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 21
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his contemporaries, and capable of accomplishing a large amount of labor in the practice of his life work.
WV. H. HAWKINS. The younger Pitt, had his lot been cast in the United States in this day and generation would not have found it necessary to defend himself against the "atro- cious crime of being a young man," as charged against him because of his precocious men- tal development. In this Republic there is no prejudice against a man merely because he chances to develop in advance of the conventional idea as to time of maturity, but on the contrary it is more likely that the fact will be used as a cause for rewarding his ability by promoting him to places of honor and trust. The subject of our sketch, W. H. Hawkins, of Indianapolis, is a young man who has demonstrated over and over again that the wisdom of age rests upon his shoulders and the judgment of tried experience guides his actions, yet so far from this being a bar to his advancement, his friends point to the fact with pride and as convincing proof that man ought to be weighed by his capacity and not by the duration of his days upon the earth. Mr. Hawkins was born in Sullivan County, Ind., December 31, 1858, and is the son of Jesse and Fannie P. (Pinkston) Hawkins, natives of the same county. The paternal grandfather, John W. Hawkins, was a native of South Carolina and a pioneer of Sullivan County, who served his country in the War of 1812, holding the rank of major. He was a farmer and pursued that avocation until his death, and his son, the father of our subject, was also a tiller of the soil. The latter, imbued with the same spirit that moved his sire in the War of 1812, enlisted in the Civil War in the Forty-first Indiana Volunteers, afterward known as the First Cavalry Regiment; was taken prisoner and died in Libby Prison, leaving two children, Mattie, who died in 1882, and our subject. The latter was reared upon the farm in Sullivan County, attending the country schools until he was eight- een years old, and two years later he entered the normal school at Valparaiso. After remain- ing there for some time he entered a country store at Shelburn and continued in it until November 18, 1884, when he was appointed a deputy sheriff of Sullivan County and served four years. He was then elected sheriff of the same county and filled that position with the greatest credit, as he had previously discharged the duties of deputy and for an equal period of time. March 22, 1893, he was appointed by President Cleveland United States marshal for the district of Indiana, being one of the youngest men ever named for this office. Young as he is he wields a most powerful influence in politics, being personally remarkably popular and possessing exceptional ability as an organizer and leader of men. He can plan a campaign with a shrewdness that surprises the oldest of campaigners and executes with brilliant success. Failure is a word that has never appeared in the book of his life and suc- cess has tended but to brighten his wits and to stimulate his brain to greater energy. Dur- ing bis term of office he will make Indianapolis his place of residence, much to the regret of his thousands of friends and admirers in old Sullivan, who while proud of the distinguished recognition of his services and ability, deeply regret to lose the pleasure of his presence and
the strength of his party counsels even for a season. Mr. Hawkins is a man of strong social feeling, taking keen enjoyment in the society of his friends, and is connected with the order of Odd Fellows and of the K. of P., in both of which organizations he is regarded with the highest esteem. He was married May 6, 1880, to Miss Etta E. Collier, by whom he has one child living, Burchard G. Brief as has been Mr. Hawkins' stay in Indianapolis he has already made hosts of friends and has demonstrated to them and to the people of the State generally that the selection made by President Cleveland for the office of marshal for the State of Indiana was a most wise one and that he will discharge its duties with distinguished ability and with conscientious regard to the interests of the Government. He was in 1892 unanimously selected chairman of the Democratic central committee of Sullivan County, Ind., and yet retains that position. The remarkable executive talent of Mr. Haw- kins and his masterly grasp of important measures, with his unbroken success and his wide popularity, clearly show that he is but fairly started upon his career, and that much better and greater things await him.
