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 79
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PETER CARSON. One of the most gratifying features of government in the United States is the efficiency and integrity of those who are called upon to hold office. It is the more remark- able in that the terms are so brief, herein differing from the old countries of Europe, where one who secures a position under the Government is expected to hold it throughout the remainder of his days. Here in America, however, the doctrine of rotation is maintained, whether the offices be national, State, county or municipal, and it is remarkable, and redounds to the immortal credit of the citizens of the Republic, that of the great multitudes who held office, cases of improper conduct are rarely exceptional. The subject of our sketch is one who reflects greatest possible credit upon those who supported him for the office of recorder of Marion County, a position he fills with an earnestness of purpose, an attention to details, a spirit of accommodation and with a fidelity that stamps him one of the very best men hold- ing the office of recorder in this or any other State. Mr. Carson was born in Dublin, Ire- land, November 10, 1849, being the son of Timothy and Ellen (Coleman) Carson, natives of Ireland. The mother sailed for America in 1853, with four children, her husband having previously died in the old country. Landing at New York, she took her family to Louis- ville, remained there for a time and then went to Nashville, Tenn. Subsequently she went to Indianapolis, where she died in September, 1890. The subject of our sketch, the young- est of the family, received a limited education, being compelled at an early age to work for a living. In turn he served at the trades of machinist and of boiler maker, but did not com- plete apprenticeship in either. He was not afraid to put his hand to any kind of honest labor and for a time while a youth and very young man he did follow a number of different pursuits; but he was diligent and faithful in everything he undertook and steadily bettered his condition. During the administration of President Cleveland, from 1885 to 1889, he served four years as inspector of customs. In the year 1890 he was elected recorder of Marion County, on the Democratic ticket, but having two years to wait before he could enter upon the duties of his position, he was employed in a brewery. Last year he took possession of the office and has managed it with rare discretion and to the highest satisfac- tion of the public. Our subject was happily married in 1873 to Miss Maria Pool, by whom he has had four children, namely: Nellie, Willie, Katie and Joseph. Mr. Carson is a man in whom the social impulse is very strong and he is a member of a number of clubs, in all of which he is very popular as well as very useful and influential. Later: Since the above was written and put, in type Mr. Carson has unfortunately died leaving many warm friends and acquaintances to mourn his untimely demise.
VICTOR M. BACKUS, treasurer of Marion County, is worthy and well qualified in every respect for the responsible position he fills, and, being a whole-souled, generous man, is deservedly popular with the public in general. He was born March 27, 1850, being the son of Paul and Mary J. (Miller) Backus, who were natives of Germany. After attaining man- hood the father entered the army of his native land and continued there in active service many years, finally retiring with honor and the rank of lieutenant-colonel. He also held the office of burger of Louisheim for the long period of fourteen years. He, with his wife and three children, set sail for America in a sailing vessel, and after a voyage of twenty-one days spent upon the ocean landed in New York city. The father died in Williamsburg, N. Y., in 1854, the mother surviving until 1866, when she died of cholera. The father of our subject was married three times, and by his last marriage had three children, only one of whom survives, and he is the subject of this sketch. Victor M. Backus was but two years old when he came to this country, and in 1855 accompanied his mother to Frank- lin, Ind., where he lived several years, attending school until the outbreak of the war, when, at the age of ten, he secured a position on the J. M. & I. Railroad as a "peanut " boy. While discharging the duties of this position he became acquainted with a number of sol- diers, and, at the age of thirteen, enlisted in the Seventeenth Regiment Indiana Volunteer Infantry, in Company D, Wilder's Brigade, and served until the close of the war as a pri- vate soldier, and was never away from his company or regiment a single hour while in the service. This is a record of which the oldest of the soldiers might well be proud, and it is one that redounds to the infinite credit of this boy soldier, who was in every battle of the Atlanta campaign, the Wilson campaign, at the capture of Selma, and a number of other important engagements. At Macon, Ga., he was chosen one of the sixty of his regiment to
