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 17
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HON. RICHARD W. THOMPSON was a native of Culpeper County, Va., born in June, 1809, and was descended from one of " the first families of Virginia." When twenty-two years old he emigrated to Indiana, taught a private school at Bedford, and later opened the Law- rence County Seminary. Subsequently he read law, was admitted to the bar in 1834, and the same year was elected to the State Legislature, and re-elected in 1838. In 1839 he was elected to the State Senate, and during his career as a State legislator not only displayed great ability and foresight, but was instrumental in effecting very important legislation. Upon the resignation of Lieut. - Gov. Wallace, Mr. Thompson was president of the Senate pro tempore, and held the office of acting governor during the administration of Hon. Noah Noble. As a Whig he was nominated and elected to Congress in 1841 from the Second district, and declining a renomination moved to Terre Haute in 1843, where for nearly a half a century he was engaged in the practice of the law. In 1847 he was again nominated for Congress by the Whig party, and, accepting the nomination, was re-elected and became a national character because of his prominence in legislative matters. Although tendered the Austrian mission by Pres. Taylor in 1849, he declined the appointment, preferring to remain in his native country. During the war of the Rebellion he rendered the Union active and valuable services, was commandant of Camp Dick Thompson, near Terre Haute, and also served as provost marshal of the district. In 1867 he was elected judge of the Eighteenth Judicial District, but declined the candidature of a second term. For a number of years he lived in retirement, steadily refusing political preferment, and turning his attention to literary and educational pursuits, his large and valuable library affording him an ample field for study. In March, 1877, President Hayes appointed him to his cabinet as Secretary of the Navy, and so ably did he fill the duties of that position that he brought order out of chaos, simplified the duties of his subordinates, dismissed unnecessary employes, established his department on a sound basis and saved several million dollars to the Government that had previously been frittered away. Mr. Thompson is one of the men whose name bears an imperishable imprint on the page of Indiana history. He is now in his eighty-fifth year, hale and hearty; he has been a participant in sixteen presidential campaigns, and on Sep- tember 3, 1893, made one of the ablest political speeches of his life, comprising six columns of newspaper print.
Gov. JAMES D. WILLIAMS, or more popularly known as " Blue Jeans " Williams, repre- sented the old type of the true gentleman. He was not gifted with the polish that comes of a finished education, or that is usual in the case of public men. A Democrat of the Jeffersonian school in all that the term implies, a man of remarkable force of character, simple and unostentatious in his intercourse with his fellowmen, honest as the day was long, it is no wonder that "Blue-Jeans" Williams obtained a stronghold upon the hearts of the masses. He was born January 16, 1808, in Pickaway County, Ohio, moved with his par-
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ents to Knox County, Ind., when ten years old, was reared to hard work on the home farm, and was taught to believe that it was far better to be able to boast of his skill in plowing, clearing, splitting rails, swinging the cradle and the like, than it was to boast of his educa- tion. As a consequence his schooling was of a very meager character; but what he lacked in this respect was modified to a considerable extent by desultory readings, and in his in- tercourse with men of learning. When twenty years old his father died, and the care of the family devolved upon him, and three years later occurred his marriage with Nancy Huffman. When thirty one years of age he began his public career by becoming a justice of the peace, but in 1843 resigned and was elected to the State Legislature. From 1843 to 1874 Mr. Williams was almost continually in the Legislature of the State, either as Repre- sentative or Senator. In the year last mentioned he was elected to represent his district in Congress, was made chairman of the committee on accounts of the House, and while not making a brilliant record in his one term as Congressman, he gave a thoroughly able and honest representation. In 1876, much to his surprise, he became the nominee of the Democracy of the State for the Governorship of Indiana. It was in this campaign that his opponents made sport of his homespun clothes and plain appearance, and obtained for him the sobriquet of "Blue-Jeans." It was one of the most remarkable campaigns of this most remarkable country, and is comparable to the "Tippecanoe and Tyler too," and the Lincoln-Douglas elections. Mr. Williams was elected by over 5,000 votes over Gen. Benjamin Harrison, ex-President of the United States, and served four years.