MISS MARY EILEEN AHERN. As mediums for the diffusion of knowledge among the massos, public collections of books take rank second only to the common-school system. The State library at Indianapolis, Ind., has been steadily prosperous, the number of volumes being increased year by year, and the careful selection and completeness of the collection
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gives it a value second to very few. The State librarian, Miss Mary Eileen Ahern, is a lady thoroughly equipped by intimate knowledge of books for the care of the library. To the requisites of ability she adds those of temperament, and all patrons of the library will agree in acknowledging her painstaking and uniform consideration and courtesy in rendering assist- ance to those pursuing any particular branch of inquiry. This lady removed with her parents to Spencer, Ind., in 1870 and there she attended the public schools, graduating from the High School in May, 1878. In October, 1878, when but seventeen years of age, she began teaching school at Bloomfield, Ind., and was thus engaged for two years, meeting with unusual success in that capacity. Returning to Spencer she taught in the high schools of that city for four years, and in the fall of 1884 she removed to Peru, Ind., where she made her home until the spring of 1889. On the 1st of April of that year she became assistant libra- rian and on January 23, 1893, she was elected by the Legislature as State librarian which position she nows fills in a very able manner. Possessed of rare culture and attainments Miss Ahern discharges her duties with highly commendable zeal and ability. Of the three children born to her parents Miss Ahern is second in order of birth. Her parents were natives of Ireland, a country that our people have heard or read more or less of, land that seems to be the breeding place for the production of the brain, the energy and muscle that move the rest of the world. Her mother was an O' Neill of County Clare, a very noted family of that county, and she was a lady possessed of great force of character and remarkable financial ability. She died when Miss Ahern was but twelve years of age. The father, William Ahern, was a native of County Cork and like many of his native countrymen, his day dream was for liberty and the right to cope with his fellow men. As a consequence he emigrated to the United States in 1852 and two years later came to Indianapolis where he was married. He is at present a resident of Spencer, Ind., and is a man possessed of many excellent qualities of mind and heart. The children born to this estimable couple are named as follows: Johanna, a resident of Spencer and wife of W. S. Johnson who is county clerk of Owen County, Ind., Mary E., and James. Our subject was a delegate to the National Library Association held at San Francisco, Cal., in 1891 and is now secretary of the State library section of the National Library Association. She is the founder of the Library Association of Indiana of which she has been secretary since its organization, and was secre- tary of high school section of the State Teachers' Association for two years.
SAMUEL PFENDLER. This worthy agriculturist was born in Canton Glarus, among the Alps of Switzerland, May 6, 1833, to the union of Nicholas and Anna (Streef) Pfendler. His great-grandfather Friedland Pfender, was governor of Canton Glarus, in Switzerland. The father of our subject came to America with his family in 1847, leaving Havre de Grace, France, March 1, 1847, and landing in New Orleans on April 26 and came up the Missis- sippi and Ohio Rivers to Madison. The family then took the stage to Indianapolis, where they arrived on May 4. The father bad a brother who had come to America in 1832 and who was at that time living in Marion County, Warren Township, Ind., engaged in farming. Nicholas Pfendler bought 100 acres in Moral Township, Shelby County. just across the line from Marion County, and paid for the same $1,200. About thirty five acres of this tract was partially cleared and the first year he put in ten or twelve acres of corn, the same amount of wheat and about four acres in potatoes. This was put in with one horse. He carried his produce to Indianapolis and received for potatoes a 'sbilling a bushel, 3 cents a dozen for eggs, in trade, and about 8 cents a pound for butter. Samuel Pfendler, the original of this notice, remained on the farm with his father until 1855 and then started for Faribault County, Minn., with Warren Judd, who had a wagon and two yoke of cattle. Our subject purchased a yoke of cattle and drove the team for his board. He left home September 9, 1855, and shortly afterward went to Winneshiek County, Iowa, and located at Frankville, where, dur- ing the winter, he drove a team for a storekeeper, continuing this until May, 1856. He then went to Steele County, Minn., where he pre-empted 160 acres of land and made his home on the same until August, 1856, breaking ten acres in the meantime. On August 4, 1856, he returned to Iowa and began working for P. K. Beard, continuing with him for two months. About that time he traded his claim of 160 acres for two yoke of oxen, making him then the owner of three yoke, and trading the oxen for horses he engaged in teaming from Iowa to Minnesota, the route covering from forty to 150 miles. After about six months he began to
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drive stage from McGregor's Landing, in Clayton County, Iowa, to Decorah, Iowa, a dis- tance of forty-five miles, making a trip every day. He drove stage two years, receiving from $20 to $30 a month. In 1858 he married Miss Alma Burton, daughter of George W. Bur- ton, of Winneshiek County, Iowa, and for about a year and a half afterward kept a store in Frankville. In Jannary, 1860, he and his bride came to Marion County, Ind., brought with them about $200, and made their home with Mr. Pfendler's father until the death of the lat- ter, two years later. Our subject and his brother, David, were the only two of the children who remained at home, and when the father died his will provided that David and Samuel should divide the land he owned, 100 acres in Shelby and 160 acres in Marion County, and pay to the other children $5, 200. The interest of $2,000 was to be paid to the mother and she was to have a home with them during her life. Samnel and his brother accepted the provisions of the will and faithfully carried them out. The mother passed away in 1864 and her last days were rendered happy and comfortable by the devotion of her two sons. For two years the brothers worked their farms together, but in 1864 Samuel bought of his brother thirty of the 160 acres in Marion County, paying for the same $1,000. On the tract our subject had received from his father he resided from 1860 until the present. His first residence was a log structure, 18x22 feet, and in this they kept house for about eleven years, often cooking for forty or fifty men who came to log-rollings. Those were happy days for all were contented with their lot. About 1871 Mr. Pfendler erected a two-story frame house, thirty feet square, and in this he resides at the present time. In 1864 he purchased forty acres of land; in 1873 seventy-five acres; in 1879 eighty acres, and in 1885 eighty acres, in Shelby County, and in 1891 he bought fifteen and one-half acros, thus making 355 acres in Marion and ninety-five acres in Shelby County. Mr. Pfendler and family cleared over half of the 355 acres in Marion County. To his marriage were born the following children: Anna, born in 1859 and died February 14, 1886. She bad attended the college at Franklin, Ind., five years and would have graduated in 1886; Emma, born in 1861, died at the age of twelve months from burns received by falling in a fireplace; Samuel, born in 1863. February 12, resides near his father (be married Miss Louisa Eistler, daughter of David Eistler, of Win- meshiek County, Iowa, and has three children: Della, Roy and Anna), and Levi, born November 29, 1867. resides in Pleasant View, Shelby County, Ind., where he is engaged in merchandising. He married Miss Annie E. Gould, daughter of James Gould, and they have two children, Byron and Celia, the latter dying in 1893, aged two and one-half years.
