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 42
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Timothy E. Howard.
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agree with him exactly. He is a Christian gentleman, mild, courteous, patient, unresentful, a fine illustration of the oft-disputed fact that a man of lofty character and unyielding principle can succeed in political life. He is a Democrat, but never hesitates to oppose his party (associates) when principle requires it."
JOHN FURR. The subject of this biographical notice is an honorable and progressive farmer, and as such no name in the memorial department of this work is more worthy of mention. He is a product of Missouri, born in St. Louis, in October, 1824, a son of Samp- son and Sarah A. (Cantwell) Furr, both of whom were born in the Old Dominion but were early settlers of St. Louis, at which time there were only three American families in the place. Sampson Furr was a soldier in the War of 1812, but died in November, 1824, when just in the prime of life, his widow surviving bim until April 24, 1871, at which time she died at Clarksville, Tex., at the extreme old age of ninety-six years. At the early age of four weeks John Furr, the immediate subject of this sketch and the youngest of a family of twelve children, was left fatherless, and as his mother's means were limited he made his home with a sister in Shelby County, Ill., and was compelled to begin laboring at quite an early age, therefore his advantages for gaining an education were limited. He made his home in Shelby County, Ill., for some years, working at anything honorable he could find to do, but at the age of fifteen years he engaged as a cabin boy on a boat plying on the Missis- sippi River, following various occupations on the river until 1845, being watchman for some time. He then turned his attention to farming in Shelby County, Ill., and in 1846 was married to Miss Martha A. Huls. Three years later he was taken with the " gold fever" and made his way to California, driving an ox team across the plains, and was there engaged in mining for about a year, with fair success, for when he came to Indiana, in 1851, he had about $1,000, with which he purchased a farm in Pike Township, Marion County, Ind., on which he has resided ever since. His estate comprises fifty-three acres, which is well and carefully tilled and yields a larger income than many more pretentious places. January 21, 1860, his wife died, having borne him five children: William (deceased), John, Sarah (deceased), David F. and Lucia A. July 19, 1860, Clarissa Rodman became Mr. Furr's sec- ond wife, and their children are named: William G., born July 2, 1861; Charles A., born September 8, 1863 (now deceased), and Maggie A., born May 23, 1866. The mother of these children died August 29, 1868, and Mr. Furr's third marriage occurred August 15, 1869, Miss Mary E. Snyder, a native of Hendricks County and a daughter of William and Rachel (Huls) Snyder, the former a native of Ohio and the latter of Kentucky, became his wife. Their children are as follows: James F., born November 25, 1870; Martha J., born July 7, 1872; Omer B., born July 19, 1874; Clara V., born October 10, 1877, and Daisy A., born June 15, 1879. At his country's call for troops in 1864 Mr. Furr enlisted in the Union service, becoming a member of Company B, Twenty-ninth Iudiana Volunteers, which he joined September 20, 1864, and served until the close of the war, receiving his discharge July 2, 1865. He was in the Army of the Cumberland and was through Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi, bis regiment being engaged in guard duty the most of the time, although it participated in a number of skirmishes. Mr. Furr is now a member of the G. A. R., Boone Post, No. 202, at Zionsville. He and his wife are associated with the Christian Church and politically he has always been a faithful and enthusiastic Republican.
