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 7
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excellence. During his three years of practice in this city he has been identified with a number of very important cases, among which was the trial of Lillie Stevens, for the murder of Margaret Ross, who was defended by him with signal success and acquitted upon the theory of " insanity;" and the trial of Philander Jester, in the United States District Court at Indianapolis, indicted for counterfeiting, whose defense was conducted by Mr. Cady with great tact and ability, resulting in the prompt acquittal of Jester. Mr. Cady has, with his partner, prosecuted many important damage suits, recovering large verdicts therein. Our subject was married August 20, 1891, to Miss Jessie Shedd, a highly accomplished young lady of Windsor, Vt., the daughter of Hon. Edwin R. Shedd, a lead- ing citizen and prominent Democrat of Vermont. Returning to Indianapolis, Mr. and Mrs. Cady have resided in Woodrnff Place, a suburb of the city, where they have an exceedingly pleasant home. This union has been blessed by the birth of a son, on July 24, 1893, who bears the family name Leavens. While devoted to his profession, which he pursues unre- mittingly, Mr. Cady finds time for the cultivation of a taste for politics which he has. The principles and teachings of Thomas Jefferson are in full harmony with his own views, and he gives an unqualified support to his party's candidates.
PATRICK HENRY JAMESON. M. D., was born in Monroe Township, Jefferson County, Ind., April 18, 1824. As a boy he was delicate and rather precocious. Early in his teens he had acquired the ordinary. so called, English education. Subsequently, partly by the aid of a private instructor, but mostly by his own efforts, he learned most of what was con- tained in the prevailing text books of algebra, plain geometry, mechanics, physics, popular astronomy and mental philosophy .. He also acquired a very limited acquaintance with the Greek and Latin tongues. His father was of Scotch-Irish, and his mother of English de- scent; both were born and reared in Virginia and were, for the times, and for people in their circumstances, more than ordinarily intelligent. Aside from their secular employments they were much devoted to religion. His father was a thrifty well-to-do farmer. When he was sixteen years old he lost his mother, and two years later his father died, leaving him for the future to his own guidance. Soon after, in September, 1843, he came to Indianapolis, where he subsequently taught school for several years. While thus engaged he began the study of medicine with the late Dr. John H. Sanders. He first attended the Medical Col- lege of the University of Louisville, and the following year he attended Jefferson Medical College of Philadelphia, where he graduated in 1849, his diploma bearing the signatures of some of the most eminent physicians and surgeons then living. He immediately began prac- tice in Indianapolis, in partnership with his former preceptor, Dr. Sanders. Early in April of the following year, Dr. Sanders died, leaving his young associate to hold, if he could, the very considerable business of the late firm. This was certainly a very critical era in the life of so young a professional man; but by the aid of his friends and patrons, and his own efforts, he so well succeeded that during the second year of his practice he did alone more business than the firm had done the previous year. He thus early, possibly too early, was settled in a large and somewhat lucrative business. This he has since, for more than forty years, steadily maintained. It may be truly said of him that no man among all his confreres, living or dead, ever saw more patients, or prescribed more frequently than he. He was the first, early in the fifties, to call the attention of the profession of Indianapolis to a pernicious and fatal form of anæmia affecting women in the latter stages of pregnancy. An eminent medical writer, acquainted with this fact, not long since, remarked that a publication of his observa- tions at that time would have given him considerable notoriety, as it was not till some years after, that a first description of this disease was presented to the profession by a medical writer of Germany. He is one of the few surviving charter members of the Indiana State Medical Society, which was organized in May, 1849, and in early times he was one of its more active members. In 1857 he presented a report to this society on veratrum viride in typhoid and puerperal fevers, which was published in its proceedings, and republished, al- most entirely, in the "American Journal of the Medical Sciences." In 1849-50 and 1854 he encountered Asiatic cholera which prevailed, to some extent, in Indianapolis. A wide spread and fatal epidemic of dysentery prevailed at this time of which a great many died. Among it's victims were some of the most prominent citizens of the county. In some instances nearly a whole family perished. Among his published writings are the "Commissioners'
