USA > Indiana > Marion County > Indianapolis > Pictorial and biographical memoirs of Indianapolis and Marion County, Indiana, together with biographies of many prominent men of other portions of the state, both living and dead > Part 10
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ward secretary of war under President Grant, and Shelby M. Cullom, ex- governor of Illinois and now United States senator from that state. His limited means compelled him to return home at the expiration of a year and during the next fall and winter he again taught school. In the spring he began the study of medicine, under the preceptorship of Dr. Joseph Mercer, of Princeton, Ill., and during the winter of that year, 1853, he attended the Eclectic Medical Institute, at Cincinnati, returning the following winter, and the winter following that, finally graduating in 1856, receiving the diploma of a doctor of medicine and surgery. Having thus realized a dream and ambition that had fired his youth to energy and having endured much privation in order to accomplish his heart's great desire, he cast about for a favorable place for settlement, with the purpose strong within him to devote his life earnestly and con- scientiously to his noble profession. He hit upon Carthage, a beautiful village in the suburbs of Cincinnati, where the gay and happy young people were wont to frequently gather from the city in picnic and other innocent and invigorating gatherings. It was at one of these happy parties that he met a most accomplished and estimable young lady from the Blue-Grass country, towards whom he was attracted from the first, and the acquaintance ripened into friendship, love and marriage, the auspicious event last namned occurring one year later. In the year following, by a special arrangement, he took charge of the practice of Dr. A. Shep- herd, of Springdale, Ohio, while that gentleman was absent on a foreign tour, and upon the return of the latter he yielded to the importunity of friends and settled at Rockford, Ill., which was then coming to the front. Every outlook was bright and he went there under the most encouraging prospects, it now seeming he had reached a point where he might begin to reap the reward of his long and faithful work. But he reached Rockford in the fall of 1857, the year in which the country was paralyzed by the great financial crash that spared no city or town or country place, and no power could resist its depression or rise superior to its influences. It was a keen and bitter disappointment to Dr. Prunk, when in the following fall he found it necessary to return to Princeton, but he kept it within his own breast and bravely did his duty. Reaching Princeton in October, 1858, he formed a partnership with his old precep- tor, Dr. Mercer, which lasted until April 16, 1861, when special inducements offered led him to settle at Indianapolis, and this at the time when the great body of the North quivered because of the insult to the flag at Fort Sumter. In September of this year our subject was honored by Governor Morton with a commission as assistant surgeon in the Nineteenth Regiment Indiana Volunteer Infantry, to fill a vacancy. After passing a highly creditable examination before the regular board he was assigned to duty at the Marshall House Hospital, at Alexandria, Va., where he served several months, when the critical illness of his wife called him home. He was ordered June 28, 1862, by the governor to report to Col. Brown, of the Twentieth Regiment Indiana Volunteer Infantry, which lay at Harrison's Landing, Va., immediately after the Seven Days' battle. Rare indeed does it happen in the history of war that an army is so reduced as this was, by the ravages of disease, the casualties of battle and the fury of the elements. So decimated were the rank and file that scarcely sufficient men could be mustered to man the breastworks and trenches. It was said that such soldiers as Hooker and Kearney, who were inured to the most terrible of scenes, actually shed tears as they witnessed the trials and the agony of the army and saw the attenuated forms of the disease-ravaged men. Men and horses died so fast that there were none to bury them and the stench that arose was frightful, as well as threatening the safety of the living. Dr. Prunk moved among such terrible scenes as these, his strength taxed to the utmost to meet the demands made upon his professional services, and finally he suc- cumbed (he had not been flesh and blood had he withstood it) and he was seriously attacked with a combination of camp diarrhoea and typhoid fever. Hence, when the army was ordered to evacuate the place, he was shipped to David's Island Hospital, sixteen miles above New York city, where he was confined to his tent for six weeks. During his absence tlie Second Battle of Bull Run and of Centerville had been fought, and the veteran regiment lay near Arlington Heights, very much reduced in numbers and under marching orders, for the advance on Fredericksburg. Dr. Prunk was ordered by Gen. Barry to take charge of all the sick of the brigade and to conduct them to the Third Army Corps Hospital, near Alexandria, where he remained in charge until about the middle of December, 1862, when he resigned and returned home. But he did not remain long, his heart being with the brave boys who