THOMAS SANDUSKY EATON. This successful agriculturist and descendant of sturdy British ancestors, was born in Owen County, Ky., August 26, 1828, to the union of William and Sarah (Phipps) Eaton. the former a native of the Blue Grass State and the latter of Virginia. The parents were married in Owen County, Ky., but left there and came to Indiana in 1832. Fifteen children were born to this worthy couple, one of whom, a daughter, died in infancy. The remainder were named as follows: James A., of Harrison County, Mo. ; Polly Ann, died at the age of twenty years; William, who resides at Irvington; Thomas S., our subject ; Elizabeth, deceased. was the wife of Louis Nossaman; Lydia, wife of Madison Davis, resides in Franklin Township, this county; Leland, of Boone County, Ind. ; Sarab, wife of Hoyt Ransdell; Charles, of Boone County, was in the Federal service during the war; Mary E .. wife of Rufus Leonard; Henry, was also in the Federal service abont four years; Wesley served in the Union army about four years; Mary E. (No 2), deceased, was the wife of George Harris, and Robert, of Boone County, Ind. The mother of these children died in 1873 at the age of seventy-two, and the father followed her to the grave in 1881, when eighty-two years of age. The paternal grandfather, William Eaton, was a native of Maryland and died in Kentucky. The parents of our subject came to Indiana in the winter of 1832 and remained until the spring in Indianapolis, a city then of about 1,000 inhabitants. The father was sick during the winter. but in the spring be moved out to New Bethel, in Franklin Township, where he entered eighty acres of land one mile northeast of the little village. He paid $1.25 per acre for this tract and it was right in the green timber. First he rented a little piece of ground near by which bad a house on it, and about six acres cleared. On this he made his home for two years, by which time he had erected a log house on his eighty acres and had commenced the arduons task of clearing the ground. For four or five years this was the task of all in the family, aside from raising
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small crops. The smaller children were armed with wooden paddles which they slapped together to scare the squirrels which came in almost countless numbers to the corn patch, threatening to eat up the little crop. Soon brighter days began to appear, but still the hardships and privations would have been unendurable at the present day. In four or five years they could market some of their produce and soon began to accumulate some means. Wolves were very thick and a few dry sticks were kept ready to light and throw out the cabin door into the pack whose howls rendered sleep impossible. Amid these rnde surroundings our subject remained until his twenty-first birthday, receiving but little schooling, and working early and late to subdue the forest and render it inhabit- able. Whenever his father could spare him away from home for a few days our sub- ject would hire out to some of the neighbors and received for his services from 12} to 25 cents per day. Half of this be gave his father and the remainder to his mother to keep for him, telling ber that he was going to save up money enough to buy a farm. When a little over twenty-one years of age young Eaton bought forty acres of land in Franklin Township, paying for the same $218, $100 down and working two summers in Turner's brickyard to make up the balance. The first year he received $13 a month and by that time he had learned how to mold brick. The following year he received $1.25 a day and worked in the brickyard about five months each summer. The second sum- mer's work paid him out on the farm and he moved on his forty acres, fifteen of which had been cleared aud a little cabin erected. For five years he continued on this farm. In November, 1849, he was married to Miss Almira Springer, a daughter of Jacob Springer, a native of the Buckeye State, and Mr. Eaton and his bride moved on the forty acres together. During the five years be remained on the same, our subject dead- ened and partially cleared fifteen acres more, but in 1854 sold the forty acres to Charles Piel for $700. Then, leaving his wife at home, he and four or five others went West prospecting. Mr. Eaton went through Illinois and Iowa, and after a trip of about eight weeks, returned to Marion County, where he bought eighty acres in Section 27. About thirty acres were cleared and a hewn double log house was on the tract. He rented twenty acres, put in a few acres himself and began clearing a place for a brickyard. After harvest he commenced making brick and 100,000 were turned out that fall, all being sold by Christmas time, for from $4 to $5 per thousand. This enabled him to meet the first payment on his land. After this he commenced farming, and engaging in any other honorable employment he could find. In three years time he had his farm paid for and settled down to tilling the soil. This was in 1857, and he continued farming until 1860, when he again engaged in brick making, turning out 50,000 bricks, for which he received $5 per thousand. In 1861 he erected a story and a half house of six rooms, and in 1889 he erected another handsome house of seven rooms, where he now resides. Between 1861 and 1883 he added 281 acres to the eighty acres he first purchased, and has one of the be t farms in his section. By his first wife he became the father of eleven chil- dren, three of whom died in infancy, and