USA > Indiana > Marion County > Indianapolis > Sketches of prominent citizens of 1876 : with a few of the pioneers of the city and county who have passed away > Part 21
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SOLOMON BLAIR.
was organized in 1851, and has been one of the ruling elders from the date of its organization.
As a lawyer Judge Newcomb stands high, as a judge pre-eminently so ; as evidence of the fact but few appeals are taken from his decisions. I have frequently heard members of the Indianapolis bar regret his intention to leave the Superior Court bench. Both his collegues, Judges Blair and Perkins, are able and talented jurists, and I doubt very much if there is in the entire west a court with three as able men.
SOLOMON BLAIR,
A judge of the Superior Court of Marion county, was born in Hen- dricks county, Indiana, on the 3d day of February, 1829. His father, Solomon Blair, and mother, Nancy Blair, were among the earliest set- tlers in Hendricks county, having emigrated from North Carolina in 1820. They settled about two and one half miles south of Plainfield, in the then unbroken forest; there a farm was made, on which they continued to reside until the death of the former in 1853. This father and mother were members of the Society of Friends, of which society the judge has been a life-long member.
In the spring of 1841, when about twelve years old, he came to this city and entered the drug store of. Craighead & Blair, the latter being an older brother, who, on account of failing health, was compelled to retire from the firm within a few months of its organization.
Young Blair continued in the store more than four years, a part of the time attending school in the old County Seminary, located on Uni- versity square. The school was then taught by the Kempers. He was noted as a skillful and competent boy druggist, sometimes entrusted, young as he was, with almost the entire business of the drug store for a day or two, and always doing the business to the entire satisfaction of his employers and their customers.
About 1845 he abandoned the drug store and returned to his father's farm. There his time was spent alternately on the farm, attending a saw mill, and at private schools kept up by the Society of Friends. Afterwards, for a short time, he attended Friends' boarding school at Richmond, Indiana, now Earlham College. He was then compelled to leave the school and take charge of a drug store in Plainfield on account of the death of an older brother. About the same time he commenced reading law while attending to business, and thereafter he attended the Ohio State and Union law college, at Cleveland, Ohio, where he gradu-
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ated, and was admitted to practice in the courts of Ohio, including the Supreme Court. He immediately returned to Hendricks county and commenced the practice of law.
In 1853 he was married to Miss Sarah T. Harvey, a sister of Thomas B. Harvey, M. D., of this city ; she died in 1856. In 1856 he was placed upon the first Republican ticket formed in Hendricks county, as a can- didate for the State Senate, and was elected at the October election of that year. He was again elected from the counties of Hendricks and Boone in 1860. He thus served in the Senate for eight years, including almost the entire period of the war. He was known and appreciated as one of the safe members of that body-not addicted to noisy speech- making, but an efficient, working member of the Senate and of the vari- ous committees on which he served. In 1858 he was married to Miss Esther Moore, his present wife.
In November, 1864, he was appointed by Governor Morton judge of the Court of Common Pleas, for the district composed of the counties of Hendricks, Marion and Boone, to fill a vacancy occasioned by the elec- tion of Judge Ray to the Supreme bench. In October, 1865, he was elected to the same position by a popular vote ; and re-elected in Octo- ber, 1870-the counties of Hendricks and Marion then comprising the district.
In 1868 he removed from Hendricks county to this city, where he now resides. The business of the courts increasing, it was thought ad- visable to organize a new court; and the bill for the organization of the Superior Court of Marion county-with the assistance of some of the prominent members of the bar-was prepared by Judge Blair.
On the organization of that court in March, 1871, by the recom- mendation of the bar, he was appointed one of the three judges; the Hon. Frederick Rand and the Hon. Horatio C. Newcomb being the other judges. In 1872 he was elected by popular vote to the same position. At all the elections, as judge, he received the support of both Republicans and Democrats, not being opposed by any candidate, except that at the first election as judge of the Court of Common Pleas, the Hon. Lewis Jordan, over his protest, was voted for by a portion of his party.
