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 47
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AUSTIN FLINT DENNY, a son of Theodore V. and Elizabeth Denny, early residents of this county, particulars of whose lives may be found elsewhere in this work, was born July 6, 1841. At the age of seven years, as the result of an accidental injury, he lost his right arm. After this he pursued the preparatory studies and took the regular classical course in Butler University, graduating with the degree A. B. July 3, 1862. The two years next after leav- ing college, he taught with J. B. Cameron in the schools of Edinburg, Ind., sharing with that gentleman the directorship and superintendency of those schools. Mr. Denny then be- came the sole principal and superintendent of the public schools of Franklin, in the same county. During his engagements in teaching he employed his leisure time in the study of law, and in 1866 terminated his career as a teacher that he might devote his whole time to legal study. He entered Harvard University and took the regular course in the Dane Law School, under the tutelage of those distinguished authors and jurists, Emory Washburn, Theophilus Parsons, Joel Parker and Richard H. Dana, Jr. He received from Harvard University the degree of LL. B. July 15, 1868. After completing his preparatory course in law, Mr. Denny engaged in the active practice of this profession at Indianapolis, and is yet a member of the bar of that city, and in the possession of a respectable practice. He was never engaged in the trial of any noted criminal cases, but has had a fair share of civil liti- gation, and has conducted to successful results some notable cases containing interesting questions of both law and fact. He enjoys the reputation of a safe and valnable counselor
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and makes the law of real estate a specialty. Mr. Denny was married January 7, 1873, to Miss Mary Elizabeth Kechn, a descendant of an old and respected family of Reading, Penn., and an efficient instructor in the public schools of Indianapolis. Mrs. Denny is a lady of rare literary taste and ability, and has an unusually wide knowledge of English literature. She is prominent in local literary clubs and in social circles of a similar bent.
WILLIAM S. McCORMICK. It is said that "a man's house is his castle" therefore it behooves one to see that his "castle" is well constructed, and if pleasing in appearance so much the better. These desirable results are brought about in a great measure by the con- tractor and builder, and one who has been especially successful in this line of work is Will- iam S. McCormick, who is a representative of one of the oldest families in Indianapolis. His granduncle, John McCormick, it is said built the first house in the city, for thither his grandfather, Samuel .McCormick, a Baptist minister, came in 1821 and located near what is now the Military Park. He was a worthy tiller of the soil but died in Hendricks County, Ind., whither he had moved prior to the birth of the subject of this sketch. His son, Will- iam McCormick, father of William S. McCormick, was born in Preble County, Ohio, in 1813, and died in Marion County, Ind., at what is now Hanghville, at which time he was the old- est settler in the county, and shortly before had been awarded a suit of clothes in 1888, by the old settlers of Marion and Hendricks Counties, at their meeting. Like his father before him, he tilled the soil, but lost heavily during the war. He removed to Hendricks County when a young man and there spent many years of his life in useful and profitable labor. He was a Republican and Abolitionist and for many years was a member of the Baptist Church. He was married in Hendricks County to Miss Nancy Hardin, a native of Rockcastle County, Ky., her father, William Hardin, having been a Baptist minister of con- siderable note. She died in Hendricks County, in 1872, at the age of fifty-six years. Her union with Mr. McCormick resulted in the birth of nine children, six sons and three daugh- ters, of whom five sons and two daughters survive. Four sons were soldiers in the Federal Army during the great Civil War, members of Company A, of the Fifty-first Indiana Volun- teer Infantry, and served throughout the entire struggle. Two of them were captured near Rome, Ga., and were taken to Belle Island, where they were paroled. William S. McCormick was born in Hendricks County, Ind., December 14, 1846, and received his education in bis native county. In 1863 he left home to enlist in the Union army, joining Company A, of the Fifty-first Indiana Infantry, receiving honorable discharge in November, 1865, having been a participant in the battles of Nashville, Franklin, Dalton, Ga., and others. The latter part of his service he was ou detail duty in the pay department and at the post headquarters at Indianapolis. He returned to his home very much impaired in health and it was not until 1872 that he began to recover. He then commenced learning the carpenter's trade, in addi- tion to farming, and to that occupation has given his attention up to the present time. He moved to Clermont, Ind., about sixteen years ago, and in 1881 came to Indianapolis. After remaining in this city a short time he went back to Clermont and in 1888 took up his resi - dence in Haughville, where he has been ever since especially engaged in the building of residences. He has always been actively interested in the political affairs of the day and has always labored for the success of the Republican party, of which he is an influential mem- ber. In 1868 be was married to Miss Evelyn Day, of Hendricks County, but was left a widower three years later and remained so until October 21, 1877, when Miss Savannah Smith became his wife. Of eight children born to them, four sons and two daughters are living. Mr. and Mrs. McCormick are members of the Christian Church, in which he is a deacon, and socially Mr. McCormick belongs to the G. A. R., the K. of P. and the I. O. O. F., in which he has passed all the chairs.