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go on an expedition for the capture of Jefferson Davis. He was also one of the first Union soldiers detailed to go to Andersonville to relieve the Union soldiers there; was one of the first Union soldiers to go into Atlanta the night it was taken and blown up. Mr. Backus was in five or six hotly contested and bloody battles before he was fourteen years old, and he was one of the youngest, if not the very youngest, to enlist into the army from Indiana and carry a musket. The soldierly and courageous spirit of the father was transmitted to the children, for the brother of our subject, Matthias, enlisted at the first call for troops and re-enlisted for three years, and then veteranized for three years more. The service of Mat- thias was in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Indiana Regiments, they forming part of the celebrated Iron Brigade, which lost more men than any other two regiments in the entire United States army. In the year 1862 a cousin of Mr. Backus, who had been wounded at the second battle of Bull Run, was taken to Cincinnati, when his only sister, Mary R. Backus, went to the hospital to nurse him, and she remained afterward until the close of the war as a faithful and efficient nurse of the sick and wounded Union soldiers. When our subject returned home at the close of the war he cast about for something as a livelihood, and he chose the trade of a carriage-maker, serving an apprenticeship at this at Franklin, Ind., after which, in the spring of 1867, he came to Indianapolis and went to work under Col. Benjamin C. Shaw, who owned the largest factory in the West, where he worked under instructions for eighteen months, at very small wages. When his time was out he was given a contract on the finest work in the house, with three fires, and continued at this until Col. Shaw was elected State Treasurer in 1874, when he opened up business for himself, starting in a small way, and in six years had the largest carriage factory in Indianapolis, and it is claimed for him that he has sold more work at retail than any other house in Indiana. In the year 1881, after the retirement of Col. Shaw from the State Treasurership, the two formed a partnership under the firm name of Shaw, Backus & Co. Mr. Backus bought out the interest of Col. Shaw in 1883, made and patented one of the first and best road carts in the country; organized and was made president of the Backus Cart Company, and manufactured 2,100 carts in the first year. He sold out this business and started under the firm name of Backus & Reagan, on Circle Street; later buying out Mr. Reagan and ran the business alone until 1891, when he sold out to H. C. Fisk & Son in order to take the office of treasurer of Marion County and of the city of Indianapolis, to which office he had been elected in 1890 with the largest majority ever given any county or city treasurer, it being over three thousand. The term of office is for two years, and Mr. Backus declined a renomination, retiring with the esteem and the confidence of the citizens of Indianapolis and Marion County without reference to party. At the first meeting of the old soldiers of the Seventeenth for reorganization Mr. Backus was one of the first presidents of the regimental organization, and at the last brigade reunion he was chosen its president also, this being in 1890, and the honor proceeding from the celebrated Wilder's brigade. Mr. Backus is the youngest member of the company, regiment and brigade with which he was associated, and he was chosen its brigade president at the earnest request of Gen. Wilder himself. This distinction Mr. Backus may well consider the proudest honor of his life. Our subject was married February 14, 1874, to Miss Mary Mccarthy, of Brear, Ohio, by whom he has had three children, only one of whom is living, Hazel, aged nine years. Mr. Backus is a mem- ber of George H. Thomas Post, G. A. R. ; of Star Lodge, No. 7, K. of P., and is president of the celebrated Hendricks Club of Indianapolis. As will have been seen Mr. Backus has been the recipient of many honors, yet every one of them he has richly merited and earned, through his own exertions having climbed the ladder of distinction, and yet a young man, other and higher honors are before him.
