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 9
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SAMUEL M. COMPTON. The Industries of Indianapolis are principally of an important character, ably and successfully carried on. the products being such as to have secured for this flourishing city a reputation of which any might be proud. Prominent among the suc- cessful business men of this city is Mr. Samuel M. Compton, who is engaged in the grocery business, and who is now the quarter-master general, having been appointed to that position and commissioned a brigadier-general by Gov. Mathews in 1893. Like many of the best citizens of the State he is a native of Ohio, born in Warren County, July 1, 1845. His father, Alexander J. Compton, was a native of that grand old mother of States, Virginia, and is now residing in Indiana. He is eighty-two years of age, is in the enjoyment of com- paratively good health, and has ever been a man honored and respected. His wife, the mother of our subject, was a native of Pennsylvania, and her maiden name was Mickle. This worthy couple had four sons in the army during the Rebellion: William E., who was sergeant in the Eighty-sixth Ohio Infantry; Thomas M., lieutenant in Company K, First Indiana Heavy Artillery; Ridgeley C., private in the Sixth United States Infantry, and cnr subject, who enlisted several times but was refused on account of youth, until the summer of 1862, when he became a member of Battery K, First Indiana Heavy Artillery, as a pri- vate, serving until January 10, 1866, when he was mustered out as corporal. He partici- pated in the following battles: Port Hudson, Red River Campaign, Siege of Mobile and numerous minor skirmishes. He escaped withont a wound and was mustered out in New Orleans, La. Our subject's education was received in the schools of Warren County and at Lebanon, Ohio, the county seat, where he remained in the schools until thirteen years of age. He then came with his parents to Mooresville, Morgan County, Ind., and engaged as clerk in the general store of Moore, Griggs & Cook, with whom he remained until 1862, when he eulisted. He had another brother, Harlan H., who served in the Home Guards during the latter part of the war. After being discharged at New Orleans after the war our subject remained in that city for about two months and then returned to Morgan County, Ind., where he commenced clerking for Holman Johnson, continuing with him about three
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years. After that he opened a general store of his own in Mooresville, Ind., and this he carried on about eighteen montlis, when he sold out and came to Indianapolis. Here he be- gan clerking for W. M. Davis, continued with him two years, and then began clerking in tlie shoe business with W. W. Jones. Two years later he accepted a position in the wholesale grocery of Conduitt, Mcknight & Co., remained with the same two years and then for three years clerked in the dry goods store of Hibben, Patterson & Co. Following this he went to Worcester, Mass., with J. H. and G. M. Walker, boot and shoe manufacturers, and subse- quently traveled quite extensively for them in the South. In 1891 he engaged in the gro- cery business in Indianapolis, and this he has carried on since. In politics Mr. Compton is a Democrat, with which party he has always affiliated, and comes of Democratic stock, his father also affiliating with that party. As before stated, Mr. Compton was appointed quar- termaster- general in 1893. and of that position he is the present incumbent. He is a mem- ber of Capital City Odd Fellow Lodge, and to George H. Thomas Post, Lodge No. 17, G. A. R. Mr. Compton was married on May 19, 1868, to Miss Mary E. Gentry, a native of Marion County, Ind., and to them were given two children, neither surviving.