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Annual Reports for the Indiana Hospital for the Insane," from 1861 to 1879 inclusive. Like reports of the "Indiana Institution for the Deaf and Dumb," and for the "Institute for the Blind," for the most of this time were also written by him. These reports were published by the State. He is the author of an address entitled, "Scientific Medicine in its relations with Quackery," which was published in the Indiana Medical Journal and extensively copied by other journals. During most of his life he has been a frequent contributor to the local sec- ular papers, generally anonymous, but occasionally over his own signature. In 1861 he was elected by the Legislature a Commissioner of the "Indiana Hospital for the Insane," for a term of four years; in 1865 he was re-elected for a second term; in 1869 was elected, by the same body, president of the several boards of State "Benevolent Institutions," for the insane, the deaf and dumb and the blind. He was subsequently twice re-elected to this important office, each time for an additional term of four years. All the time from April 19, 1861, to March 1, 1866, he was a surgeon in the military service. He organized the first post hospital at Camp Morton; as sisted in starting the general hospital; was in charge of all unassigned troops in quarters in Indianapolis, and he established, and long had charge of, the post hospitals at Camp Car- rington and at Ekin barracks. He was the ranking surgeon in charge of the Fort Donel- son prisoners, while they were confined in 1862 at Camp Morton. No one ever complained of his treatment of these prisoners. From 1861 to 1869 he was physician to the "Indiana Institute for the Deaf and Dumb." From 1863 to 1869 he was a member of the Common Council of Indianapolis, and took a leading part in its affairs. He was chairman of the "Committee on Revision of Ordinances," and as such made a complete revision of the city laws, which were then in great confusion. This revision was published, in book form, by the city, in 1865. From 1865 to 1869 he was chairman of the Committee on Finances of the Council, a position involving much labor and responsibility. He found an empty treas- ury and the city badly in debt, doing its business on depreciated orders, twenty-five per cent. below par. Notwithstanding that about $500,000 had to be raised to relieve the city from draft, and to aid the families of soldiers in the field, these orders were soon brought up to par. Upon his retiring from the council, May 1, 1869, there were but $100,000 of debt and $260,000 in the treasury; enough to pay the debt and leave a large balance for the expenses of the incoming year. He was also chairman of the board of police and of the board of public printing. He also, in 1866, originated the plan set forth in an ordinance, which he presented, for the organization of the city hospital, under this plan, that institution has ever since been conducted. He also, in 1865, aided in preparing a law revising the city charter, and as affecting street improvements he procured the insertion of a clause assessing the cost of street crossings, against the abutting property, on the lines of the streets. This charter was passed by the Legislature, but two years after, it was repealed, on other grounds, no objection being made on account of this provision. This excellent feature of that charter was lately re-enacted by the Legislature of 1893. The world moves slowly, but it moves. Associated by an act of the Legislature in 1873 with the late Gov. Hendricks, and certain other State officers, he was made ex officio a member of a provisional board for building a "Hospital for Insane Women" with a capacity for 900 patients which was to cost the State about $700,000. This board made him its treasurer and also a member of its building com- mittee, in which capacities he did the State much valuable service. During Dr. Jameson's long service as commissioner of the Hospital for the Insane, and subsequently as president of the boards, lie persistently urged, through his annual reports and by personal solicitation, the need of better provision for the insane of the State, and it was measurably owing to his influence and to his untiring efforts, that the Legislature made appropriations from time to time for the enlargement and final completion of this magnificent institution. When he be- came connected with the management of this asylum in 1861, its appointments were poor with a capacity for less than 300 patients. When he retired in 1879, there was room for 1,400 patients, with every needed appliance. No man in Indiana ever labored so long, or so effectively, as he for the help of the insane. In 1876 the expenditures and taxation of the city being unduly extravagant, he wrote a series of articles which appeared in the Indianap- olis Evening News and which attracted much attention. He clearly demonstrated the feasi- bility of a large saving in the city's expenses. These communications aroused the public, and led to a great reduction of the tax levy for the incoming year. They also led to the