Perhaps no court was ever organized that has more fully met the expectations and wants of the public, and disposed of such a large amount of important business so promptly and well as has the Superior Court during its existence. The labors of Judge Blair upon the bench have been excessive, seldom missing a day from his official duties; and
221
WILLIAM H. JONES.
it is safe to say, that during his entire term of service, now almost twelve years, no judge has disposed of more causes in the same length of time and to greater general satisfaction. In proportion to the num- of causes and the important and new questions of law arising in this growing commercial center of the state, and the great interests involved, but few, if any judges have been more fortunate in having their adjudi- cations stand the test of the Supreme Court.
He has declined a re-election, and at the end of his present term will retire from the bench.
As a judicial officer, Judge Blair has had the confidence of the entire Indianapolis bar. As evidence of the fact, but few appeals are taken from his decisions to the general term of the court where the three Superior judges review each others' opinions that may have been appealed.
As a lawyer, I understand from those familiar with with his practice that he stands pre-eminently high, giving his clients the full benefit of all the facts in their favor, and giving their interest his entire attention for the time being.
WILLIAM H. JONES.
Among the leading lumber men and dealers in house building mate- rial of the city will be found the person whose name heads this sketch, and but few persons can claim so long a residence in Indianapolis. I re- member him as a citizen before the town numbered five hundred inhabi- tants.
Mr. Jones was born near Chillicothe, Ross county, Ohio, on the 9th of April, 1819. He came to this place with his father's family in Octo- ber, 1823. His father leased from General John Carr, agent of State, outlot 89, and during the winter prepared it for cultivation. This is the same ground occupied by Coburn & Jones for their extensive lumber business. After the death of his mother, which occurred in 1829, Mr. Jones was apprenticed to Messrs. J. & B. Draper, to learn the carding and fulling business. The machinery of this establishment was pro- pelled by ox power, obtained by the animals laboring to reach the top of an inclined wheel. He continued to work at this business until July, 1831, at which time he went to his uncle, the late James Van Blaricum, to learn blacksmithing. He worked continuously at the latter business until 1858. He then engaged for a short time in the family grocery business.
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In 1861 he engaged with his son-in-law, Mr. Henry Coburn, in the lumber trade, and since that time they have been, and yet are, doing a thriving business.
Mr. Jones tells me the first money he ever earned by labor was for turning the wheel for Mr. Goudy's rope walk, at twelve and a half cents per day.
He received the rudiments of his education in the same Sunday school with the writer ; this was before there were any forty thousand dollar school houses in Indianapolis. The last five years he has spent in the pine forests of Michigan, purchasing stock for his business in this city.
On the 18th of June, 1840, he was married to Miss Eliza J. Simcox, of this place. She is yet his partner in the journey of life.
Like most of the early settlers of this place, he has had his draw- backs in business, but his latter years have been crowned with financial success, and he is blessed with a competency for old age.
JOHN G. BROWN
Came from Paris, Bourbon county, Kentucky, to this place in 1828. He had been used to negro slavery all his life, but was anxious to rid himself of the negroes as well as slavery, and for that purpose he eman- cipated his entire stock, both old and young. But the negroes did not wish to part with Mr. Brown. He was scarcely settled in his new home in this city before several families of his former slaves were his nearest neighbors. This circumstance speaks volumes in his favor as being a kind-hearted man and a Christian, and requires no commendation from my pen.
Mr. Brown was a member of the First Presbyterian church, and during his residence in this city the associate of Mr. James Blake and James M. Ray in many benevolent and charitable organizations, and contributed liberally of his means for those purposes. He was a man of unostentatious piety, unobtrusive and retiring in his manners, and enjoyed the confidence and respect of all who knew him. He has been dead many years, but his memory still lives fresh in the minds of his many friends, and his goodness leaves a fragrance behind.
He has one son, James Brown, who is a resident of the city, and engaged in surveying; another, Alexander Brown, is a farmer near Cairo, Illinois. One daughter resides in New York; another is the widow of the late Stephen D. Tomlinson.
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JACOB COX.
JACOB COX.
I have known this gentleman (more as a citizen and friend than as an artist) since he first set foot in this city, in the year 1833. The three brothers, Charles, Jacob and David, were eagaged for several years as tinners, the two former as proprietors, the latter as a journeyman.