CHRISTIAN FREDERICK SCHMIDT, deceased, was one of the esteemed and substantial busi - ness men of Marion County, Ind. He was a native of Germany, born in 1831, and there made his bome until 1849, when he braved Neptune's tender mercies and came to America, locating first in Cincinnati, Ohio. He moved from there to Indianapolis in 1858, and soon after formed a partnership with a Mr. Jaeger in the brewery business. Both young men were poor in purse but richi in energy, and with their limited capital two lots were purchased at the corner of High and Wyoming Streets for $250, on which a rough building was erected for the purpose of a brew house. After about two years the partnership was dissolved by
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the retirement of Mr. Jaeger, who feared the active measures inaugurated by Mr. Schmidt for the advancement of the business would eventually ruin the firm. Shortly after Mr. Schmidt commenced the erection of his famous brewery cellar, which was completed at a cost of $20,000. He also entered into judicious speculations in town lots, in the neighbor- hood of his brewery, which was then in the extreme southern limits of the city, but is now in the midst of a thickly populated and improved district. These lots rapidly rose in value and aided him in later years to make his business establishment one of the largest and most complete in the West. In the year 1865 Mr. Schmidt was elected on the Republican ticket to a seat in the common council from the seventh ward and served four years. During his term of office he was a member of the finance committee and aided materially is rescuing the credit of the city, the paper of which then rated at a ruinous discount. Mr. Schmidt was, until within two months of his death, which occurred February 3, 1872, a member of the Guttenberg Printing & Publishing Company, and for several years a director in that concern. In all his business relations he was an honest, upright man, of large capabilities, extraor- dinary energy and progressive spirit. In his social relations as a citizen, as a neighbor and as the head of a family, he was alike respected, esteemed and loved. He was a generous aider of religious and charitable organizations and gave freely to the poor and destitute who came within his notice. During his residence in Cincinnati he married Miss Caroline Fieber, who bore him three sons, as follows: John W., Edward and Alfred.
JOHN W. SOHMIDT. Generally age and experience are essential to success and pro- motion. Prominent men seldom rise to distinction suddenly. But in the example before us, we have a man without any special fortuitious circumstances, rising by his own force of character, great energy and good judgment to the front ranks as a business man. John W. Schmidt is a product of Ohio soil, born in Cincinnati, in 1856. He was brought by his parents to Indianapolis in 1858, and later attended the common schools where he received the rudiments of an education. Following that he entered the academy at Hoboken, New Jersey, remained there two years, and then returned home where he clerked in the old Citi- zen's National Bank for a year. After that he traveled on the Continent for eighteen months and then returning home, engaged in the brewery business. After the death of the father. which occurred in 1872, our subject and his brother, Edward, carried on the brewery until October, 1889, when they sold out to an English syndicate. Since that time our subject has simply looked after his large interests. He is a director in the brewery yet and is a thorough- going, wide-awake business man. In religion our subject is a Protestant and in politics a Democrat. He selceted his life companion in the person of Miss Lily Schudel, a native of Lonisville, Ky., who had been adopted by his mother when but six years of age, and their union was solemnized in the year 1885. Three children were born to this union and named in the order of their births as follows: Christian Frederick, Edward and Marguerite, all bright little children.