EDWARD AMES AUSTIN, who is endowed by nature with such gifts as characterize true manhood in all that the word implies, is descended from an honorable ancestry, and his family tree first took root on American soil, in New York City, to which region his parents came from England in 1838. The father, Rev. Dr. Thomas R. Austin, was born in England, where he was reared and educated, and he was there married to Miss Martha Heg, also a native of England. In 1838 they crossed the ocean to America and located in New York city, where the father followed the profession of physician and surgeon and was also engaged in the drug business until 1842. At that time his drug stock was destroyed by fire and he removed to Indiana, settling in Harrison County. There he practiced his profession until 1854, when he removed to New Albany, Ind., and engaged in the drug business in con- nection with his practice. In 1861, when the war cloud hung darkly over the nation, he enlisted as surgeon of the Twenty-third Indiana Infantry, and soon after was promoted to general surgeon of the United States Army by Gen. Grant, at Paducah, Ky., in which
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capacity he served until the close of the war. Returning to New Albany he shortly after- ward established an Episcopal Church at Jeffersonville, and was ordained as rector of the same. Previous to this, however, he was a prominent minister of the Methodist Church for a number of years and, about the year 1871, he removed to Terre Haute, where he became rector of the Episcopal Church, continuing in that capacity for about four years. He then took charge of the church at Vincennes where he remained until his death in 1883, at the age of seventy-two years. He passed an active life, was well known throughout Indiana, and was a prominent figure in religious affairs and all enterprises for the good of the county. He was also prominently identified with the Masonic order, and at the time of entering the army was grand master. He had taken the thirty-third degree at the time of his death. His wife died in 1847. The subject of this sketch, who was born in Harrison County, Ind., April 19, 1846, was but eighteen months old at the time of his mother's death, and in 1854 the family removed to New Albany, where young Austin grew to manhood. He secured a fair education in the common schools, and when sixteen years of age entered the employ of the Louisville, New Albany & Chicago Railroad as trainboy. In 1862 he became brakesman and two years later he was promoted to the position of conductor, in which capacity he served until 1865. In December of that year he left the road and engaged in carpentering at New Albany, continuing there until 1869. In December of that year he married Miss Amanda A. Rough, a native of the Keystone State, but reared in Floyd County, Ind., and soon afterward he and wife settled in Jeffersonville, where Mr. Austin followed carpentering until 1870, when he entered the employ of the Jeffersonville, Madison & Indianapolis Rail- road. In March, 1876, he was made foreman of freight car repairing and in 1880 was promoted to master car builder. When three divisions of the Pennsylvania system consoli- dated, in 1884, Mr. Austin was made general foreman of the car department at Indianapolis, in which capacity he has since remained. Since coming to Indianapolis Mr. Austin has been engaged in the business interests of the city, and at present, has a grocery and meat market on East Washington Street. He carries a stock of about $4,000 and does a thriving business. This is managed by his son, Thomas, who is a member of the firm. Mr. Austin is progressive and enterprising and has contributed much to the best interests of the city. In the fall of 1889 he was elected a member of the city council from the nineteenth ward, and served two years, during which time the ordinance for the construction of the viaduct was passed and he was deeply interested in that work. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity and is past-master of Jefferson Lodge, No. 340. Mr. and Mrs. Austin are the parents of four children: J. Thomas, born November 9, 1870; Albert A., born May 23, 1873; Flora B., born August 6. 1875, and Edward M., born April 13. 1882. Mr. Austin is an enthusiastic Democrat and takes a leading and active interest in politics, wielding consider- able influence in his ward.
ISAAC WRIGHT. It would indeed be hard to find a man better posted in everything per- taining to the lumber interests than Isaac Wright. the very efficient and energetic manager for the firm of Scatcherd & Son, who are wholesale dealers in hardwood lumber, the main office of which firm is at Buffalo, N. Y. Mr. Wright is the manager of the branch office at Indianapolis, which was established in 1875, at which time Mr. Wright was placed in charge. This firm also has yards at various points thronghout Indiana, Mississippi, Ken- tucky, Tennessee and Alabama, all of which are under the direct supervision of Mr. Wright, a fact which speaks iu eloquent terms as to his efficiency, business ability and the trust which is reposed in him by his employers. An enormous amount of business is done throughout the States nnder Mr. Wright's management, his orders being filled principally for eastern markets also export, in all amounting to about 50,000,000 feet annually. Mr. Wright was born on the ocean, of English and Scotch parents, Isaac and Grace (Glen) Wright. the former of whom was a merchant and trader by occupation, and eventually died in Scotland. His widow and child upon coming to America with her parents settled in London, Ontario, and afterward in Buffalo, N. Y., in which city the mother paid the last debt of nature. In the city of London, Isaac Wright, the immediate subject of this biogra- phy, received a liberal education, being an attendant of a good grammer school and later of an academy of more than ordinary merit. Thus fitted for the practical dnties of life he entered the office of Frank E. Cornish, at that time mayor of the city of London, and began