AUGUST H. CALVELAGE. The manufacture of agricultural implements has grown to be a great industry and in reviewing the various enterprises that have made Indianapolis one of the prominent centers of business in the West, it is highly interesting to note the advance that has been made in each industry. August H. Calvelage is the present very efficient foreman of the National Malleable Castings Company, and has been connected with the same for many years. He was born in Putnam County, Ohio, February 10, 1845, a son of George Calvelage, who was born in the Province of Oldenberg, Germany, and came to Obio with his. parents, when a boy of twelve years, first locating in Cleveland. The family afterward moved to Putnam County, of which section they were among the first settlers. They pur- chased a tract of land comprising 600 acres for which they paid 75 cents per acre, and this land is still in possession of the Calvelage family. George Calvelage grew up among the Indians which made up the principal part of the population of Putnam County at that time. He made his home in that region until he was about seventy-six years of age, at which time he was called upon to pay the last debt of nature. He was engaged in farming and trad- ing with the Indians, and afterward dealt in stock, in all of which, being a successful man of business, he was quite successful. He was highly honored throughout that region and held a number of positions of trust. He was united in marriage to Miss Mary Hackman, who was born in Hanover, Germany, and she still survives him and resides on the old homestead in Ohio. To their marriage a family of five children were born: August H., Henry and Bernard, who farms the old home place, being the only survivors. August H. Calvelage left home at the age of seventeen years and went to Cleveland, Ohio, where he began learning the calling of a brick-layer, an occupation which he followed successfully for seven years with one contractor. At the end of this time he began turning his attention to malleable iron work in Cleveland, but after a short period went to Springfield and entered the employ of Whitely, Fassler & Kelley, who were engaged in the manufacture of reapers and mowers, and during the nine years that be was with this firm he acted for some time in the capacity of foreman and later as superintendent of the iron department. After coming to Indian- apolis, he connected himself with the National Malleable Castings Company as foreman, a position which he still retains to the satisfaction of his employers and decidedly to his own credit. He is a man of brains, energy and push, and has made his own way to his present position of independence by his own energy and integrity. He certainly knows what pioneer life is, for he was born in a log cabin, in which not a nail had been driven, and this continued to be his home for a number of years. His initiatory training was received in the common schools of Putnam County, which were by no means of the best at that time, but he fortu- nately afterward graduated from a business college of Cleveland, his tuition being paid in money which he earned by the sweat of his brow while laying brick. Since locating in Haughville lie has been town trustee for eight years, four years of which time he was presi- dent of the board, and during his administration many of the most important improvements in the town were made, and were largely due to his push and public spirit. Street cars were established, streets were laid out, a natural gas plant was put in and an excellent school-house was erected, besides numerous other improvements. In 1870 he was united in marriage to
Allison Maxivall
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Miss Emma Grosch, a native of Staten Island, N. Y., and to their union three sons and a daughter have been given. He is president of the Haughville Building and Loan Associa- tion, a member of the Commercial Club of Indianapolis, and politically has always been a Democrat, and has supported the principles of that party on all occasions, although he has never been an office seeker. He is a man among men and proven himself a decided acquisi- tion to the town of Haughville.
ALLISON MAXWELL, M. D. The old saying that "a prophet is not without honor save in his own country." which has come to be applied not only to prophets but to men in nearly every profession, trade and walk of life, is most completely controverted in every commu- nity in the country by the manifestation of high esteem on the part of the people for able and honorable members of the medical profession. The physician, more generally perhaps, than even the pastor, endears himself to the family circle, and while he may not be strictly of it he is at all times very near to it and his relations are so confidential that his welcome is more spontaneous and hearty than that of many connected to it with the ties of blood. Among the most honored family physicians of Indianapolis is Dr. Allison Maxwell, who enjoys a large and lucrative practice and numbers among his patrons many prominent and influential citizens. Dr. Maxwell is a son of Dr. James D. and Louisa (Howe) Maxwell, both natives of Indiana, and was born at Bloomington, Ind., Sep- tember 24, 1848. Dr. James D. Maxwell enjoyed the distinction of being not only the father of physicians but the son of a physician. His father, Dr. David H. Maxwell, was a native of Kentucky and was a medical pupil of Dr. Ephraim McDowell, and locating in Monroe County about 1819, was one of the pioneer settlers there. He was a surgeon in the War of 1812, and his standing outside of his profession is indicated by the fact that he was chosen a member of the Constitutional Convention which framed the first constitution of the State, which was adopted at its organization. The degree of M. D. was conferred upon him by the Medical College of Ohio, at Cincinnati. In 1819 he located at Bloomington, Ind., and was one of the surveyors and organizers of the town, in which he lived and practiced his profession with much success until his death, which occurred in 1854. He was the founder and was elected the first president of the board of trustees of the Indiana University at Bloomington, and was one of the trustees of that institution continuously from its organization until his death, and has ever since been popularly referred to as "the father of the university." His practice at Bloomington was continued by his son, James D. Maxwell, who was graduated from the Indiana University in 1833 and who, in 1841, attended Transylvania, at Lexington, Ky. The following year he became a student in the Jefferson Medical College, and was graduated therefrom in 1844 with the degree of M. D. During a period of nearly forty years he was a trustee of the Indiana University, and his service as such was terminated only by his death, which occurred at Bloomington Septem- ber 30, 1892. He was an active and successful medical practioner, and for many years had a larger and more lucrative practice than any physician in the county. A few years prior to his death, however, he retired from the practice of his profession and devoted him- self entirely to the interests of the Indiana University and to his private affairs. Dr. Allison Maxwell was reared in his native town, and there he obtained his primary educa- tion in the public schools. In 1862 he entered the preparatory department of the Indiana University, and in 1868, having completed a classical course, he was duly graduated from that institution, in which for a year after he was tutor of Greek and Latin, relinquishing his position in its faculty to go to San Francisco, Cal., where for two years he was clerk in the Bancroft Publishing House. Returning to Bloomington at the expiration of that time, he began the study of medicine with his father, and in the fall of 1872 he began the study of medicine with his father, and in the fall of 1872 he became a student in the Miami Medical College, of Cincinnati, Ohio, where he took the graded course of three years, and by competitive examination, was appointed and served for one year as interne of the City Hospital, graduating from the Miami Medical College with the degree of Doctor of Medi- cine in 1876. In April of that year he came to Indianapolis and became the assistant of Dr. Theophilus Parvin, now of Philadelphia, and in this relation continned with that well- known physician during a period of eight years, until Dr. Parvin removed from the city. In 1880 Dr. Maxwell was elected coroner of Marion County and was re-elected in 1882.