LEROY S. HENTHORN, M. D. Few, perhaps none, save those who have trod the arduous paths of the profession can picture to themselves the array of attributes, physical, mental and moral, the host of minor graces of manner and person, essential to the making of a suc- cessful physician. His constitution must needs be of the hardest to withstand the constant shock of wind and weather, the wearing loss of sleep and rest, the ever gathering load of care, the insidious approach of every form of fell disease to which the daily round of duties mo- mentarily expose him. For many years this most important science bearing upon man's happiness, comfort and welfare, has been practiced by Dr. Leroy S. Henthorn, and he has
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kept thoroughly abreast of the great strides it has made in the last thirty years. The Doctor was born in Bucyrus, Ohio, May 3, 1846, and is of Welsh-Irish descent, his ancestors being from the British Islands. They came to America at an early date, settled in Maryland, and for many years followed agricultural pursuits. Some members of this family served in the War of 1812. The father of our subject, Daniel H. Henthorn, was a native of Fayette County, Pennsylvania, and was a cabinet-maker, a carpenter, a contractor, etc., by trade, devoting the most of his life to that business. His later days were spent as an architect. In 1813, when a boy, he came to the Buckeye State with his parents who were among the early pioneers of Licking County. There he was married to Miss Rachel R. Morrison, a native of Fayette County, Penn., who came with her parents to Ohio when small. They were also early pio- neers of Licking County. After marriage Mr. and Mrs. Henthorn removed to Crawford County, Ohio, settled in Bucyrus, in 1833, and were among the early inhabitants of that place. Indians were numerons in the vicinity at that time. Of the eight children born to the above mentioned marriage seven are now living, one, Eugene E., having been killed at the battle of Fredericksburg in 1862. Mr. Henthorn died at Bucyrus in 1872, and his widow survived him several years, her death occurring in Indianapolis in 1884. Dr. Henthorn attained his growth in Bucyrus, attended the public and high-school, and when sixteen years of age enlisted in Company K., Eighty-Sixth Ohio Infantry, for three months. In 1863 lie served about six months in general hospital, Jefferson Barracks, Mo., and liad charge of the dispen- sary. During his first enlistment he served some time in Virginia among bushwhackers, and during his second enlistment he served some time in 1864 in the heavy artillery. Following the war he became drug clerk and served six months in this business at Bucyrus, Ohio, and Des Moines, Iowa. During all this time he had devoted considerable attention to the study of medicine, and in 1874 almost his entire time was given to this. In 1875, he came to Indianapolis and entered the Indiana Medical College, from which he was graduated in 1877. Since then he has carried on a general practice in this city. Dr. Henthorn was assist- ant demonstrator of anatomy in Indiana Medical College two years, and lectured on obstetrics for two years. For three years he was professor of physiology in Indiana Dental College and later he lectured on physiology two years in Indiana Medical College. From 1876 until .1891 he was on the consulting staff in the city hospital in obstetrics. In 1883 and 1884 he was superintendent of the pest house and had charge of all small pox cases of the city. While on the consulting staff at the city hospital he gave many lectures to students of different med- ical colleges of Indianapolis. The Doctor has been a member of Indiana State and Marion County Medical Societies ever since he began practicing, has served on committees of the same and has read papers before both. He selected his life companion in the person of Miss Joannah Myers, a native of Bucyrus, Ohio, and their nuptials were celebrated May 16, 1878. Her parents, George W., and Mary (Hart) Myers, were natives of Pennsylvania, and Muskingum County, Ohio, respectively. Her father served four months in the Civil War during the year 1864, and held the rauk of Lieutenant of an Ohio company. To Doctor and Mrs. Henthorn have been born three children: Mary, Oril and Jessie.
FREDERICK JONES. No field of modern financial enterprise affords safer or more favora- ble opportunities for the investment of capital, either in large or small sums, than the real estate business. Few indeed in Indianapolis have been more fortunate in establishing and maintaining a high reputation among the property owners and speculators for the uniform satisfaction he has rendered to those with whom he has held business relations than Fred .. erick Jones, and the sterling integrity and sound judgment that has characterized all his transactions has won him a clientele of which he has every reason to feel proud. He is a man of energy and large business capacity, shrewd and enterprising, and is highly regarded in the community for his integrity and upright character. Mr. Jones was born in Indianapolis August 23, 1860, to Aquilla and Harriet (Cox) Jones, and was reared and educated in the common schools of his native city, in a college at Racine, Wis., and at Butler University. After leaving school he entered the wholesale boot and shoe store of Jones, Armstrong & Co., as a clerk, and was connected with this firm about five years, a portion of which time he acted in the capacity of traveling salesman. In 1883 he became associated with H. C. Holloway in the manufacture of stove-pive elbows, which was quite extensive for a time. In 1885 Mr. Jones was appointed custodian of public building at Indianapolis, which position
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he held until the following June, when he was appointed a special agent of the United States Pension Bureau in the State of Michigan, which position he held until June, 1890, when he resigned and began dealing in real estate in Indianapolis, continuing successfully to the present time. September 21, 1891, he put Tuxedo Park on the market, which consisted of 467 lots, and disposed of all in little more than a year, which was one of the greatest feats in the sale of real estate ever accomplished in the city. Mr. Jones was for a time associated with C. H. & E. J. Rickert, as the member of a corporation in this phenomenal real estate deal, but had the entire management of the same, and the brilliant record achieved was largely due to his energy, foresight and push. These gentlemen severed their connection February 1, 1893, since which time Mr. Jones has conducted business alone and in com- pany with A. L. Palmer, the name of the firm being Frederick Jones & Co. The firm at present handle suburban property and are doing an extensive business. Mr. Jones is a member of the K. of P., is a Democrat in politics, and he and his wife, whom he married June 8, 1881, and whose maiden name was Nellie E. Woodall, a native of Vincennes, Ind., are members of St. Paul's Episcopal Church. They have two children: Frank S. and Harry H. Mrs. Jones' parents, Aquilla and Emma (Haines) Woodall, were born in New York State, but were early settlers of Indiana.