A. A. YOUNG. The business of the merchant is not only one that may be the road to success, but, what is better, in this country, certainly, it is one of the most honorable of avocations and those engaged in it are, as a class, composed of the very ublest and brightest of the land. It is the way to social distinction, to wealth and to fame, if one wishes tlie latter. In the list of worthy and honorable business men of Indianapolis, that of our sub)- ject appears as one in every way entitled to the confidence and the esteem of his fellow citi- zens. He is a member of the city council from the third ward and was born in Johnson County, Ind., April 5, 1852. Mr. Young is the son of Jesse and Sarah (Demaree) Yonng, who came to Indiana at an early day and settled in Johnson County, where the father car- ried on a farm. He now lives at Des Moines, Iowa, retired from active pursuits. He has been a member of the Legislature of Iowa and held other official positions. He is the father of four sons, all living, and a daughter dead. The names of the sons are: William S., of Franklin, Ind .; Joseph B., of Blackhawk, Colo .; Noble W., a farmer of Monona County, Iowa, and Archibald A., our subject. William S. was a soldier in Company F, Seventh Indiana, and lost a leg at Cedar Mountain. The subject of our sketch was taken by his parents to Fairfield, Iowa, when but an infant. He remained bere until he was fifteen, but was deprived of an education, because of constant, chronic illness. At the age of fifteen he left Iowa and returned to Franklin, Ind., with his brother, William S., and went to school during the winter, working on the farm during the summer. Afterward he attended two terms of Franklin College. This is all the schooling that he received and it will be seen that he is a self-taught, as he is a self-made man. What schooling he received he had to pay for and at the age of seventeen he entered the dry goods store of R. V. Ditmers, of Franklin, with whom he remained until the fall of 1872, when he came to Indianapolis and was em- ployed in what was then known as the People's Store, conducted by W. M. Davis. Here he remained until the fall of 1876, when the firm went out of business. He then took service with L. S. Ayres & Co., in May, 1877, with whom he remained until February, 1893, when he organized the firm of Young, Dildim & McMurray, merchant tailors, at Nos. 12 and 14 North Meridian Street. This firm carries a very large and fine stock of goods and are first- class tailors. Mr. Young was elected a member of the city council in October, 1891, and has served his constituents most acceptably, at the same time working faithfully for the interests of the city. Prior to his election he made the race for alderman from the second district, but was unsuccessful. Mr. Young believes in social organizations and is a member of the K. of P. and of the R. A. Our subject was married in 1877 to Miss Georgia A. Sloan, and this union has been blessed with three sons: Howard S., Ralph A. and Byron C., all prom- ising and interesting lads. Mr. and Mrs. Young are members of Tabernacle Presbyterian Church, of which he is a deacon. He is a stanch Republican and treasurer of the Republican
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County committee. Mr. Young has a number of interests in the city, being secretary of the Illinois and Seventh Streets Savings and Loan Association, treasurer of State Loan and Sav- ings Association League and a member of the Commercial Club. He enjoys the fullest con- fidence of all who know him and is a reliable business man in every sense of the term.
PETER SINDLINGER. As a wholesale and retail dealer in meats in Indianapolis there is not one who has a more enviable reputation for promptness, enterprise and honesty than Peter Sindlinger, whose establishment is located at 207 West Michigan street, and has been in successful operation since 1878. His trade has already growu to immense proportions and he does a well-known annual business of over $100,000. His ice house, packing house and other buildings occupy ground 200x300 feet, all of which improvements were made by Mr. Sindlinger at a cost of $25,000, in addition to which he has a slaughter house at the Union Stock Yards, a plant which cost $7,000. He has two retail stalls for meats at the city market, and two large wholesale wagons are kept constantly busy disposing of his goods throughout the city. Mr. Sindlinger is a product of the city of Cincinnati, Ohio, where he was born on Christmas day, 1852, a son of Gotleib and Eva (Spitzfaden) Sindlinger, who came from Germany, which country has given to America some of its best citizens. The father was brought to this country by his parents at about the age of one year, and in the "City of Brotherly Love" be was reared and educated. Upon embarking in business for himself it was as a meat merchant, a calling he followed successfully for several years. This business he continued to follow for some time after locating in Cincinnati, from which place he later enlisted in the Mexican War. He was wounded in one of the leading battles and while in the service contracted rheumatism which resulted in his death November 19, 1881. He came to Indianapolis in 1862 and at one time was a member of the city council from the old fifteenth ward. He was one of the enterprising business men of the place and success- fully conducted a meat market until his death. Peter Sindlinger was a lad when his parents came to Indianapolis, and although he attended school until he was twelve years of age, he was then obliged to go to work and commenced learning the butcher's trade in his father's establishment, and so thorough was his training and so intelligent was he in acquiring an insight into the business that he decided to make it his chief occupation through life and time has shown the wisdom of his choice. His success has been assured from the start for he has exercised the utmost good judgment at all times and has ever been at the helm to gnide his bark of business into smooth and profitable waters. He is of a genial and social disposition and belongs to the Masonic and Knights of Pythias fraternities and to the Butchers' Association. He was married January 8, 1878, to Miss Emma F. Kubn, a native of Indianapolis and a danghter of Charles J. and Fredericka S. (Reinert) Kuhn, and to their union three children have been given: Mamie, Frieda and William. Mr. Sindlinger and his family are members of the German Lutheran Church and in political matters he has always affiliated with the Democrat party.