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He has held the chair of Principles and Practice of Medicine in the Central College of Physicians and Surgeons, of Indianapolis, since 1886, and as clinical lecturer at the City Hospital, and a member of the consulting staff at the City Dispensary. Under the present charter of the city of Indianapolis, he was appointed a member of the first board of health organized by its provisions. He is a member of the Marion County Medical Society, of the Indiana State Medical Society and of the American Medical Association. Dr. Maxwell was married May 3, 1883, to Cynthia A. Routh, a native of Wayne County, Ind., and (laughter of James R. and Sarah J. Routh, also natives of this State, who has borne him' two children: Leslie H. and Ruth.
James D. Maxwell, Jr .. a brother of Dr. Allison Maxwell, was born in July, 1850, and was graduated from the University of Indiana in 1872. He pursued a regular three-year graded course at the Miami Medical College of Cincinnati, and, like his brother, became an interne in the City Hospital at Cincinnati, by competitive examination. He graduated from the Miami Medical College in 1878, and, going to Cleveland, Ohio, was for two years assistant surgeon in the Cleveland Hospital for the Insane. Returning to the family home, at Bloomington. he became a partner of his father, Dr. James D. Maxwell, Sr. In the winter of 1882-83 he took a special course in surgery at Bellevue Hospital Medical College, at New York, and received his diploma from that institution in April, 1883. Taking up his residence permanently at Bloomington, he soon obtained a large general practice and became so popular as a surgeon that he actually did the greater part of the surgical work in the county down to the time of his death, which occurred in Jannary, 1891. The esteem in which he was held by his fellow-citizens found expression in the oft-repeated statement that any citizen of Monroe County could have been better spared than Dr. James D. Maxwell, Jr.
PRESLEY JENNINGS. The trade of the horse-shoer and blacksmith is one that comes within the bounds of daily opportunity to manifest a humane spirit toward man's most faithful and obedient friend, the horse. If the theory of John Stuart Mill is correct, there is certainly a heaven for this brightest order of the dumb animal. The shoer of the horse bas many an opportunity to prove the tender side of heart, and in his calling, which has existed almost since the world began, one of the most humane and careful men is Presley Jennings, who is a master of his trade in every sense of the word. He is a native of Bridgeport, Ind., born January 23, 1834, and has been a citizen of Marion County, Ind., ever since. His parents, Allen and Eleanor (Thornbrough) Jennings, were united in marriage in 1818. but the former was a native of Virginia, and two years prior to his marriage came to this State. For two years after the celebration of his nuptials be made his home in the State of his birth, at the end of which time he returned to Marion County, Ind., and bere remained until bis death, which took place in 1864, his wife having passed from life in this county in 1849. They be- came the parents of five sons and five daughters, all of whom are living with the exception of the two eldest daughters and the youngest son. Their children were named as follows: Nancy, married William H. Foreman, and died in early womanhood; Elizabeth, married Manning Vohrie, and is also deceased; William is a resident of Marion County; Jane is the wife of John Ray, and lives in Boone County, Ind. ; Lydia is the wife of John H. Rodman, and is a resident of Ray County, Mo. ; Polly is the wife of George Sowerwine, and resides in Indianapolis; Presley, the subject of this sketch; John, who resides in Indianapolis; Clark is a resident of California, and Allen, who died at the age of four years. In Marion County Presley Jennings was reared, and in the public schools of this section he received a common-school education. On January 1, 1855. he was married to Miss Alice Head, a daughter of Simeon C. and Melinda (Poage) Head, who were married in Kentucky in 1818, and soon after moved to Rush County, Ind., and shortly after to Marion County. where for a number of years they kept hotel. They then gave this up to engage in farming, but in 1856 moved to Zionsville, Ind , and lived a retired life until their respective deaths in 1881 and 1875. To the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Jennings a family of ten children have been given: Frank, born October 12, 1856; Orla S., born November 28, 1858, and died March 13, 1865; Emerson B., born December 4, 1860; Charles, born August 14, 1863, is now married to Emma Smith, and lives in this county near his parents: Orpha, born October 4, 1865, is the wife of George W. Sheets; Otis was born August 16, 1869, and now lives in