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were bearing and suffering for the nation's cause, and he was soon again ready for active service. Having learned that there was a demand for competent surgeons at Nashville he proceeded thither, and after a two-days searching examination by the United States' army board, he was declared to be altogether satisfactory, when he immediately concluded terms with Dr. A. Henry Thurston, assistant surgeon general of the United States army and medical director at Nashville, and was ordered to duty at the officers' hospital. He subse- quently assisted Dr. Salter in organizing the Cumberland Hospital, which had a capacity of 3,000 patients, and he remained here in the active discharge of his duties until October 12, 1863. During his leisure hours he had discovered a new preservative and disinfectant compound for embalming bodies, and he engaged in that business with a decided success during the remainder of the war, by permission of Gen. George H. Thomas, having his head- . quarters at Nashville, with branches at Chattanooga, Knoxville, Dalton, Atlanta, Marri- etta and Huntsville. He rendered valuable service to the remains of Gen. McPherson and other fallen heroes during the Georgia campaign. When the war was over Dr. Prunk returned to Indianapolis and has lived here ever since, devoting his time and energies to the practice of medicine, in which he has been signally successful. To smooth his professional journey, which had been made rough by the interposing barriers of "isms," and to divert the fire of enemies from without and within the profession, he took a course and graduated, at the close of the winter session of 1875-76, at the 'college of Physicians and Surgeons (allopathic school), just twenty years after he had received his first degree, and during all these years he had practiced with most gratifying success. Dr. Prunk has been eminently successful in his practice and his standing as a physician and surgeon is of the highest order. Always studious, he has prosecuted his studies and investigations throughout his career with the most unremitting ardor, while he has enjoyed the advantage of instruction in two medical colleges and had a large and varied experience in the army, to say nothing of what he has garnered in the way of knowledge in his extensive private practice. He is eminently fitted for the profession he adorns, being of a profoundly sympathetic nature, unselfish, sociable and possessed of charming conversational powers and the most agreeable manners. As a man, a citizen, father, husband, neighbor and friend-in all the relations of life, he is an exemplar, worthy to be followed by all who appreciate the good and the hon- orable in living. As a citizen and patriot, Dr. Prunk takes an active interest in public affairs, and in politics is a Republican, being in hearty accord with the teachings of that party. In religion he was reared in the Methodist Church, the faithful itinerants of that body having found their way into the great remote fastnesses of his old Illinois home, and he learned to love them for their devotion to the cause they professed. Hence he joined that body and consistently followed its teachings from the time of his connection with it at at Lacon, Ill., in 1849, until 1867, when he joined the Episcopal Church, his wife being a devout member of that church. The marriage of the Doctor to this most worthy lady, to whom reference has previously been made, occurred March 30, 1858, her name being Harriet Augusta Smitlı. The fruits of this union are: Frank Howard, born at Princeton, Bureau County, Ill., March 14, 1860; Harry Clayton, born at Indianapolis, August 17, 1861, and Byron Fletcher, born at Indianapolis, December 20, 1866. The accomplished mother of these children merits the highest distinction because of her true and womanly qualities, which endear her to a choice circle of friends. She is possessed of superior gifts and endowments of mind and heart, and whether as wife, mother or friend in the social circle, she reflects the virtues of highest womanhood. Hers are the qualities that attach persons to her strongly, and retain them under all conditions. Mrs. Harriet Augusta Prunk is a native of Cincinnati, although soon after her birth her parents, William J. and Lavinia (Lennox) Smith, moved to Covington, Ky., where she was reared and resided until her marriage. Her parents were natives of old Virginia, where the maternal name of Lennox has figured prominently for many generations, her grandfather Lennox having been a lieutenant in the war of the Revolution. Receiving a careful and thorough preparatory education, Mrs. Prunk at an early age entered the Wesleyan Female College, an institution that had attained great prominence because of the thoroughness of its course, and that was one of the foremost educational institutions of Cincinnati, graduating from it in 1859, but a short time before her marriage. Very early in life she evidenced a rare talent in declamation
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and elocution, which developed into an exceptional quality of reading and dramatic power. This gift brought her into great prominence when at college, so that she was assigned duties at all entertainments within its walls, as well as at social gatherings, amateur entertain- ments, etc. It was manifest to her friends that she possessed this quality in a high degree, and that application, which is inseparable from attainment of foremost places in any depart- ment of art or knowledge, would develop it into dramatic and elocutionary genius. In Mrs. Prunk was the innate love, strong and abiding, for the art, and her will was all potent for the needed laborious study, and young as she was, she applied herself with assiduity, and with a continuity that would have reflected credit upon a much older person. Her marriage did not end her