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the study of law, which he continued to pursue for three years, at the end of which time he entered the office of Thomas Scatcherd, M. P., with whom he spent one year in the study of law. He was articled for five years, but at the end of four years he decided to turn his attention to other pursuits, for which purpese he went to Buffalo, N. Y., in May, 1862, and entered the employ of James W. Scatcherd, an extensive and exceptionally prosperous whole- sale lumber dealer. This firm afterward became Scatcherd & Belton, and later Scatcherd & Son which title it retains at the present time. Mr. Wright has been with this firm continuously for over thirty years and from his excellent judgment, keen commercial instincts and fine business management, the utmost confidence is reposed in him. In the year 1866 he mar- ried Miss Kate E. Warner, of Buffalo, N. Y., daughter of T. H. and M. L. Warner and remained in the city of Buffalo until about 1871, when he became manager and buyer at different points and in 1875 established a branch yard and headquarters in Indianapolis, where he has since resided with his family. Since locating in this city lie has taken a deep interest in everything for the advancement of its best interests, is public spirited to a degree and is liberal in the use of his means in the furtherance of any enterprise which has for its object the welfare of this section. He is a member in good standing of the Commercial Club, and in politics is a stanch Republican, ever taking an active interest in the affairs of his ward in particular.
JOSEPH ROBERT PERRY, PH. D., M. D. The time has never been when the prescrip- tion druggist was not of as great importance to the community as a practicing physician. Indeed it would be difficult to name a branch of business that is more indispensably impor- tant than that devoted to the sale of drugs and the preparation of prescriptions. One of the prominent retail houses in this line in Indianapolis is that owned and conducted by Joseph Robert Perry who has been the proprietor of his present establishment since 1872. He car- ries a choice stock of goods valued at about $5,000 and has a lucrative trade, thie sequent of careful attention to business and a sincere love for his calling. Joseph R. Perry, was brought up in Wayne County and received his education in the public schools of Indiana. When a mere lad he became a clerk in a drug store, during which time he acquired a liking for the calling which has always remained with him. In November, 1868, he came to Indianapolis and kept the books of several firms up to 1872, at which time he decided to open a drug establishment of his own and time has shown the wisdom of this venture. He was the originator and organizer of the State Pharmaceutical Association in 1882 and for eight consecutive years he was secretary of the same. He is also a member of the Marion County Druggists' Association and has been officially connected in various capacities, and is a member of the American Pharmaceutical Association. The Doctor served throughout the Rebellion, enlisting in Company C, Twenty- first Ohio Volunteers, April 16, 1861, serving for four months in West Virginia, and being discharged August 12. 1861, by reason of expiration of term of service. He re-enlisted in October in Company F, Fifty-seventh Regi- ment Indiana Infantry, the majority of the officers of which were ministers of the Methodist Episcopal Church and it was known at that time as the "Preachers Regiment." He was an active participant in the bloody battle of Shiloh, as well as numerous hotly contested skirmishes, and at Scary Creek in July, 1862, he was shot just below the knee in the left leg, which so disabled him that he was finally compelled to leave his regiment, which he was very loath to do, receiving his discharge in July. 1863. At one time he was placed on the operating table in order that the injured member might be amputated but so vigorous were his protestations against this measure that the surgeons yielded to his wishes and thus the limb was saved. He proved himself to be a faithful, tried and true soldier, and it is owing to just such men that the Union was preserved. At the time of the organization of the State Pharmaceutical Association in 1882, Dr. Perry established the Indiana Pharmacist, a monthly journal, which has grown in favor with the profession and has now a circulation of over 6,000. The journal was first started as an experiment and to advertise the State Pharmaceutical Association, with no thought of continuing it, but it met with such encour- agement and favor that it has been regularly issned ever since and is now considered one of the leading pharmaceutical journals of the country. In 1872 he was married to Miss Eliz- abeth Daugherty, a native of Philadelphia and a daughter of William Daugherty. Dr. and Mrs. Perry have two children: Prof. St. John Perry, M. D., of Lincoln, Neb., and Ida M.
