her and it may well be understood that the fair cap- ital city of Indiana is dear to her through the many hallowed associations and mem- ories of the past.
George B. Loomis
'N DETERMINING the value and success of the life of the late Professor George B. Loomis there is no need for conjecture or I uncertainty, for his career exemplified in the most significant way that the true success is not that gained through commercial pre-em- inence or personal aggrandizement but is rather that which lies in the eternal verities of human sympathy and helpfulness. He did much to promote the higher ideals of life, was for years super- intendent of music in the public schools of Indianapolis, and, as a specially cultured musician, his influence in his chosen sphere of effort made him one of its most prom- inent representatives in Indiana. He left left the gracious heritage of noble thoughts and noble deeds. In the furtherance of his art he did a straightforward, honest work, showing his earnest desire to do his best, to scatter flowers instead of thorns, to make other persons a little better off and a little happier because of his influence, and he was not only a leader in musical affairs in the state of Indiana but his person- ality was such as to gain and retain to him the affectionate regard of those who came within the compass of his super-refined and kindly influence. When he was sum- moned to the life eternal, on the 27th of November, 1887, at his home in Indianapolis. a community mourned his loss with a deep sense of personal bereavement. A loved and honored figure in the best social life of Indianapolis, it is well that in this pub- lication be entered a tribute to his memory and a brief record concerning his services.
George Brace Loomis was born at Bennington, Wyoming county, New York, on the 10th of May, 1833, and thus was fifty-four years of age at the time of his death. His academic education was of liberal order and his natural musical talent was de- veloped undermost admirable influences, his studies covering a wide range of tech- nical work and musical history, so that he became skilled in interpretation, in com- position and in teaching of the art which engrossed his attention during practically his entire active career. He was afforded the advantages of an excellent academy in his native town and later secured the best of musical training under the direction of the distinguished Dr. Lowell Mason, of New York City. After the completion of his studies in the national metropolis he removed to Providence, Rhode Island, where he was a teacher of music for several years. He then removed with his family to Woos- ter, Ohio, where he continued his successful work in the same vocation until 1866, when, at the suggestion of his former instructor and valued friend, Dr. Lowell Mason, who had accorded him most flattering recommendations, he came to Indian- apolis, where he accepted the position of superintendent of music in the public schools, -an incumbency which he retained for seventeen and one-half consecutive years, at the expiration of which his resignation was accepted with unqualified regret. He was enthusiastic and indefatigable in his efforts and it may be said without fear of legitimate contradiction that he did more to promote the development of musical taste and talent in Indiana's capital city than has any other man. This statement is made without reservation and on ample authority. After his retirement from the
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position of superintendent of music in the public schools he did not abate his work, and at the time of his death he had charge of music in the Indianapolis high school, now known as the Shortridge high school, and also of a class for the teachers. He was a most versatile and talented musician, and his voice was a fine lyric tenor of marked sympathy and exceptional timbre. He was a composer of marked ability and was the author of a number of musical text-books which found wide favor and utilization. During his period of service as superintendent of music in the Indian- apolis schools he composed his progressive series of music books, the demand for which he realized, and these were used for years in the local schools, the while they were also adopted in many schools in other states. After his retirement from the position of superintendent he prepared a more advanced musical text-book for use in high schools.
Professor Loomis was closely identified with all musical interests in Indianapolis and was a member of the city's leading musical organizations, including the Choral Union and the Harmonic Society, of which latter he was musical director. He was the first president of the Indiana Music Teachers' Association and served for a num- ber of years as chorister of the First Baptist church, of which he was a zealous mem- ber. In this church he held the office of deacon and he also served as superintendent of its Sunday-school for some time. He was well known in musical circles through- out the state and did much to elevate musical taste in this commonwealth, the while his services were much in demand in connection with representative social activities in which music played a part. His was a most gracious and winning personality and his popularity was of the most unqualified order. He was specially fond of children and while identified with the public schools he could virtually call all of the children in the same by name, the while he had their affectionate regard, as did he also that of the teachers, to the latter of whom he was ever ready to give instruction, without regard to their ability to pay for his services in a monetary way. It may well be understood that in the home such a man represented all that was ideal as husband and father, and there his interests ever centered. As a citizen he was loyal and public- spirited and while he never had any desire to identify himself with so-called practical politics he gave a staunch support to the cause of the Republican party. He retired from the office of director of music in the public schools in the year 1882 and there- after he gave his attention principally to private musical work until the close of his gentle and noble life.
At Bennington, New York, Professor Loomis was united in marriage, when a young man, to Miss Harriet Amelia Case, who was there born in the year 1831, and who died in Indianapolis in 1881. Of the three children of this union the first, George B., died in infancy ; Frederic M., who likewise is a talented musician, is chief clerk in the offices of the Indianapolis Gas Company; and Mary Esther, who became the wife of Henry C. Rodgers, of Indianapolis, died in this city in 1900. On the 31st of December, 1883, was solemnized the marriage of Professor Loomis to Miss Sallie Burns, who was born in Wirt, Jefferson county, Indiana, and who is a daughter of Maxa and Maria (Vawter) Burns, who were pioneers of Jefferson county, this state. The mother died at Wirt, when Mrs. Loomis was but six months old, and the father died in Indianapolis. The major part of the father's active career was devoted to building. Mrs. Loomis has long been a popular figure in the social life of the city and is specially zealous as a member of the First Baptist church, in which she is iden- tified with all of the organizations for women and in which she has served for many
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years as church missionary, a position of which she became the incumbent prior to her marriage. Of the two children of the second marriage it may be recorded that Miss Grace B. remains with her widowed mother in Indianapolis and that George D. died at the age of one year.
At the time of the death of Professor Loomis a most beautiful tribute was given by the public school teachers of Indianapolis, under date of December 3, 1887, and there is all of consistency in preserving the memorial through reproduction in this volume :
"The long and intimate connection of Professor George B. Loomis with the pub- lic schools of Indianapolis calls for a tribute of respect to his memory from the teachers of this city.
"Professor Loomis assumed the position of superintendent of musical instruc- tion in the year 1866, in the infancy of the present public-school system. His long term of service, extending over a period of seventeen and one-half consecutive years, is sufficient evidence of the faithfulness and success of his work. Musical culture and musical taste in this city probably owe more to him than to any other one person, -perhaps than to all others, for he prepared the soil and sowed the seed in the minds of the young. While in no sense a great musician in the professional meaning of that term, he apprehended clearly the best methods necessary to make the art of singing and reading music an effective part of school instruction, from the primary up to the high school. With little to guide him, he worked out these methods by his own genius,-the genius of industry and good common sense. At the time that he entered upon his work here no well recognized system of teaching music so as to rank with other subjects in educational value had been developed, either here or else- where. Movements in this direction had been but tentative and desultory. Pro- fessor Loomis worked out his methods experimentally in the school room and then embodied them in a graded series of musical text books whose excellence and fine adaptation to the end in view have been fully demonstrated by long use both in this and in other cities.
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