JAMES H. SMITH is a member of the firm of James H. Smith & Co., located at 36} W. Washington Street, money brokers, real estate and insurance agents, and as the gentlemen composing this firm have a thorough general knowledge of real estate as well as of the gen- eral routine work of the real estate agent, their patrons and friends are numerons and their business a large and profitable one. The methods of this firm are regular and par- ties may approach it with the confidence of fair treatment. Whether they wish to buy realty, borrow money, to rent property or whatever their business, they will receive cour- teous attention. Matters are disposed of with dispatch, thoroughness and after the most approved business methods, the interests of clients being jealously guarded. Mr. Smitlı was born in Mount Pleasant, Iowa, December 31, 1856, a son of Cyrus and Elizabeth (Eller) Smith, the former of whom was born in Ohio and the latter in Indiana. The paternal grandfather, John Smith, was a pioneer of Ohio and became one of the prosperous farmers of the "Buckeye State," the time consumed in the acquirement of his property being marked by many hardships and by much hard labor. Cyrus Smith was reared in Marion County, Ind., whither his parents moved at an early day, and his early education was acquired in the old-time subscription schools, which were held in log cabins of very primi- tive construction. When a young man he became a "Hoosier schoolmaster," in which line of work he was so successful that he was elected to the position of county superintend- ent of schools on three different occasions. He also served as deputy county clerk under John C. New, in the old court-house. . During the great Civil War he held the position of enrolling clerk from the commencement of that struggle until its close and had some severe experiences while following that line of duty. For over thirty years he has been engaged in the sale of school books in Indiana and Michigan and is probably as well known as any man traveling through this territory. At present he travels for A. S. Barnes & Co., of Chi- cago, and makes his home at Lansing, Mich. Although born in Iowa James H. Smith was reared and educated in Indianapolis and in the college at Adrian, Mich., from which lie graduated in 1876. Indianapolis has been practically his home all his life and bere he determined to open an office after finishing his legal education. He began the study of law with Johnson, Osborne & Herr, at Goshen, Ind., and in 1879 was admitted to the bar in Indianapolis, after which he practiced his profession for a number of years and gradually drifted into the real estate and money brokerage business, which he now follows. He was married February 6, 1883, to Lydia A. Davidson, a native of Tennessee and of Quaker par- entage, who came north with her mother during the Civil War, her father having died when she was a child. Mr. and Mrs. Smith are the parents of two children: Florence N. and Hervey E. Mr. Smith has always been a Republican in politics.