progress in the line of literary work, nor cause her to terminate her studies, for she devoted ten years after to arduons study and close application, with the result of at- taining to a high degree of perfection the ideal artist, qualification inherent and by nature given, only waiting to be nurtured by the warm sunlight of development into fruition and maturity. Her instructors were professors of eminence in the East, who were the more en- thusiastic and painstaking in instruction, because they were impressed by her talent and admired the spirit that imbued her. Ambitious yet to acquire all possible perfection, she entered in October, 1877, the Boston University School of Oratory, under the control of the late Louis B. Monroe, and after the most diligent and persistent application for a period of two years, she graduated from that celebrated institution in May, 1879, which was one year less than the regular course. She likewise enjoyed the high privilege of special instruction from Profs. Steele Mackaye and R. R. Raymond, of Boston and New York. The first ap- pearance of Mrs. Prunk before the public in a professional capacity was in the Grand Opera House, Indianapolis, in October, 1878, in response to a pressing invitation from the leading citizens of that city, and the city, and press and critics united in praising her graceful presence, remarkable purity and quality of voice, and her high dramatic powers. Her sec-
ond appearance was in Tremont Temple, Boston, May 19, 1879, before a large assembly composed of the elite of that cultured city. Her reception was an ovation, and the press of Boston teemed with adulatory praise of the distinguished Indianapolis lady. Since then she has appeared in public on many occasions, but principaliy in Indianapolis, and her wonderful ability and constantly augmenting powers have combined to urge her adoption of the plat- form as a profession, her friends insisting that such endowments and faculties as hers should not be lost to the people, and in response to numerons requests from friends and leading citizens, Mrs. Prunk established the Indiana Boston School of Elocution and Expression, of Indianapolis, in the fall of 1879, of which institution she has been principal since its organization. From this celebrated school there has been many graduates from different parts of the United States that are to-day doing good work in the various branches of the profession. Some are ministers, professors, teachers, elocutionists, readers and on the his- trionic stage. Mrs. Prunk and the public have a right to be proud of the work done in this school, which has been endorsed by some of the best known men in the United States. She loves her art, and from her soul. She is true and noble of heart, and has educated in the various branches of the art many pupils without recompense, because from her heart she desires to lend a helping hand to those who are deserving. Mrs. Prunk is also principal of the dramatic department of the School of Music of Indianapolis, and her work is endorsed by many distinguished men and women of letters, among whom may be mentioned, William E. Sheldon, editor of New England Journal of Education; Right Rev. D. B. Knickerbocker, Bishop of Indiana; Rev. Edward Bradley, of New York City; Rev. Dr. Cleveland, of Indian- apolis; Rev. Dr. Haines of Indianapolis, and many others. It requires but the willingness on her part for her fame to become coextensive with the country. The highest and best authori- ties are agreed that she has no peer as a delineator of character and interpreter of dramatic art, and that has been acknowledged wherever she has appeared and by the numerous patrons of the school of which she is now principal. To the people of her own city and State and to the refined and cultured circles of the East she requires no introduction. Her friends place her alongside of Mrs. Siddons, the resemblance between the power and pres- ence of both being marked. Mrs. Prunk combines in a positive manner those mental and physical powers which constitute excellence in her art and which in any other situation or profession would cause some one or more of her splendid gifts to be misplaced or to lie dor-
.
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mant. Her face and form are highly attractive and she has attained that degree of perfec- tion in her work that it has ceased to appear as art, but as nature itself. Mrs. Prunk has been a profound student of the forms and capabilities of language, so that a delicacy of emphasis is assured by which the meaning of an author is most intelligently conveyed, and no critic could suggest in her delivery a shade of intonation by which the sentiment could be more faithfully or fully expressed. With an unequaled genius and a passionate love for her art, and having the utmost patience in study, and a purely sympathetic nature, there is not a passage she cannot delineate, and the most delicate shade and nicest modification of passion she siezes with philosophical accuracy and renders with such immediate force of nature and truth, as well as precision, that what is the result of deep study and unwearied patience and practice appears like a sudden inspiration. A Boston paper says of Mrs. Prunk: " There is not a height of grandeur to which she does not soar, nor a depth of misery to which she can not descend, nor a chord of feeling, from the sternest to the most delicate, which she cannot cause to vibrate at her will." One of Indiana's best-known writers, after attending one of Mrs. Prunk's entertainments, wrote the following of her voice:
TO HATTIE AUGUSTA PRUNK.