PETER LIEBER. This gentleman is regarded as one of the most influential and worthy citizens of Marion County, and it is a pleasure to chronicle here the events that mark his life as one of usefulness. Material wealth must not exclude the riches of character and ability in recounting the virtues which have been brought to this country by its citizens, and among its most precious treasurer must be estimated the lives of those citizens who have by their intelligence and their eminence in the higher walks of life, assisted in raising the standard of life and thought in the communities in which they have settled. No one has probably done more in this line than Peter Lieber, who was born in Duesseldorf, Germany, May 17, 1832, and was educated in Europe, attending the University at Achen. Later he learned the trade of brush maker at Achen, and when eighteen years of age he came to America, locating first at Cincinnati, where his elder brother, Hermann Lieber, had preceded him a year, and where he was in business as a book-binder. Within three weeks after his arrival in Cincin- nati our subject was foreman of a brush factory in Cincinnati, employing 300 hands. In this factory he remained several years, and then went to Hamilton, Ohio, where he was in the same business. Then he, with other Germans in Cincinnati, formed the town of New Ulm, Minn., and there Mr. Lieber located, and opened a general store. He also traded for furs with the Indians. In this town he was married in 1860 to Miss Sophia Andre, daughter of Carl Andre, and here he resided until the breaking out of the Civil War, when he enlisted
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in the Twenty second Minnesota Battery as a private, serving as such for about two years. After that he served as sutler for some time, and then came to Indianapolis, where he acted as one of Gen. Morton's secretaries until the war closed. About that time the brewery of Gack & Biser at Indianapolis was offered for sale, and our subject and his brother Hermann and Charles F. Myer bought it, and formed the firm known as P. Lieber & Co., which con- tinued brewing beer until in the seventies, when Mr. Myer retired, our subject buying his interest. In 1880 Hermann Lieber sold his interest to William Schrever, a stock company was organized, and Mr. Lieber was made president. In 1888 the deal was consummated transferring this and other breweries to an English syndicate, now known as the Indian- apolis Brewing Company, of which Mr. A. Lieber, son of our subject, is now manager. Peter Lieber is one of the prime movers in the organization of the Consumer's Gas Trust Company, of Indianapolis. He has been one of the most prominent Germans in the State for years. In politics be was a Republican up to 1880, when the Prohibition plank angered him, and since then he has voted with the Democratic party. He was a delegate to the National Democratic Convention in 1884. In 1893 he was appointed Consul to Duesseldorf, Germany, by President Cleveland, and that position be now holds. By his marriage he became the father of six children, five of whom are now living: Carrie, who married Frederick Francke; Albert, Laura, Rudolph and Emma.
A. LIEBER. At the present day lager beer is rapidly becoming the national beverage of the American people. When pure, manufactured only of the best material, and by the most improved processes, beer is acknowledged by leading physicians and medical authori- ties to have excellent tonic and strengthening properties, while it is also a well-known fact, that our people are notably less intemperate since the introduction of lager beer. In this connection we wish to make prominent mention of A. Lieber, a prominent brewer of Indian- apolis. Mr. Lieber was born in this city, August, 1863, and here he has passed the most of his days. He was educated in the public schools of Indianapolis, finished in the high school, and then attended Indianapolis Business College. He also studied under private tutors. Immediately after completing his studies Mr. Lieber entered the employ of P. Lieber & Co. (his father), as an office boy but subsequently was made bookkeeper. When the firm was changed to the P. Lieber Brewing Company, our subject was made treasurer, and held that place until 1888, when the firm sold out to an English syndicate. He was then made director. treasurer and manager of the Indianapolis Brewing Company, composed of the P. Lieber Brewing Company, the C. F. Schmidt Brewing Company, and C. Mans Brewery. In 1889 our subject was made manager of the Schmidt Brewery, and in January, 1893, he was made manager of the C. Mans brewery. He now acts as manager in all three breweries. He is a director in the Indianapolis Chemical Company, of the Commercial Club, and on the finance committee of the latter. He is a director in the Indiana Trust Company. In politics Mr. Lieber affiliates with the Democratic party and was the messen- ger at the last election, taking the electoral vote to Washington, D. C. He was married in 1887 to Miss Alice Barrus, daughter of Prof. Carl Barrus, of Indianapolis. Three children have been born to them: Edith, Peter, Jr., and Alberta.
JOHN W. MCDONALD. There are few men who show as much fitness for their avoca- tiou in that they are wide-awake, experienced, reliable and energetic as Johu W. McDonald, who is baggage master on the railroad that runs from Brightwood to St. Louis, Mo. He owes his nativity to Ohio, born in Webster, May S, 1859, and is the son of Mark and Susanah (Hidey) McDonald, who were natives also of Ohio, in which State their nuptials were cele- brated in the year 1842. Eight children were the fruits of this union, three sons and five daughters. Of the sons. Joseph was an attorney and lived at Greenville, Ohio. He was twice married, first to Miss Ann Elliott, and afterward to Miss Elizabeth Lavy, who now survive's him. Aaron married Miss Sevilla Gerting and now resides in Galveston, Ind., and John W .. the subject of this sketch. The daughters were named as follows: Margaret, born in Ohio, became the wife of Jacob Reck and now resides at Horatio, Ohio; Tas Martba became the wife of William Carey and resides at Versailles, Ohio; Mary resides at. Douglas, Kas., and is the wife of Lyman Foutz, and Sarah married Fernando Mitchel, and is now a widow residing at Webster, Ohio. The father of these children died in 1866 and the mother passed a vay in 1873. They were worthy and much esteemed citizens. The youthful days
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of our subject were passed in his native State, but for many years he has been a resident of this county. He is a man of good habits, is well versed in all literary matters, and is deeply interested in all public enterprises. He was married August 12, 1882, to Miss Celia S. Hart, daughter of Amos and Martha (Cooper) Hart. The prominent physicians, Drs. Cooper & Cooper, of Kokomo, Ind., and Dr. Cooper of Des Moines, Iowa, are uncles of Mrs. McDonald. Mr. and Mrs. McDonald have no children. Mrs. McDonald has been blessed with a decided taste for art, and as a crayon artist stands in the front rank with any in the State. Her landscapes are above criticism, and in that line she has no superiors and very few equals in the Northwest. She is a natural artist and in her beautiful home may be found some fine specimens of her handiwork.