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Indianapolis; Bertha, born January 31, 1874; Ralph, born December 18, 1879; Aggie, born February 28, 1885. Since 1849 Mr. Jennings has followed the calling of old Tubal Cain, and is now the proprietor of a large shop at Nora, Ind. He is a lover of fine horses, and owns some of the best bred animals in the county. Mr. Jennings has always been a warm patron of education, and the public school system of Indiana has been his pride. He has always been a Republican in his political views, and proudly asserts that his boys have fol- lowed in his footsteps in this respect. He has in his possession a clock which stands over eight feet high, and although it has been in the possession of the Jennings family for about 100 years, keeps perfect time. This relic Mr. Jennings highly values.
GEN. LEW WALLACE. In a chance conversation with a well-known infidel a Western lawyer had been listening to an abundance of sarcastic sneers at the Christian religion. . He felt ashamed of his ignorance of the subject, and, impressed with its importance, he deter- mined to study into it. In thinking how to begin he recalled a story that he had started a year before, founded on the wise men's search for Christ. It had been written simply as a story, with little interest in its central figure, and had been for some time laid aside. He decided to carry on his study along the lines suggested by the story, and to seek to learn of the Saviour and of the world as he found it. The result was that "Ben-Hur" was written and that its author became a believer in the Christ of whom he wrote. It may have been to his friends and to Gen. Wallace himself something of a surprise that his name should become best known by such a book. "Lewis Wallace," it was said a quarter of a century ago, "handles the pen and the brush with ease and taste, but his genius is military." Born at Brookville, Ind., April 10, 1827, his early scholastic training was received from the common schools. David Wallace, his father, was a graduate of the United States Military Academy, was successively elected in Indiana as legislator, member of the Constitutional Convention, lieutenant-governor, governor, congressman and judge of the Court of Common Pleas of Marion County. The ambition of the subject of this biography had been of the military order, but his study and work had been rather too desultory to point to success in many directions. As a boy he was fond of shooting and of books, taking especial delight in Plu- tarch's Lives. He wrote a novel dealing with the tenth century and made some advance in art, but settled down to reading law with his father, who served a term as governor of Indi- ana. On the breaking out of the Mexican War Lewis entered the army and gained for him- self a good name as a disciplinarian. After the war, while practicing law, he found his recreation in training a company that he had organized. When the Civil War came he was called to become adjutant-general of his native State, Indiana, and then went into service as a colonel. receiving an appointment as major-general after the surrender of Fort Donelson, by reason of his military genins. His career as an army official ended as second member of the court that tried the assassins of President Lincoln, and he was president of that which tried Capt. Henry Wirz, commandant of the Andersonville prison. From 1878 to 1881 he served as governor of Utah and under President Hayes he was appointed governor of New Mexico, where he wrote the last part of "Ben-Hur." Under President Garfield he was offered a mission to South America, which he declined, afterward accepting the position of minister to Turkey. While holding this place he was in most pleasant personal relations with the Sultan, who twice requested him to enter the Turkish service. His experience in Mexico interested Gen. Wallace greatly in that country and led to his writing "The Fair God" in which he sought to present a picture of that remarkable land as it was centuries ago. Naturally, in sending him to Turkey, President Garfield, who had enjoyed " Ben-Hur," said: "I expect another book out of you Your official duties will not be too onerous to
allow you to write it. Locate it in Constantinople." The beauty and the history of the city were persuasive arguments, enforcing the hint, and the thought was in Gen. Wallace's mind from the first. The fall of Constantinople and the many events centering around that in the history of nations and of religions furnished a fascinating theme, and out of this has grown the author's latest work, which will undoubtedly add another triumph to the list that has already made him so great a favorite.