MARTIN J. MURPHY. The subject of our sketch is a young man under forty, who has trusted to his own strong arm and his healthy brain and has not been disappointed. Martin J. Murphy began life without capital and his privileges were somewhat limited, but a steady purpose to do with his might what was in sight has brought him forward until he is now a councilman-at-large and president of the city council of Indianapolis. Mr. Murphy was born at Madison, Ind., October 25, 1853, and is the son of Martin and Catharine (Cos- grove) Murphy, natives of Ireland, who came to America before their marriage, about the year 1851, and were married at Madison. The father died at Indianapolis in 1873, and the mother in Kentucky about the year 1868. They were the parents of five children, four of whom are living, our subject being the eldest. He was reared at Madison and attended the school of the Catholic Sisters until he was thirteen, after which he went to the public semi- nary two terms and then, when less than fourteen, started out to make his own living. Without a single doubt as to the result he began at day labor, being employed on the grad- ing of the Louisville, Cincinnatti & Lexington Short Line and on the Shawneetown & Edgewood Railroad, his work being the driving of horses, for which he received very small wages, but he contrived to get enough to eat. About the year 1870 he came to Indianapolis and worked for a season in the wheel factory. Subsequently he ran on the Indiana, Bloomington & Western Railroad, being a fireman for about four years and
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worked as an engineer, and went out with the strike of 1877. Following this he went to work in the rolling-mill and thence to Lafayette, Ind., where he was an engineer in the hominy mills for some time, and then returned to Indianapolis and went to work in the car works. Later he was in the service of the Electric Light Company, and then, in 1888, he entered the office' of the County Auditor and was a deputy for nearly five years. In April, 1892, he entered into the undertaking business with Mr. Callier, under the firm name of Callier & Murphy, located at No. 59 West Maryland Street. Our subject was elected to the City Council as a member at-large in October, 1891, having served for the two years previous as a councilman from the thirteenth ward, being first elected in October, 1889. He was nominated by the Democratic caucus for president of the council during his first term, but was defeated by a combination of Republicans, and of Demo- crats who did not attend the caucus of the party. He was elected president of the coun- cil-at-large at the first meeting of the council, and has served as such since January, 1892. Mr. Murphy is a member of the Ancient Order of Hibernians, and is a man of social impulses and personally very popular. He was married in 1875, and his wife died in 1890, leaving two children: Mamie and Dolly, who are at St. John's Academy. Mr. Murphy is one of the solid and representative men of the city, who owes his prominence to his own ability and to the help of no one but himself.
CHARLES H. ADAM. The name of Charles H. Adam is a familiar one in the railroad as well as of the political circles of Indianapolis, he being a trusted employe in the former and a faithful follower in the latter. He is treasurer of the School Board of the city, and the city passenger and ticket agent of the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton Railroad, and was born at Bueckeburg, Germany, November 7, 1860. Our subject is the son of William C. and Doretta (Tieste) Adam, who came to this country in 1866, landing at New York City and coming direct to Indianapolis, where they now reside. They are the parents of eight children, seven of whom are living, our subject being the eldest of the family. He was but six years old when he came here, and he received his education in the public and the German schools of this city, finishing with a full course in a business college, graduating from it at the age of seventeen. Starting out to learn the trade of a baker he grew tired of it in less than a year and gave it up. After trying a number of things he secured a position with the Burdsal wholesale paint and glass house as shipping clerk, and held it for three years. He was then employed at the Union Station ticket office, and in 1889 was made ticket agent of the Cin- cinnati, Hamilton & Dayton Railroad at the corner of Kentucky Avenue and Illinois Street, where he is still stationed. In June, 1892, he was elected a member of the School Board, and was elected treasurer of that body in the following month. Beside this position he is secretary of the Southeastern Building & Loan Association. Mr. Adam is a member of the the K. of P., and is highly esteemed in that order. He was married in 1884 to Miss Josephine Jose, of this city, who has borne him one son, Carl. Mr. Adam is a member of the German Lutheran Church, and since his eighteenth birthday has been a member of the Indianapolis Maennerchor, the pioneer singing society of this city; he has served on the executive board in this society for the past ten years. In politics he is an uncompro- mising Democrat, and his voice and vote are always cheerfully used for the advancement of the interests of the party. Mr. Adam at one time sold papers on the street, and paid his tuition in the German school by serving as janitor of the building, From these beginnings he has risen to his present influential and dignified position.