HIRAM HARDEN HALL. The older members of a community are doubly entitled to the respect and esteem of their neighbors when their long lives have been replete with acts of kindness, and their whole career marked by integrity and uprightness. The time honored and respected gentleman whose name appears at the head of this sketch, came, originally, from the Blue Grass State, born in Bourbon County, near Paris, November 18, 1824, and until eight years of age remained on his father's farm in that State. In 1832 the father moved with his family to the " Hoosier State" and purchased a tract of land comprising 160 acres situated in Section 3, Township 14, Range 5 east, in Rush County. On this farm the subject of this sketch remained with his father, whom he assisted in the work of the farm, and attended the district schools in the vicinity of his rural home, in which he obtained a fair knowledge of the three R's. The old log school-house he first attended had a puncheon floor, greased paper for window lights, a mud and stick chimney, slab benches, in fact, all the paraphernalia of the old time pioneer school-house. In 1846 he attended the high school at Rushville, where the higher branches were taught and where he made fair progress in his studies. March 25, 1852, he led to the altar Miss Isabelle Maze, a native of Kentucky, as was also her father, John Maze, who subsequently moved to Rush County, Ind. This union resulted in the birth of two children: Isophine and Albert Washington. In 1860 Hiram H. Hall moved to Marion County. Ind., and purchased forty acres of Section 5, Township 14, Range 5 east. In 1868 he added forty acres to this tract, and in 1887 eighty acres more. thus making a fine farm of 160 acres, worth at least $80 per acre. On September 6, 1868, he was called upon to mourn the death of his faithful wife, who left to his care their two children. On April 17, 1878, he took for his second wife Miss Prudence Gertrude Hongham, of Johnson County, Ind., and to their nnion two children were born: Pruira Lenore, who was born July 8, 1879, and Thurman Thompson, who was born March 4, 1882. The mother of the second children was a graduate of Franklin College in the class of 1877, and for a number of years had been an earnest and consistent member of the Regular Baptist Church, in which faith she died February 2, 1892. at the age of forty-two years. Mr. Hall's daugh- ter Isophine was nnited in marriage to John Wilson in 1882, and to them three children were given: Otto; Lizzie; and Wilbert Harden, who died March 6, 1892, at the age of six- teen months. Albert Washington was married to Miss Ida Morgan, and by her became the father of three children: Ray. Stella and Ida. The latter died at the age of two weeks and the mother died when her little daughter was born, August 20, 1889. Mr. Hall has always been a public-spirited gentleman, and in the year 1862 was elected assessor of Franklin Township and filled that position capably for ten years. He was subsequently elected to the position of trustee of Franklin Township, and succeeded himself to this position, serving four years. He is an excellent citizen, a man of practical and intelligent views, and in good financial circumstances.