one, Amanda, in 1872, when about twenty years of age. The names of the seven living children are as follows: Artmesia, who married James Greer, of Marion County, Ind. ; Franklin P., of Marion County, Ind., married Miss Louisa Cunningham; William J., also in Marion County, married Miss Julia Smither; Eudolpho of Indianapolis, married Miss Priscilla Finner; Tyler and Violet, twins. The former mar- ried Miss Addie A. Huntington and resides in Marion County, and the latter married Abra- ham Murphy, of Marion County, and Luella, wife of Charles Doren, of Indianapolis. Our subject is the grandfather of twenty-two children resulting from the above mentioned mar- riages. His wife died in December, 1880, and in 1882 he married Miss Mahala, daughter of Henry and Mary Camper, of Marion County. Five children have been born to this union: Carrie Ethel, born September 28, 1883; Chalmer C., born July 29, 1885; Mabel G., born February 21, 1888; Ben Harrison, born September 21, 1890, and Meada M., born May 6, 1892. Mr. Eaton has never aspired to political positions and has never held office, except that of supervisor. His first vote was cast for a Democrat, but since that time he has been a stalwart Republican. He has been a member of the Baptist Church ever since his first marriage. In 1886 our subject divided among his seven children, by his first wife, 281 acres, thus giving them all good homes.
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COL. I. N. WALKER. One of the best known men in the State and one of the most pop- ular connected with the G. A. R. is Col. I. N. Walker, past department commander and at this time the senior vice commander-in-chief of the order, and State Tax Commissioner, who is now directing his best energies to the securing of an equitable enforcement of the tax laws of the State. Col. Walker is a most worthy son of Indiana, who, after receiving an education in his native State and growing to mauhood, responded to his country's call, and entered the army as junior captain in the Seventy-third Regiment Indiana Volunteer Infantry. For gallant services rendered at the battle of Stone River he was made major; was promoted to the rank of lientenant-colonel in March, 1863, and on the death of Col. Hathaway, in May 1863, was made commander of the regiment. For more than a year he endured all the rigors of Libby Prison, escaped with General Streight through the historic tunnel, in Feb- ruary, 1864, returned to his regiment in May, 1864, and rendered most important service in the army of the Cumberland, protecting the line of supplies between Decatur and Stevenson along the Tennessee River, during the advance on Atlanta. After the war he resided for a time at Nashville and then returned to Indianapolis, where he has since resided. He is be- yond doubt the best kuown Grand Army man in the State, having served for four years as assistant adjutant-general and then as department commander, and taking the most lively interest in its affairs, having the social quality strongly developed and having an abiding regard for those who served their country during its time of peril. The privations endured by Col. Walker in Libby Prison sapped his health; after euduring its hardships for nine months, he escaped, as stated, but only to be recaptured and returned, and the three months which followed until his exchange in May (the tunnel escape was in February) were very severe upon him. The seeds of diseaseso freely and deeply sown in Libby broke out again and again at Nashville after the war, and finally caused him, after some years of patient and nn- complaining suffering to come to Indianapolis. For nearly ten years after his return here he was first deputy in the office of the county auditor of Marion County, where he won the esteem of every one by his efficient discharge of duties aud his uniformly courteous and obliging spirit. He received the nomination of the Republicans of Indiana for the office of State Auditor in 1892, but went down with the rest of the ticket in November last. Col. Walker while assistant adjutant-general rendered prodigious service to the order, more than ten thousand members being added to it while he held office, largely through his tireless efforts. The meagre salary he received he divided with a disabled soldier, and much more of the remainder weut to the help of moneyless soldiers of the war. Large-hearted, honest, earnest, loyal, sincere, true in his friendships, his friends are legion everywhere, and if wishes were dollars the Colonel would rival the Rothschilds in wealth. At Stone River he was a bero in battle, bravely encouraging his comrades throughout a frightful carnage, in which the brave boys were in a literal slaughter pen; in all hours of peril lie was the same brave, true soldier; and since the war the same invincible courage has stamped his life, espe- cially in his devoted service on behalf of the soldiers, making him indifferent to the gibes and sneers of those who did not fight and who hate those who insist the Government, shall be grateful and generous toward those who saved the Union. Whatever the future of Col. Walker, he can rest secure in the reflection that he has the abiding affection of his comrades of the army of the late war. But a life like that of Col. Walker, so full of generons and un- selfish impulses and deeds, and replete with courageous actions, has much more before it to be done and he is sure to be always in the forefront with those who dare the right for the right's sake.