DANIEL H. PRUNK. There is no calling upon earth that demands greater self-sacrifice, unselfishness and devotion than that of the physician, who must needs incur the risk of con- tracting fatal disease and who must forego comfort and endure fatigues in the discharge of
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his duties. Nor is there to be found upon the globe a nobler spectacle than that of a physi- cian who is true to himself, and conscientiously proceeds with the carrying out of the obliga- tions resting upon him. He who is truly successful must needs live up to the full measure of his responsibilities and bear the burdens that rest upon him with a cheerful resignation. One recompense is his, at least, and that is the trust, confidence and the esteem of those who require. his services in the times of illness; for no one gets closer to the hearts of those with whom he is associated than the good and worthy physician. Such thoughts are naturally awakened as one contemplates the life and the work of the estimable subject of this sketch, who not only lias lived a life of great and disinterested usefulness in civil life, but who, also, in the time of his country's peril went to the front and with skillful hands ministered to the wants of the sick and the wounded, laboring unceasingly for the relief of suffering. Daniel H. Prunk, M. D., of Indianapolis, was born near Fincastle, Botetourt County, Va., November 3, 1829; being the son of Daniel Prunk, born in the State of Maryland in 1796, served his country in the War of 1812 as a brave and true soldier and died in Illinois in 1861. The mother of our subject, Catharine (Edwards) Prunk, was born in old Virginia in 1797 and died in Minnesota at the age of eighty four (in 1881). The father of our subject becoming impressed with the folly of endeavoring to compete with slave labor, left the old Dominion in the fall of 1831 with his wife and seven children, and on his journey Northward was compelled by the severity of the weather to winter at Xenia, Ohio. In the following spring, however, the family was again in motion, pressing forward over the most execrable of roads, the horses be- ing frequently stalled in quagmires, and again wading side-deep in and through great sloughs of mud. Again and again in the most difficult parts of the way, the children were trans- ported over the water and mud in the strong arms of their brave but wearied father. The westward journey was by way of Crawfordsville, Ind., which finally was reached and passed, the hearts of the parents growing lighter as the distance diminished, and their relief was infinite when at last they reached Hennepin, Bureau County, Ill., their final stopping place. But here their trials and hardships they soon found were but fairly begnn. The travel-worn father proceeded at once, it being in the spring of 1832 when he reached his destination, to clear a farm and establish a home for his family in the then far West wilderness. The neighbors were few and lived far apart and the fear of the Indians was strong in the breasts of all, for this was the time when Black Hawk had stirred up the hearts of his savage follow- ers to resist banishment across the Mississippi, and Mr. Prunk only saved his loved wife and children from the tomahawks of the red demons by taking refuge in the old Florida fort, situated about three miles from Hennepin. Notwithstanding the many besetments and perils, sturdy and brave Daniel Prunk did clear hisland and erect a home, and in time golden stalks of the wheat waved in his field, inviting the blade of the sickle, and later, the tall tassels of corn proclaimed the presence of the ripened ears beneath. But society was imper- fectly organized in those days and education was a precious quality, because the school-houses, always built of logs, were so far apart, and the teachers so scarce. Subscription schools maintained for three months in the winter were the very best facilities enjoyed by the most favored, and parents rejoiced when this opportunity was offered their children. Those who were very poor were compelled to deny this limited privilege to their offspring. In truth, those who had settled in the wilds of Bureau, like the settlers of frontier country generally, had come together there imbued with the one great idea of accumulating property, the pri- vations endured being a fresh stimulus to exertion, and the leading thonght shut off in large measure the duties and obligations of cultivated life. Under such obvious difficulties and besetments the boyhood and youth of Dr. Prunk passed, and his ambitious spirit chafed under the privations he endured. His awakened mind demanded something above and beyond the drudgery of farm life, and bidding adieu to the home he made his way to Lacon, Ill., and there he worked mornings, evenings and Saturdays in order to defray his expenses at school, continning thus until he was qualified to teach school. While engaged in teaching he con- scientiously discharged his duties, earnestly seeking to impart instruction to those consigned to his care. At the same time he diligently reviewed his studies and prosecuted them to further results, and with praisworthy economy saved every possible penny, so that in 1850 he entered the college at Mt. Palatine, Ill., where he remained one year, and then in 1851, he entered Rock River Seminary, where among his classmates were John A. Rawlins, after-
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