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formation of a citizens' committee, of which he was chairman, to procure such limitations, by an act of the Legislature, as should put it beyond the power of councils and school boards, to levy taxes above a certain specified rate, nine-tenths of one per cent. for city pur- poses, and one-fifth of one per cent. for school purposes. This act also limited the amount of debt for cities to two per cent. of their taxables. This legislation was actively opposed by a gang of tax-eaters connected with the city Government, and with the school board, but notwithstanding this, the bill passed. Since that time a part of this act has been incorpor- ated in the constitution of the State. In this reform Dr. Jameson was the first to move, but he was subsequently greatly assisted by William H. English, Albert G. Porter and the other members of this committee. Neither the schools nor any of the city departments were worsted by this law, but they have grown better. Dr. Jameson took an active part in the discussion of the natural gas question and his timely and stirring appeals through the press on this subject had much to do with the successful establishing of the Citizens' Gas Trust which has since furnished cheap and abundant fuel for the people of Indianapolis. He has been for thirty years or more a Director of Butler University; was the sole agent for the sale of its large real estate properties in Indianapolis and for the construction of its principal build- ings at Irvington. He was President of the Board of Directors of this institution from 1872 to 1878. He is regarded as being well versed in all the branches of medicine. In his earlier years, when specialists were not to be bad, he was compelled to treat all kinds of ailments, but more recently he has preferred the general practice, and has willingly consigned to spe- cialists such cases as pertain to their several branches, still he holds that the highest med- ical skill consists in the ability to treat a dangerous case of acute disease so as to give the patient the best chance for a speedy and perfect recovery. He has been most happy in his home life. In 1850 he was married to Miss Maria Butler, the daughter of the late Ovid Butler, a prominent lawyer and the founder of Butler University. This union remains un- broken. He has two living daughters, Mrs. John M. Judah, of Memphis, and Mrs. Orville Peckham, of Chicago, and one son, Ovid Butler Jameson, a well-known attorney of Indian- apolis. He continues in business more because of his active habits and temperament and the love of occupation, than of necessity, as he has long enjoyed a well-earned competence. He has never lost a day from business on account of sickness. He is a man of sound mind and body, strong will and pronounced individuality. He is still active and for one of his years, very well preserved. In manner he is quiet and unobtrusive, and in bearing, kindly and agreeable. His standing as a physician is high, apart from which he is universally regarded as a useful and enterprising citizen.
FRANK SAAK, florist. A liking for flowers usually shows an aesthetic and cultivated taste, but even the uneducated and those who live among the lowliest surroundings may consider a flower a "thing of beauty and a joy forever." This taste may be gratified both by the rich and poor and the washerwoman who labors at her tub for her daily bread may enjoy her pot of violets as much as the millionaire's wife who wanders among the costliest exotics in her spacious conservatory. The business of the florist is to supply the wants of all classes in this respect and in the establishment of Frank Saak at 124 St. Joseph Street, Indianapolis, may be found a stock of goods sufficient to supply the requirements of all classes at the most reasonable figures. His house is the oldest of the kind in the city and was established by Henry Hilker many years ago, but some three years since Mr. Saak suc- ceeded him and has since conducted the business in a skillful and highly satisfactory man- ner. His establishment is very advantageously located for it is the only one immediately in the heart of the city, and consequently has a large patronage from opera and theater goers. He has 8,000 feet under glass, heated by steam and hot water, and his green-house is adorned with some of the rarest and costliest flowers that can be had. He makes a specialty of cut flowers and his services are in great demand in decorating for banquets, balls and house parties. He has much artistic taste and excellent judgment for the "fitness of things" and when orders are left at his establishment no uneasiness is felt as to their non-fulfill- ment. He has been familiar with the details of the business ever since his ninth year, and when not attending school 'he was employed in various green-houses in the cities of New York, St. Louis and Indianapolis, in each of which places his parents resided for some time. He was in the employ of others until 1890, when he decided to become an employer rather
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than an employe and as above stated became the proprietor of his present establishment. His remarkable success has been the result of a desire to please, honest dealings with his patrons, and that he at all times studies their wants and wishes and endeavors to comply with them. He is a young man of great push and energy and bids fair to become a wealthy citizen. Although a native of Germany, a country that has given to the United States many useful and substantial citizens, of whom Mr. Saak is not among the least, he has been a res- ident of this country ever since his eighth year, or since 1870.