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Perry, now teaching school in the Indianapolis public schools. Dr. Perry is a man of great energy and industry, possesses a thorough knowledge of the requirements of his business, and the well established reputation of his house assures the very best treatment to all who may become its customers. The ever expanding wealth and luxurious tastes of the country tend to a demand for more expensive and elegant goods, and the Doctor always keeps in full step with the spirit of the age and always offers the best and latest novelties as well as all the standard articles usually found in his line of trade. He is public spirited in a more than ordinary degree, contributes to the best interests of the city, and he and his wife are popular in social circles. He was secretary of the Mercantile Association, which was afterward merged into the board of trade, is a Scottish Rite Mason, takes an active interest in the G. A. R., the S. of V., the U. V. L., and is the surgeon of Anderson Post, No. 369, of which he is also past com- mander. The principles of the Republican party have always recommended themselves to his judgment and he always supports the men and measures of his party.
JOHN E. FOLEY. The self-made man is entitled to respect and he gets it in America. He represents all that is vigorous and substantial in our American Institutions. Indian- apolis has many such, but none more deserving of notice in a work like this than John E. Foley, chief clerk in the office of the United States Marshal. Mr. Foley was born in Madi- son, Ind., August 25, 1856, a son of James and Bridget (Murtaugh) Foley. His father, who came to Indianapolis with his family in 1865 and remained here until his death, which occurred in 1886, was a prominent contractor. Mr. Foley was educated largely in the city, but for three years was a student at St. Joseph's College at Teutopolis, Ill. He acquired a knowledge of telegraphy and for some time devoted himself to it professionally. In due time he was appointed ticket agent and telegraph operator at Massachusetts Avenue, Indian- apolis, for the Indianapolis, Pittsburg & Cleveland Railroad Company, and filled that position with much fidelity for four years. He then accepted a position in the freight de- partment on the "Bee Line" at Brightwood, and was thus connected for thirteen years. The success and credit with which he acquitted himself here may be inferred when the reader is informed that from a clerk he rose to be chief clerk of the Indianapolis division and superintended the work of clerks who were placed under him. He resigned that position May 1, 1892, to accept the chief clerksbip in the United States Marshall's office. Mr. Foley has taken an active part in politics for more than ten years, and was one of the organizers of the Gray Club, of which he was for two years vice-president and is now president. This body has a membership of 400, and is considered the leading Democratic club of the State. Mr. Foley was especially active in the organization of the Democratic Railway Club, and his success as a recruiter and organizer is attested by the fact that in five weeks the member- ship was brought up to 2, 137. He was unanimously chosen its president in recognition of this service. He was not au applicant for his present honorable and responsible position, but it was conferred upon him because of his fitness for it and his deserts as an unswerving and always effective worker in the interests of his party. He is genial to a degree and has as many warm personal friends as any man in the city. He is a prominent member of the B. & P. O. of E., and of the Catholic Knights of America, and identified with other popular social and beneficent organizations. As a citizen he is public spirited and most liberally helpful toward any movement having a tendency to benefit any considerable class of his fellow-townsmen.
MRS. ELIZA A. BLAKER. Among prominent eastern women of to-day. few, if any, take a higher rank than Mrs. Eliza A. Blaker, the well-known superintendent of Indianapolis Free Kindergartens and Domestic Training Schools, as well as principal of the Normal School for the training of teachers. This lady has gained prominence and a national reputation through her remarkable and rare executive ability. So certain is success to follow all her efforts that her name in connection with any undertaking is regarded almost as a talisman of success. She is one of those in whom action becomes unconsciously a synonym of leadership, and by intuition and by choice her attention has been turned largely to public matters, in which the interests of numbers are involved. This has made her a marked figure in public movements in her home, city and State. Yet the time she gives to these matters is what, for another woman, would be leisure hours. Mrs. Blaker is by birth and by her most noticeable charac- teristics and special sympathies, an eastern lady, born .in the city of Brotherly Love, Penn.