HENRY MATHEWS KEMPER. It is a pleasure to chronicle the history of a man whose life has been one of honor and usefulness, and although he has considerably passed the zenith of of his career, Mr. Kemper has accumulated a fortune that enables him to enjoy to the fullest extent the comforts of a home that is made beautiful by the sweet spirit of kindliness and mutual appreciation among the members of the family. He comes of good old Kentucky stock, his father, Nimrod Kemper, having been born near Lexington, Fayette County, Ky., in the latter part of the eighteenth century. In 1832, with the ambition, courage and sturdy manhood which have always been distinguished characteristics of American pioneers, Nimrod Kemper pushed into Indiana and entered 160 acres of land in Franklin Township, Marion
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County, on the Shelbyville Road. This tract was coverd with a dense growth of green timber, and clearing a few acres he hired men to build a log cabin, 18x20 feet. Previous to coming to Indiana, Mr. Kemper was married to Miss Polly Mathews, daughter of John Mathews, and in the log cabin in Marion County this worthy couple began their career as pioneers. The fall they moved they rented a farm in the same township, sowed some wheat and later put in a big crop of corn. The same fall they partially cleared twenty-one acres of their farm, cutting out trees that where a foot or so in diameter and burning them. In the spring of 1833, they planted twenty-one acres of corn and raised a big crop. The mother died the fall after they moved to Indiana. She was the mother of eleven children by her union with Mr. Kemper, as follows: John, deceased; Nancy, deceased, was the wife of Daniel Gror; Rebecca, deceased, was the wife of Peterson Parr; Peter, deceased; Jackson A., deceased; Henry M., our subject; Diana, deceased, was the wife of Walter Wheatley; Nimrod; Polly A., wife of Joseph Wheatley; Tilman, deceased, and Ambrose, deceased. After the death of Mrs. Kemper the father selected his second wife in the person of Miss Lucy Sercy, who bore him two children, Susan, wife of John Sercy, and Jane, wife of Thomas Waller. The mother of these children still survives. The paternal grandfather of our subject, Tilman Kemper, was born and reared in the grand old mother of States, Virginia. He was a soldier in the Revo- lutionary War, and afterward settled in Kentucky, where he passed the remainder of his life on the land allowed him in Fayette County. The father of our subject raised a company for the War of 1812, but peace was declared before it was mustered in. Henry Mathews Kemper was born in Owen County, Ky., November 15, 1816, and remained on his father's farm in that county until sixteen years of age, attending school only during the winter seasons. Sometimes his terms were limited to two weeks. On September 9, 1832, he came with his parents to Marion County, Ind., and assisted in grubbing and clearing the home place. By the time he was twenty years of age he hired out to neighboring farmers and continued this for two years. After that he began learning the carpenter trade and for about fourteen years worked at that, most of bis patronage being in Indianapolis. For over five years after this he worked in the peg and last factory in Indianapolis, owned by J. R. Osgood. In 1854 he bought eighty-six acres in section 32, Franklin Township, and on the sixteen acres already cleared was a log cabin of one room eighteen feet square. Very soon Mr. Kemper made additions to the cabin and it was very comfortable, but in 1883 he erected a nice frame house where he now resides. He was married December 19, 1839, to Miss Mary Chinn, daughter of John P. and Elizabeth (Pegg) Chinn, the father a native of Ken- tucky and the mother of Virginia. Nine children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Kemper: Charles W., born October 27, 1840, and died March, 15, 1847; Martha A., born August 4, 1842, married John J. Belles, and they have three children, Julia, Della and Harry; Samuel M., born August 30, 1844, married Rachel A. Sweeney, and they have these children, Henry F., Martha M., Lulu; John L., born December 28. 1846, married Miss Julia McMillen, and they have three children, Eldoras B., Marion B., and Roy; Mary E., born June 26, 1849. married John M. Kelly and they have eleven children as follows, Edward, George, Levi P., Alfred A., Lily, Mary A., William, Robert, Maude, Clinton and Gertrude; Daniel G., born September 21, 1851, died August 23, 1852; Mahala B., born June 5, 1853, married Thomas S. Eaton (see sketch); George S., born June 5, 1853, is unmarried, and Laura V., born September 17,1861, died April 23, 1863. Our subject's son, Samuel enlisted in Com- pany D, Sixty-third Regiment, Indiana Infantry in August 1862, and served with that regiment until cessation of hostilities. He was in sixteen of the most prominent engagements of the war, as follows: Buzzard's Roost, Resaca, Burnt Hickory, Kenesaw Mountain, Chatta- . hooche, Atlanta, Lost Mountain. Jonesboro, Cassville, Columbia, Franklin, Altoona, Nash- ville, Fort Anderson, Toon Creek and Willington. In his political views Mr. Kemper was . reared a Democrat but later became a Whig and finally a Republican, which ticket he votes at the present time. He is a member of the Masonic Fraternity, Pleasant Lodge, No. 134, and for about fifty years has been a member of the Missionary Baptist Church, in which he held various offices. He has refused numerons requests to serve as justice of the peace, but has served as supervisor in his township. John P. Chinn, the father of Mrs. Kemper, was a soldier in the War of 1812, and after cessation of hostilities returned to Kentucky, where he married Miss Elizabeth Pegg. In 1826, he and his bride came to Indiana, settled in
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