DR. E. D. RUTLEDGE. Although comparatively young in years, Dr. Rutledge is classed among the popular physicians of Indianapolis, and is in the enjoyment of a large practice with the better class of people in and around the city. He belongs to that class of physicians who recognize the fact that there is something more than a barren ideality in 28
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" ministering to a mind diseased," or, in other words, that the mental condition of the patient lias in many cases much to do with his physical condition, and always endeavors to leave his patient in a happy and hopeful frame of mind where the nature of the disease renders this possible. Born in Delaware County, Ind., October 30, 1855, he is a son of John Rutledge, whose birth occurred in Maryland in the year 1801. When the elder Rutledge was a young man he came to Delaware County, Ind., and in 1830 bought land at $1.25 an acre, being among the pioneers of that section. He became a successful farmer and accumulated a handsome competency. His death occurred in June, 1891, at the advanced age of ninety years. His widow survives him and resides on the old homestead he entered when first coming to the State. Her maiden name was Martha J. Dynes, a native of Lebanon, Ohio, and she came to Indiana at an early day with her brother, Dr. Jeremiah Dynes, the first physician to locate in Delaware County. John Rutledge, father of subject, was an exemplary man, modest and retired, and never aspired or held office. He was a faithful Democrat in his political views, and a strong temperance man, never drinking liquor of any kind, or using tobacco in any form. He was one of the representative citizens of Delaware County for many years and was frequently chosen upon juries, owing to his adaptability for such
positions. One of his sons, Dr. William V. Rutledge, served as surgeon of the Forty- second Indiana Cavalry for nearly five years during the war, and from the effects of hard service died in St. Louis in 1892. The subject of this sketch, Dr. E. D. Rutledge, passed his boyhood and youth in his native county and received a good practical education in the schools at Muncie, Ind., and at the old academy there. During his youthful days he clerked in a mercantile establishment for a time and assisted with farm work at home, where he also began the study of medicine when about seventeen years old. Previous to this, however, when but a lad, he became deeply interested in medicine, studying his brother's books while the latter was in the army. He decided upon a professional career when very young-medi- cine, and could think of very little else. In 1881 he went to St. Louis and entered the American Medical College, from which he graduated in the spring of 1882. He immediately began a general practice, locating at Sulphur Springs, Henry County, Ind., where be carried on a successful practice for six years. While there he was three times nominated for coroner on the Democratic ticket, but owing to a large Republican majority in the county could not overcome the same, although he ran far ahead of the ticket. He was physician for the county poor for over four years in Henry County, and when he left, resigned that position. After a residence of fourteen months at New Burlington, Delaware County, where he had an immense practice, he came to West Indianapolis in the fall of 1888, as he was unable to attend to the large country practice at New Burlington, his health having failed. Since locating in West Indianapolis Dr. Rutledge has had an excellent practice. He has also lectured one term in Central College of Physicians and Surgeons, on diseases of women and children. He is a member of the Indiana Medical Society, also the Marion County Society, and he is also serving his third year as physician, - in West Indianapolis. Socially a member of the Red Men, he acts as general marshal in all parades, etc., of the same. In the year 1877 he married Miss Ida V. Elliott, who was born in the Old North State, Three children have been given them: Jobn W., Corral W. aud Cora M. The Doctor and wife are members of the Christian Church, and in politics he is a Democrat.
JOHN W. SINGLETON. Among the many unique, yet useful and laudable enterprises, to which man's attention has been turned in his struggles to gain a foothold in the business world, and to secure a competency for himself and family, may be mentioned that in which John W. Singleton is engaged, which was established March 1, 1890 at 322-324 Lafayette Street, Indianapolis, under the name of the Indianapolis Steam Carpet Cleaning Works. The building covers an area of 50x120 feet, is two stories in height, and is fitted up with machin- ery capable of cleaning 3,000 yards of carpet daily. Mr. Singleton has been phenomenally successful in this business, which is constantly and rapidly on the increase, and in 1892 net- ted over $5,000, an increase of 100 per cent. over that of the previous year. The wide-awake proprietor of this establishment was born in Warren, Penn .. May 21, 1865, a son of William and Anna E. (Jones) Singleton, who were also born in the Keystone State. The father was a producer of petroleum, and carried on a prosperous business in oil fields at Duke Center, Penn., for many years. Owing to the fact that he was crippled, he was the only one of fif-
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teen brothers that did not serve during the entire Civil War, the youngest brother enlisting at the age of sixteen. Thirteen or fourteen of these brothers were mustered out of the serv- ice at the close of the war, not having received a scratch. The father died in March, 1881, but his widow survives him, and is a resident of Irvington, Ind. In the county in which he was born John W. Singleton was reared, and he received a high-school education at Warren, Penn. He afterward became a pedagogue, and followed this occupation for three years, at the end of which time he abandoned it, and in November, 1886, came to Indianapolis to accept the position of book-keeper for J. B. McElrain & Co., a position he held until he engaged in his present line of work. On October 8, 1890, he led to the altar Miss Adaline Treat, a native of New Haven, Conn., and a daughter of Thelis and Celia B. (Baldwin) Treat, also natives of the Nutmeg State. One child has been born to Mr. and Mrs. Singleton, Charlotte, born July 29, 1891. Mr. Singleton is independent in his political views, and sup- ports the man whom he deems best fitted for the office.
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