Mr. Cox had been married but a short time when, with his estimable lady, he selected Indianapolis as his permanent home, and has here con- tinued to reside since the year above named. He has materially changed his business in this time, and is now esteemed as one of the most accomplished artists of the day. For his career in this profession I would refer the reader to an extract which I clipped from the Art Emporium, formerly published in this city. I well remember the banner spoken of in that article, which was carried at the head of the Indianapolis delegation, known as the "Wild Oats of Indianapolis," that attended the convention at Tippecanoe Battle Ground, in the year 1840. The design was "that same old coon," surrounded by her family of four or five little coons. After the canvass of that year this banner was presented to the mother of the writer, and is now in the possession of Mrs. Samuel H. Patterson, of Jeffersonville. Although I make no professions as a connoisseur in the fine arts, I will say Mr. Cox's talent in that line can not be too highly appreciated.
I would not be doing the business I am engaged in, i. e., that of giving sketches of character, were I to omit speaking of Mr. Cox's worthy wife as an antiquarian, and is no less an artist in that line than is her husband in his. She has the most complete assortment of speci- mens of antiquity and minerals, and very nearly everything that is odd and rare, from all parts of the world, either civilized or uncivilized, "from Greenland's icy mountains to India's coral strand," and she takes great pleasure in showing them to her numerous friends when they may choose to call upon her.
The Art Emporium, speaking of Mr. Cox, says: "His history affords an excellent illustration of the futility of attempting to swerve a person from a strong natural taste or inclination. Born in Philadelphia in 1810, Jacob Cox manifested his taste for art when only thirteen years of age, and wished to study for an artist, but his friends or family thought they knew best what was a fit and profitable calling, and he be- came a tinner. In 1833 he came to Indianapolis, and engaged in the business of a tin and coppersmith, and for the next seven years made
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SKETCHES OF PROMINENT CITIZENS.
no advances toward the adoption of the profession of his choice. In 1840 the Harrison campaign called into play his artistic talent, by the demand for transparency and banner painting. While others daubed through political excitement, he worked from love of his work, and painted the banner which was carried at the head of the procession to the Tippecanoe Battle Ground celebration.
"For the next two years he worked assiduously at his new found and most congenial profession, when, in the autumn of 1842, he went to Cincinnati and opened a studio with John Dunn, a young man with artistic longings. Cox was fortunate in getting into a good run of busi- ness in Cincinnati, painting the portraits of Miles Greenwood, and sev- eral other prominent gentlemen, and remained about five months. Associating with the prominent artists of the city, he made great im- provement in his art, and when he returned he painted portraits of Hon. Oliver H. Smith, Governor Bigger and Governor Wallace. Still he did not find painting sufficiently remunerative to justify his retiring from the prosaic business of tinning, and he continued an active part- ner with his brother, in that business, until about twenty years ago, when he withdrew his personal attention entirely from business, and, about five years later, sold out his interest exclusively. No artist was ever more devoted to his profession than he is, and his works bear evi- dence of his genius and industry. Among all who appreciate true artistic merit Mr. Cox has a lasting reputation, and many of his pic- tures have found purchasers in distant cities."
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JOHN C. S. HARRISON.
Mr. Harrison was born at Vincennes, Knox county, Indiana, on the 7th of May, 1829 ; he was a son of Benjamin Harrison, and grandson of General William Henry Harrison the first and only Military Governor of Indiana Territory, and the hero of the Thames, Fort Meigs, and our own battle of Tippecanoe. He was the Whig candidate for President in 1836, and defeated by Martin Van Buren, and again in 1840 against the same opponent, which was the most exciting canvass ever known in the history of the country; he was elected by the largest majority that any presidental candidate ever received. It was General Harrison who held the peace conference with the celebrated Shawanee chief Tecumseh at Vincennes, just prior to the battle of Tippecanoe, in which the chief used the poetic language so often ascribed to him. When invited by the gen- eral to be seated in a chair, he was very indignant, and as he sat down
John le.d. Maria
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BISHOP TALBOT.
on the ground remarked, " The earth is my mother, I will recline upon her lap." I have digressed thus far to give this scrap of history of Indiana's first governor which should be remembered by every citizen of the state.