W. B. FLICK. The American public schools are the safety of the Republic and nothing approaching them in extent, influence and cost of maintenance is to be found upon the face of the earth. This country is the only one where the children of the poorest may receive a fair education free and where provision is made for sparsely settled sections as well as for those living in cities. Marion County is especially favored in having at the head of its schools a man of progressive ideas, of practical purpose, an organizer of great ability and a manager who rnles efficiently yet so gently that the appearance of enforced system is with- held from the governed. W. B. Flick, the subject of this sketch, is pre eminently qualified for the position he holds, and during his administration, whatever its duration, the best pos .. sible results may be sanguinely expected. He is a native of Brown County, Ohio, born June 22, 1840, and the son of William K., and Nancy (Ford) Flick, natives of Pennsylvania and of West Virginia, respectively, and of German extraction. Gen. Morgan, a distinguished officer of the rank named, in the Revolutionary War was a relative of our subject on his mother's side. The paternal grandfather, George W. Flick, was an early settler of Ohio, having settled there about the year 1830, traveling in wagons part of the way and floating down the Ohio River in a flatboat for the remainder of the journey. He was a soldier in the War of 1812. The father of our subject was a cabinet maker and followed that business in Brown County, where he also was postmaster, at Hamersville, for a period of thirty years; was also a township trustee for a nearly equal period of time. The father died in 1861 and the mother in 1868, having been the parents of four sons and two daughters, namely: Fer- nandes, Paulina, Martin Van Buren and William B., and two deceased,-Martha and John K. Martin and Fernandes were soldiers in the late war and proved themselves worthy and brave men. The subject of our sketch was reared in Brown County, in the town of Hamers- ville, receiving his earlier instruction there and at Georgetown, then known as Kings' Academy, graduating from the latter in 1859. Subsequently Mr. Flick began the study of medicine, after teaching school for some time, and then, in 1863, entered the service in the medical department. He remained at Camp Denison several months before the regiment was ordered to the field; this being the Sixteenth Ohio, with which he served until the fall of 1864, when it was sent home. Upon his return Mr. Flick began teaching school in Marion County, his first charge being in Wayne township, in the winter of 1864. Then he moved to Lawrence township, where he taught until 1880, when he was elected township trustee of that township, holding that office for four years. In 1885 he was elected County Superin- tendent of Schools and has filled that position ever since, being re-elected every time, unani- mously-the highest possible tribute to the worth and popularity of the man and officer. Mr. Flick is a member of the Masonic order, in which organization he takes much interest. Our subject was married in 1865 to Miss Mary Hoover, a native of this county, and a most accomplished and popular woman. She and her husband are consistent and active members of the German Lutheran Church. In politics Mr. Flick is a Democrat having firm faith in the principles of that party; but he is a man who respects the opinions of those who differ from him. The lines of Mr. Flick have not always been cast in pleasant places. While he was Township Trustee the Indiana Banking Co., in which he had several thousand dollars of public money on deposit, failed, and although it took every dollar he possessed, in less than sixty days, he had reimbursed the township by restoring the amount lost. Such courage and fidelity to public trust have made Mr. Flick many friends.