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March 5, 1854. She comes of English Quaker descent, so noted for sterling qualities, and has inherited the best of these qualities. Her grandfather was a German and the family settled in Philadelphia at a very early date, being among the pioneers of thatcity. This family is also related to the old and well-known historic family of Coopers. Mrs. Blaker's father, Jacob L., was a man of self education and was noted for his conversational powers. He married Miss Mary Core, and to them were born three children, two besides our subject, Dr. John L. and Mary T. The former is a resident of Albany, N. Y., and the latter a teacher in the kindergartens of this city. Early in her youth Mrs. Blaker had high aspirations and with a view of becoming an educator studied most diligently early and late, and as a result while yet quite young, graduated from both the High School and Normal Training School for teachers, also the Centennial Training School for Kindergartens. She has always been a close student. After graduating she was employed as a teacher in the public schools in Philadel- phia, which position she filled with highest honors for several years. Inspired with the love for kindergarten work she took up the study of this art in the Centennial Training School, and after a thorough course she entered ardently upon her labors in its cause. In 1882 she was called to Indianapolis for the purpose of organizing a training school for kindergartners and primary teachers, out of which has grown one of the largest, best and noted free kindergar- ten systems in the United States, largely due to the untiring energies of Mrs. Blaker. There is probably no other woman in the country better known in kindergarten work than she. She is devoted to her work in all its branches, is a noble woman in every sense of the term, and is loved by all her teachers as well as her pupils, from the little ragged "black" urchin to the ones of the wealthiest parents. A well-known writer says of her: "The saying that one must go from home to hear the news was well illustrated during the National Educa- tional Convention at St. Paul last July, in regard to onr Normal School-for while I will venture to say that many of our membership do not even know that we have such a school -- those who attended that convention or read the St. Paul dailies during its sessions, learned that the Indiana Kindergarten Normal School had distanced all competitors, and by its dis- play of work conferred honor on the State whose name it bears. Its principal, our own Mrs. Blaker, was made secretary and treasurer of the kindergarten department of the National Educational Association. She is, therefore, secretary of that department for the Interna- tional Convention, to be held this summer in Toronto, Canada, commencing July 14. In addition to her regular work as superintendent of eight kindergartens, six kitchen gardens, and two domestic training schools, two Slojd schools, the Boy's Educational and Industrial Union, for which she plans and directs all the work, the instruction of the eight classes in the Normal, to which her afternoons are devoted, and a large correspondence in reference to the work here, and advice to its establishment elsewhere, scholarship in the Normal School, and positions for former graduates in different schools and institutions; has charge of all the correspondence in reference to kindergarten work with all the nations of the globe who con- template sending representatives to the International Convention. I think we, as a society, may well feel proud of having such a superintendent for our kindergartens and kitchen gardens, and such a principal for our Normal School. The work this Normal School is doing is far-reaching in its results, for the young women thoroughly trained in it for kindergarten, domestic science, kitchen garden, primary and normal work, are called to positions in the east and west, north and south, and are thus sowing the good seed throughout the land. Summing up the result of the last year's work (1892-93), we point to 4, 182 pupils helped and taught in a way that tells now in its immediate influence on the parents and the homes, and that will tell more and more as the years go by, and these children become in their turn parents and makers of homes, and so on through the generations, both for time and for eternity, such work, such teaching, will tell the whole world of her success." Mrs. Blaker was chosen one of the speakers of the Woman's Congress, held at Memorial Art Palace at Chicago, from May 15 to 22, 1893. She was also appointed on the Board of Jurors on Ele- mentary Education in Liberal Arts Hall at the World's Columbian Exposition. She was married in 1880 to Mr. Lonis J. Blaker, of Philadelphia, and who is now agent for the White Line Central Transit Company, Indianapolis. They reside on North Meridian Street, in a beautiful home away from the noise and bustle of city life. From her infancy Mrs. Blaker was trained to a strong belief in the rights of women to widen opportunities for education
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and to a fuller share in the honors and the profits of business, professional and industrial activity than they have hitherto enjoyed. She has always labored with a broad view. Her work is all done above the plane of personalities, and she cares little for the honors that it brings her, in comparison with the good of the cause. She has worked steadily for harmony and consolidation among conflicting interests, and with an eye single to the permanent good.
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