Mr. Harrison's grandfather on his mother's side was Mr. David Bonner, with whom the writer was well acquainted. Mr. Bonner was a prominent merchant of Vincennes; he for several years represented Knox county in the State Legislature; he was a man of sterling integrity, true piety and Christian virtues. The subject of this sketch should be justly proud of the record of his ancestry, and hand it down as an heir- loom to his own decendants.
Mr. Harrison, after receiving a good English education in his native town, came to Indianapolis in 1847. When he was in his eighteenth year, he engaged with Mr. Alfred Harrison in his retail dry goods store as a clerk; his assiduity to business and pleasant and decorous bearing soon won him the confidence of his employer, who received him as a full partner in the business. In time they abandoned the mercantile, and engaged in the banking business ; the bank being known as "Harrison's Bank;" since which time they have done a fair share of the immense banking business of the city. While in the mercantile business, he also formed a partnership with the daughter of his business partner, in the more responsible and endearing relations of life, matrimony ; his wife having died some years since he then married the daughter of Nicholas McCarty, Sen., another pioneer merchant of the city. Mr. Harrison now resides in one of the fine private residences of the city, on North Meridian street, between Michigan and North streets.
In person, he is about five feet ten inches in height, a heavy, though symmetrical form, dark hair and eyes, with a rather fair complexion, the hair slightly tinged with silver shreds, pleasant and affable in man- ner; to meet him on the street he would seem to be in a hurry and his mind absorbed in business. Mr. Harrison is a fair type of the character I proposed writing of in this work, and which is indicated by the title of the book, " Prominent Citizens of 1876."
BISHOP TALBOT.
Right Rev. Joseph C. Talbot. D. D., LL. D., was born in Alexan- dria, Virginia, September 5, 1816, of Quaker parents, and educated at the Alexandria Academy. He removed to the west in 1835, and settled at Louisville, Kentucky, where for several years he was engaged in
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SKETCHES OF PROMINENT CITIZENS.
mercantile and banking pursuits. There he first became acquainted with the Episcopal church, and was baptized in Christ's church, Louis- ville, by the Rev. William Jackson in 1837, and soon after confirmed by the Bishop of Kentucky, Right Rev. Dr. Smith. In the same par- ish in 1838, was united to Anna M., only child of Captain Samuel Waris, U. S. N.
In 1843 he became a candidate for holy orders, and was ordained deacon by Right Rev. B. B. Smith, D. D., of Kentucky, September, 1846, and priest September, 1848.
With his deaconate he commenced work for a third parish in Louis- ville, and soon founded and built St. John's church, of which he remained the rector for seven years. In January, 1853, he accepted a call to Christ church, Indianapolis, where he also continued seven years, until his consecration as missionary bishop of the northwest February 15, 1860. During his rectorship the present beautiful stone church was erected for the parish.
In 1854 he received from the Western University of Pennsylvania the honorary degree of D. D., and in 1867 that of LL. D. from the University of Cambridge, England. In August, 1865, he was elected by a unanimous vote of the convention assistant bishop of Indiana ; and in October of that year returned to the diocese in that capacity. He was one of the council of Anglican bishops that assembled at Lam- beth, England, in 1867.
Bishop Talbot, at the age of sixty, is in full vigor of life, and bids fair for many years of usefulness in the good cause in which he is engaged. He is a man of great fertility of thought, with a cheerful and hopeful disposition, and is a very engaging speaker, and beloved by all who know him. He has charge of all the active duties of the diocese of Indiana. We hope he may live until his hair is bleached as white in the service as that of his venerable predecessor, good Bishop Upfold. After the death of Bishop Upfold he was elected bishop of Indiana.
EX-GOVERNOR CONRAD BAKER.
It is but seldom that a public man reaches the highest position in the gift of the people of his State without the tongue of defamation or vitu- peration being hurled at him by his political opponents, especially when the passions and prejudices of the people are excited to the utmost ten- sion, as was the case during the gubernatorial canvass of 1868, which was but a month previous to that of the presidential, when both politi-
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EX-GOVERNOR CONRAD BAKER.
cal parties were straining every nerve, but such was the fact, that not the least charge of private or public misconduct was laid at the door of Governor Baker, although he had been the acting chief executive of the State for some time. His administration had been characterized as an upright, honest and conscientious one, so much so that his honorable opponent found nothing to attack but the measures of the party of which Governor Baker was the chosen representative.