PLINY WEBSTER BARTHOLOMEW, Judge of the Superior Court, was born August 4, 1840, at Cabotville, Mass. He is a son of the late Harris and Betsey Bartholomew. Soon after Pliny's birth his parents removed to Easthampton, Mass., where Harris Bartholomew be- came a leading merchant. In 1851 Harris Bartholomew was elected to the Massachusetts Legislature and represented the Hampshire district with signal ability. He afterward re-
m. B. Stick
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moved to Northampton, Mass., and carried on a large mercantile business there. He was noted for his unswerving integrity throughout all his business life. In the panic of 1857 he failed in business and Pliny had to earn his own way. He became a clerk in a grocery store and meat market while yet a boy, and remained in this position for two years. In the meantime his father, Harris Bartholomew, had removed to Canton, N. Y., and Pliny fol- lowed him and clerked for him there in the dry goods business for about a year, when they removed to Herman, N. Y., where Pliny attended school and finished his preparation for col- lege. In September, 1861, Pliny entered Union College at Schenectady, N. Y. While in col- lege he supported himself by book canvassing in summer and teaching school in winter, and graduated in 1864 with the honors of his class, receiving the degree of A. B. Three years later his alma mater conferred the degree of A. M. on him. After leaving Union he read law with Judge I. S. L'Amoreaux at Ballston Spa, Saratoga County, N. Y., and on exam- ination was admitted to the bar of the Supreme Court in May, 1865, at Schenectady. He practiced his profession at Ballston Spa until the fall of 1866, when he came to Indian- apolis. He has continuously resided in this city since that time, and up to the time of his elevation to the bench he enjoyed a large legal practice. January 30, 1873, he married Miss Sarah Belle Smith, daughter of the late George W. and Mary Smith, of Crawfordsville, Ind. They have had born to them Belle Isadora, Pliny W., Jr. and Harris Shirley. Pliny W., Jr. died when four years old. Judge Bartholomew is a Past Chancellor in the Knights of Pythias, Past Grand Dictator in the Knights of Honor, and is a member of the Presbyterian Church, member of the Commercial Club and other organizations. He was elected Judge of the Superior Court in 1890 on the Democratic ticket, receiving many Republican votes. He took his seat as Judge on October 28, 1892. Judge Bartholomew has long been known among his intimate friends and associates as a man of sterling character, his reputation for uprightness and integrity being of the highest. Modest in demeanor, courteous in manner, and quick to see and grasp the salient points in a case, he is a model judge. He has the judicial manner to a remarkable degree, and his urbanity on the bench is such that a young man appearing before him for the first time is made to feel perfectly at ease, and as if he had known the judge who is trying his case for years. In point of natural ability, sound judgment, and old-fashioned common sense, as well as in his knowledge of the law and the application of its soundest principles to a given case, Judge Bartholomew compares favor- ably with the ablest jurists who ever sat on the bench of the Marion Superior Court. It is to be hoped that he will be continued in his present position until his party thinks the time has come to promote him to the bench of the Appellate or Supreme Court.
[We have received from one of the older members of the bar-a man who is himself opposed to the Judge in politics-the foregoing statement regarding Judge P. W. Bartholomew of the Marion Su- perior Court. It bears internal evidence that it was prepared by one who knows Judge Bartholomew well, and who greatly admires him.]
GEORGE J. COOK, M. D. One of the most prominent citizens of Indianapolis socially and politically is Dr. George J. Cook, who is even more eminent as a physician and surgeon, as a lecturer and demonstrator in medical colleges and as a special practitioner of great skill and reputation. This gentleman was born near Pittsburgh, Penn., February 12, 1844, a son of John and Mary (Kelso) Cook. His father was of Irish descent. His mother was a native of Pennsylvania. His maternal grandfather fought gallantly for the cause of the colonists during the Revolutionary War. The father of Dr. Cook was a hard-working and successful farmer, and the younger years of the Doctor were passed on his father's farm and in acquiring such education as was afforded him in the public schools. At the age of nine- teen, having taken the prescribed course of reading, he became a student at the Kentucky School of Medicine at Louisville, and graduated therefrom with the degree of M. D. in 1866. He entered upon the practice of his profession immediately thereafter in the Falls City, and remained there until 1882, during that time acquiring an enviable reputation as a skillful general practitioner. During the year mentioned he removed to Indianapolis, and devoted himself exclusively to the treatment of diseases of the rectum. While a resident of Louis- ville he was for seven years demonstrator of anatomy, and for three years professor of anatomy in the Kentucky School of Medicine. At the present time he is professor of gastro- intestinal and rectal surgery in the Indiana Medical College. In 1889 Dr. Cook was presi- 4
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