HENRY J. BROWN. Age has not laid its dignifying hand upon our subject, but the weight and responsibility of many of the local positions of Franklin Township have been assigned to him because of his peculiar fitness as a man of ability and rare judgment. He is an intelli- gent and enterprising young business man, and a native of this county, his birth having oc- curred in New Bethel, April 3, 1853. His educational advantages were received in thecom- mon schools there and in the Normal School at Lebanon, Ohio. Leaving school at the age of nineteen years he returned to New Bethel, Ind., and assisted his father to till the soil for about a year. From there he went to Denver, Colo., remained there for about four months and then returned to New Bethel where he began clerking for James D. Brumley in a gen- eral store. A year or so later he bought a half interest, and about one year later he and Al- bert Helms bought out Mr. Brumley, after which time the firm was conducted under the title
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of Brown & Helms for about two years. In 1880 Mr. Brown bought out his partner and has carried on the business alone ever since. He now owns a large two-story frame building and this is filled with his stock. In his political views Mr. Brown affiliates with the Democratic party and is active in his support of its platform and principles. In 1890 he was elected trustee of Franklin township for four years, but owing to a change of law he will hold that posi- tion nntil August, 1895. Mr. Brown is a member of the I. O. O. F., Acton Lodge, and a charter member of the Acton Lodge, K. of P. He served as vice chancellor of the latter organization, but resigned the position on account of business. For some time he has held membership in the Baptist Church. In the year 1877 he was married to Miss Flora Schooley, daughter of Thomas Schooley, of Indianapolis, and two children have been given them, Ernest T., born'in 1880 and Raymond A., born in 1885. The father of our subject is Dr. S. M. Brown.
HENRY F. BARNES, M. D. The profession of medicine, while a very inviting field for the student and the humanitarian, is one that demands much self denial and the exercise of repression and the sacrifice of the ordinary methods of advancing one's interests. It has been urged, and with great show of reason, that these causes explain the exalted char- acter and the superior virtues that so strongly characterize the profession the country over. In other words, the self-abnegation demanded for the truly successful man in this profes- sion is such that good men only are willing to assume the duties and responsibilities of such a life. The city of Indianapolis is peculiarly fortunate in the personnel of its practioners, the ethical code being maintained at the highest possible standard, and the individual members being gentlemen of culture and refinement, and physicians of repute and emi- nence. In the number the name of Dr. Henry F. Barnes appears most prominent, his attainments in his profession, his courteous treatment of his brethren, the success he has attained in the practice, and his broad and considerate and devoted care of those who require his professional services, all combining to give him an enviable distinction among physi- cians and a deserved popularity with the public. Especially does he have the confidence of those who have had his presence in the sick chamber and have observed how devoted his care of those who suffer. Dr. Barnes has passed his sixtieth year, yet his natural vigor has not abated, and he practices with all the zeal, enthusiasm and sympathy for suffering that stamped him thirty years ago. Henry F. Barnes, M. D., of Indianapolis, was born at Orleans, Ind., August 11, 1829, being the son of Dean Barnes, who was born near Lex- ington, Ky., and was a pioneer trader, merchant and hotel keeper of Springville, Lawrence County, Ind., shipping produce for forty miles around that place, in flatboats, to New Orleans. The father of our subject was a justice of the peace for thirty years and served two terms as treasurer of Lawrence County. He married Mahala Athon, a native of Rockbridge County, Va., and a daughter of Judge Joseph Athon, a teacher of the higher branches of mathematics at Washington City, in the latter part of the eighteenth cent- ury. Dean Barnes and his wife are dead, the former passing away at Mitchell, Ind., in 1873, from the effects of being removed from a burning hotel, in which he was confined to his bed from an attack of pneumonia at the time the fire broke out. He was a success- ful business man and acquired a large amount of property, most of which he lost by going security. The paternal grandfather of Dr. Barnes, Henry Barnes, was a pioneer settler of Xenia, Ohio, and was captain of light horse cavalry at Fort Meigs during the War of 1812. He was afterward a successful business man at Xenia, having acquired a snug fort- nine, and he died at the age of eighty-seven. The ancestors of the maternal grandfather of Dr. Barnes, Joseph Athion, came from Scotland about the middle of the seventeenth century and were relatives of Lord Fairfax, and the late Dr. James S. Athon, at one time Secretary of State of Indiana, was a descendant of the same. Our subject was about two years old when his parents settled in Springville, Lawrence County, where he remained and was reared, receiving a common-school education. He was for a number of years engaged with his father buying stock and selling the same at Green Bay, Wis., which was on the frontier at that time, and the youth was frequently brought into contact in the way of trade with the Indians. whom, however, he always found peaceful. At the age of seven- teen he entered the Union School, of Xenia, Ohio, taking an eight months' course, and was chosen valedictorian of his class. Following this, he remained at home for a few weeks,