Conrad Baker is a native of the Keystone State, born in Franklin county on the 12th of February, 1817; was educated at the Pennsyl- vania College at Gettysburg ; studied law in the office of Stevens & Smyser, the firm consisting of the late Thaddeus Stevens and Judge Daniel M. Smyser. He was admitted to the bar in the spring of 1839, at Gettysburg, and practiced at that place for two years.
He emigrated west and settled at Evansville in 1841, where he has ever since resided until the office of Governor devolved upon him, in January, 1867, by the election of Governor Morton to the Senate of the United States, since which time he has resided at Indianapolis.
He was elected in 1845 to represent Vanderburg county in the Gen- eral Assembly, and served one term ; was elected judge of the Court of Common Pleas for the district comprising the counties of Warrick and Vanderburg in 1852, and served about eighteen months, when he re- signed. He was nominated for Lieutenant Governor, without his knowledge and without having sought the nomination, by the Republican party in 1856, on the ticket which was headed by Oliver P. Morton as the candidate for Governor. They were defeated, and Willard and Hammond were elected. He was commissioned in 1861 colonel of the Ist cavalry (28th regiment Indiana volunteers), and served as such for over three years. From August, 1861, to April, 1863, he commanded either his own regiment or a brigade in the field in Missouri, Arkansas and Mississippi.
In April, 1863, an order from the Secretary of War reached him by telegraph at Helena, Arkansas, requiring him to proceed forthwith to Indianapolis, Indiana, and report to the Provost Marshal General. He obeyed the order, and on his arrival at Indianapolis he received an order detailing him to act as Assistant Provost Marshal General for the State of Indiana, and as such to organize the Provost Marshal General's bureau in this State.
He performed the duties of Provost Marshal General, superintendent of volunteer recruiting and chief mustering officer until August, 1864, " when his term of military service having expired he was relieved at his
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own request, and a few weeks afterward he, together with his regiment, was mustered out of service.
The Republican convention, which met in 1864, nominated Gover- nor Morton for re-election, and nominated General Nathan Kimball, who was in the field, for the office of Lieutenant Governor. General Kimball declined the nomination, and thereupon the Republican State central committee, without his being a candidate or applicant for the position, unanimously tendered him the nomination for Lieutenant Governor. In 1865 Governor Morton convened the General Assembly in special ses- sion, and immediately after the delivery of his message started for Eu- rope in quest of health, leaving Governor Baker in charge of the ad- ministration of the executive department of the State government. Governor Morton was absent for five months, during which time Gover- nor Baker performed the duties of Governor. In February, 1867, Governor Morton was elected to the Senate of the United States, and the duties of Governor devolved upon Governor Baker.
He was unanimously re-nominated by the Republican convention of 1868 for Governor, and was elected over the Hon. Thomas A. Hendricks (one of the most popular men of the State) by the small majority of 961 votes.
This canvass was conducted by those two gentlemen with the best of feeling personally toward each other, nothing having occurred to mar the good feeling or the social relations existing between them, each party having their ablest exponents of their measures.
Since Governor Baker retired from the executive chair he has been engaged in the practice of law with Messrs. Hord and Hendricks, the firm being Baker, Hord & Hendricks.
JOHN C. NEW
Is a native of Indiana, born in Jennings county July 6th, 1831. He has continued to reside in the State since his birth, with the exception of four years spent at college in Virginia, where he graduated, and re- ceived his degree in 1851.
Upon his return to this city he commenced the study of law in the office of Governor David Wallace, and was admitted to the bar in 1852.
In January, 1853, he accepted the position of principal deputy in the county clerk's office, under William Stewart, and remained as such until the death of Mr. Stewart, in November, 1856, when he was ap-
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JOSEPH W. DAVIS.
pointed to fill the vacancy, and in 1857 was elected for a full term, serving until 1861.
In May, 1862, he was appointed by Governor Morton Quarter- master-General of the State, and held the office until the fall of that year, when he resigned, having been a member of the Senate from this (Marion) county.
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