Your voice! it is sweet as a day in June, When buds are in bloom and the birds attune Their songs to the gladness that pushes through The air and the flowers and the heart of man, And yon clothe old thoughts with a meaning new When you read as an artist only can.
Your voice! it is like an autumn wind
That quavers and moans and falters behind
The triumphant chorus of summer days, But which be the sweeter-June tones or sad,
It doth matter not, for the love always
Throbs in the mouruful as well as the glad.
Your voice! it is clear as a tinkling stream That ripples and purls and glances between The willows that lean o'er its shining breast. You " Rock Me to Sleep " with the rhythmic flow Of words that you read, and a holy rest Cradles my soul when your voice falls low, low, Like a dream of a olden lullaby That sways the tired heart with its melody.
" Her personal appearance and presence are stately and dignified, while her command of facial expression seems almost unlimited, now capable of delineating the sunniest of smiles, now picturing the sternest of expressions, now lighted up with the beams of hope, and anon shrouded in the gloom of despair." Unlike a good many, who seem not to live outside of their profession, Mrs. Prunk shines as brilliantly in the social circle as on the platform, is a versatile and brilliant conversationalist, quick as lightning's flash, apt at repartee, and in the arena of refined sarcasm able to cut and parry with all the polish and dash of the witty, refined and accomplished lady. In her domestic relations she is by nature pre-eminently happy, a noble wife and a devoted mother, having inherited the qualities of head and heart characteristic of her late much-beloved mother, a Christian woman of broad ideas, unusual intelligence and charitable in the highest sense of the word, and between mother and daugh- ter there existed a remarkable bond of devoted affection and companionship. Mrs. Prunk is now in the very prime of life and cannot have yet reached the zenith of her physical and intellectual powers. Assuredly higher honors await her than she has yet achieved.
ISAAC KING. The subject of our sketch, although in the very prime of life, bas filled high and responsible positions under the gifts of the people and he is a citizen who is held in the highest esteem by the people without regard to party. Isaac King, ex-sheriff of Marion County, was born at Cincinnati, Ohio, February 15, 1846, being the son of George and Elizabeth (Mckinney) King, Datives of Ireland and Pennsylvania, respectively. The father of our subject was bound out while a boy to the trade of a blacksmith in Maryland;
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his master not being a satisfactory one, he some time after his service began, in company with some other boys working with him, ran away to Philadelphia, where he completed his term and then followed the same work as a journeyman for a number of years. Then he went to Baltimore, where he remained for a short time and then to Cincinnati, at which place he lived for thirty-five years. A man of the deepest religious convictions, he was finally led into the Society of Shakers, in which community he spent the closing days of his long life, finally dying among them, in Hamilton County, Ohio, at the age of eighty-one. His widow is living in Indianapolis, aged eighty-seven. This couple had six children, four of whom are living, namely: Julia, wife of William M. Rubush; George King, of Tipton, Ind., super- intendent of the poor farm of that county; Anna M., wife of Logan Justice, and Isaac, our subject. Charles King, a brother of our subject, who died at Louisville, was a soldier in the late war and Sarah, a sister, is also dead. The subject of our sketch was brought up with the Shakers at Whitewater village, Ohio, until he was seventeen years old, receiving what meagre education it was possible for the society to get for the youth there. The life there was very repulsive to him and he resolved at any hazard to get his younger sister from ont of the influence of the place. So, at the age of seventeen he took her with him and fled the spot, coming to Indianapolis. He was young to have so grave a responsibility and he had no trade upon which to fall back, while his education, as has been stated, was very limited. But his heart was brave and with a sublime devotion he sought work, gladly accepting any that was honest and that would give food and clothing to his sister, whom he loved with a strong devotion. For three years he did various jobs of work and then, at the age of twenty, began to learn the trade of a blacksmith. He began his apprenticeship under George Van Antwerp and served it out faithfully, after which he worked as a journeyman for five years, at the expiration of which he purchased a half interest in the business of his employer. Mr. King has carried on the business ever since, the firm name being King & Knight, who do a general business in the line named. Politics always proved a subject of great interest to him and his pleasant manner, good fellowship and general excellent character gave him great influence. Hence his party saw in him a man most available for the office of sheriff, a position for which he was nominated and to which he was elected in 1884 and was re-elected in 1886, serving two full terms. Mr. King met the full expectations of his friends and admirers while sheriff, proving himself a most efficient and honorable official and administer- ing affairs with the utmost fairness. He has served very acceptably as an alderman from the Fourth District two terms. The political faith of Mr. King is that of a pronounced Democrat, a party to which he has always been loyal and for which he has worked untiringly ever since he attained his majority. A resident of Indianapolis for upward of thirty years, he is thoroughly identified with the interests of the city, for which he has labored earnestly always, when the services of good citizens were needed to effect some reform or to inaugurate some movement for the general good. A number of organizations know him as brother and fellow worker, among which arethe Masonic order, Knights of Pythias, Odd Fellows, Knights of Honor and the Elks. He was married first, in 1873, to Miss Nannie J. Knight and a second time to Miss Frankie Faling. He is the father of two children, Alice E. and Lloyd I. King.