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then went to Greencastle and took an irregular scientific course and languages in what was known as Asbury University. At the age of nineteen he began the study of medicine in the office of Dr. James S. Athon, at Charleston, Ind., matriculating afterward at Jefferson Medical College, where he took two courses of lectures and graduated in the class of 1854, having previously, in 1853, graduated from the Edward Parish College of Pharmacy. During the second course he practiced medicine in Philadelphia, and at New Washington, Ind., between the first and second courses, making sufficient money to carry him through the medical college. He is a self-made man, finding it necessary to earn the money which procured him his literary and professional education. After graduating he settled at Bed- ford, Ind., and entered upon the practice with Dr. Winthrop Foote, a leading practitioner of southern Indiana. In the fall of 1854 circumstances called Dr. Barnes to Paoli, Ind., where he practiced until the fall of 1855. In September, 1855, he was chosen senior phy- sician at the Indiana Hospital for the Insane, now the Central, having special charge of the female department, and was elected for six consecutive years. At the end of that time he entered upon a large and lucrative practice in Indianapolis. When the great battle of Pittsburgh Landing was in progress, Dr. Barnes was commissioned by Gov. Morton as one of the additional surgeons to the Eleventh Indiana Volunteer Infantry, commanded by Gen. Lew Wallace, and was detailed to Shiloh Hospital after that battle, in addition to serving the Eleventh, and rendered most efficient aid while down there. Upon his return to In- dianapolis he at once resumed the practice, and enjoyed a large and very lucrative income. In 1870, at the solicitation of a number of friends, he removed to Louisville and at once entered upon a very gratifying practice, which continued until 1877, when, his old preceptor and partner, Dr. James S. Athon, dying, he was induced to return to Indianapolis, where he found a most satisfactory practice, which has continued to the present time. In 1865 Dr. Barnes was appointed by the commissioner of pensions at Washington, D. C., a pension surgeon, a position he held until 1869. In the years that have passed since leaving the insane hospital service he has been chosen by the courts of this and other States to give expert testimony where the plea of insanity has been set up and has received the largest possible fees for that service. Prior to the Doctor's removal to Louisville, he was one of the founders of the Indianapolis Academy of Medicine, and one of a committee of three to establish a fee bill for the government of the physicians of Indianapolis and vicinity. He was also an active member of the Indiana State Medical Society. After his location at Louisville, in 1870, he became an active member of the Medico Chirurgical Society of Louisville, was a member of the Kentucky State Medical Society and an honorary member of the Ohio State Medical Society. He was the author of "A Discussion of Insanity from a Medico-Legal Standpoint," for the Kentucky State Medical Society, and an article enti- tled "'Cerebral Congestion," for the Medico-Chirurgical Society of Louisville, both of which were published in the Richmond and Louisville Medical Journal, and highly eulogized by the profession generally. The Doctor has produced many other able articles of importance during his professional career. About ten years ago Dr. Barnes was elected president of the Life and Endowment Association of Indiana, one of the largest and best insurance companies of its kind in the State, and has held that position, with the exception of one year, ever since. In the year 1868 he was at the head of the Democratic ticket for the office of State senator from the Indianapolis district, and came near being elected, in the face of nearly 2,000 majority of the opposing party, in this county alone, one of his asso- ciates on the Democratic ticket being 1,900 votes behind. In the same year he was made a member of the State Central Committee, for the central district of Indiana, serving two years efficiently. Dr. Barnes makes a specialty of diseases of the mind and nervous system, including the liquor and opium habit, etc., and is an expert and leading physician and sur- geon, being universally recognized as such by the profession and by the people of Indianap- olis. He combines with a rare knowledge of his profession pleasant and agreeable manners and a broad and conscientious charity. Dr. Barnes was married in 1863 to Mrs. Fannie R. Seabolt, and again in 1880, to Margaret V. Merl, who died of consumption December 18, 1890, leaving three children, namely, Pearl A., Beatrice M. and Hattie F., all of them bright, intelligent and most interesting children, who would attract attention anywhere on account of their sweet and winning ways. Recently the Doctor was induced on account of their
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