JOHN L. MCMASTER. The bar of Indianapolis has won an enviable name all over the country for the erudition, success and courtesy of its members, many of whom have achieved a national reputation for their ability and a correct apprehension of what pertains to the profes- sion. Among those who stand deservedly high as members of this bar with his brother law- yers and with the courts, is John L. McMaster, whose office is in the Boston Block in that city. He has always been a close student in his profession and has won the confidence and esteem of the community and the profession as a careful and efficient lawyer. He was born in Meigs County, Ohio, February 9, 1843, being the son of William and Susan (Brown) Mc- Master. His father was a native of Scotland; his mother of Virginia. His father came to the United States when about twenty years of age, settling first in New York State, where
Goodspeed Bros.
Ich Walker
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he learned the trade of miller, and afterward in Meigs County, Ohio, where he owned and operated a mill for more than forty years and until within a few years of the time of his death, which occurred at that place in 1887. His mother died in 1859. The subject of our sketch was the second of seven children, three of whom are still living. He was reared in Meigs County, spending the days of his boyhood in the country schools and at work in his father's mill until the outbreak of the war, when, in 1861, at the age of eighteen he entered the Union army as a member of Company A, Second Virginia Cavalry in which Company and in Company E of the same regiment he served a little more than three years. A younger and only brother, Thomas, who later became a member of the same regiment, was killed at the battle of Five Forks. After being mustered out, our subject entered the Ohio University at Athens, Ohio, from which he graduated in 1869. Before leaving the University he com- menced the study of law which he continued under private instructors until the fall of 1869, when he entered the Cincinnati Law School, graduating therefrom in 1870. In the fall of the year last named he settled in Indianapolis, an entire stranger, in the practice of his pro- fession. He began the practice in partnership with A. Boice, the firm being McMaster & Boice, and so continuing until 1891, since which time Mr. McMaster has been alone. In 1882 he was nominated by acclamation for the office of Superior Court Judge by the Repub- lican party, but failed of election. In the following year he was nominated for mayor, withı- out seeking on his part, and after a close contest was elected. His administration of that office was characterized by integrity and a conscientious devotion to the best interests of the city and served to still more firmly establish him in the confidence and esteem of the community. In 1890, in anticipation of legislative measures of vital interest to the city of Indianapolis which were to be brought forward in the general assembly, his party nominated him as as one of its candidates for the State Legislature, but he was defeated along with his party. Mr. McMaster is connected with a number of fraternal organizations, in all of which he is an honored and useful member. Among the number is George H. Thomas Post, No. 17, Department of Indiana, G. A. R., of which he is a past commander. He is also a past member of the council of administration of the department and has long been a member of the monument committee of the department and is its present chairman. He is also a thirty- second degree Mason and is active in the various branches of Masonry leading up to this ex- alted degree, being an officer in several of the Scottish Rite bodies and having been twice the Master of Mystic Tie Lodge, one of the blue lodges of the city which has established more than a local reputation for its efficient work. Mr. McMaster is identified with a num- ber of interests of the city, among which are the Indianapolis Building and Loan, and the Franklin Building Associations, in both of which he is a director and the attorney. He is also the attorney for the Mutual Home and Savings Association and a director in the Ohio Machine Company of Middleport, Ohio. Mr. McMaster's domestic life is a happy one, bis wife being Alpha (Steenrod) McMaster, whom he married at Lancaster, Ohio, in 1872, and by whom he has three children.
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