JOHN T. PRESSLY. It is the men of broad and comprehensive views who give life to communities and build cities-men who have foresight and energy, pluck and push to for- ward their enterprises and still retain an untarnished reputation through it all. Such a man is John T. Pressly, ex-sheriff of Marion County, Ind., who is now retired from the active affairs of life and is enjoying the reward of his early industry. He was born in Preble County, Ohio, May 7, 1831, a son of James and Elizabeth (Hamilton) Pressly, the former of whom was born near Charleston, N. C., and the latter in Union County, Ind. When a young man James Pressly settled in Preble County, Ohio, where he carried on merchandis- ing for a time in the village of Morning Sun, putting up the first building in the place. In the spring of 1844 he became a resident of Marion County, and having in the meantime begun the study of medicine, he began practicing after locating in Marion County, and fol- lowed this calling for a number of years. His death occurred in 1848, his wife having pre- ceded him to her long home by a number of years. John T. Pressly was about thirteen years of age when his parents came to Marion County, and in the common schools of this 5
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section he received his education. Shortly after the family came to Indianapolis young Pressly entered the employ of the State as teamster at the deaf and dumb asylum, a posi- tion he held nearly two years, when he was appointed steward of the asylum to fill a vacancy. He continued in this capacity about five years, then resigned and became a clerk in Smith & Hanley's store. About one year and a half later he began railroading and for fifteen years he was a locomotive engineer on the Bee Line road. In the meantime he con- ceived the idea of investing in a saw-mill and for some time he furnished lumber to the rail- road company, and after retiring from the position of engineer he continued in the saw-mill business for about five years and was very successful. He dealt exclusively in walnut lum- ber and realized over $40,000 from the business, which he sold in 1873. In 1870 he was prevailed upon by friends to accept a nomination to the city council from what was the eighth ward, which had a Democratic majority of 344 and included all territory south of East Street to the city limits. The popularity of Mr. Pressly failed to overcome the Demo- cratic majority but his defeat was by only thirty-seven votes. The following year he was again persuaded to be a candidate and this time was elected by 157 votes, serving as coun- cilman one term. In 1876 Mr. Pressly was nominated for sheriff by the Republicans of Marion County, and was elected by over 1,900 majority. He was honored by a renomina- tion in 1878 and again elected, serving as sheriff four years in all, and retiring in 1880. Immediately following this he engaged in farming, purchasing a fine tract of 400 acres on Crawfordsville pike about four miles northwest in Wayne township, which he continues to conduct, a considerable portion of his land being devoted to raising stock. He has been very prosperous and has beautiful residence property in the city. He was married June 25, 1855, to Miss Mary A. Dunn, a native of Canada, but who was reared and educated in Indianapolis, and to their union two children have been given: Annie E., wife of Daniel Chenoweth, and Addie, wife of John F. Carson, of the firm of Carson & Thompson, attor- neys. Mr. Pressly is a member of the Masonic order, thirty-second degree, Scottish rite. He is a church member in good standing and politically has always been a stanch Republi- can. Earnest, faithful and eminently successful in the discharge of his official duties, he has succeeded in winning many friends, and he has ever taken a lively interest in every movement having for its object the social and moral elevation of the people. He is affable. and agreeable in manners, has that courtesy that springs from a kind disposition, and he has endeared himself to all with whom he has come in contact, whether professionally or as a member of society. He has been a widower since June 20, 1888.
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