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 48
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SKETCHES OF PROMINENT CITIZENS.
when it had done the work of opening the way for the Republican party. He sympathised strongly with the European Revolution of 1848, and contributed liberally, though with little hope of good, to the Kossuth fund in 1852, when that eminent patriot visited this city as the.guest of the State.
The great achievement of Mr. Butler's life, and that which alone will surely outlive the earthly memory of his beneficence or perpetuate it with its own existence, is the Northwestern Christian University, as it was at first and for many years called. This is as wholly his work as any great institution can be any one man's work. He conceived the idea of it, gave it shape and consistence, devised the plan to carry it out, drafted the charter for it in 1849, which the Legislature passed in 1850, and super- vised all the steps in its progress till it emerged an active and flourish- ing school, full of good service but more full of good promise. He was chairman of the board of commissioners first, and then, under the char- ter, chairman of the board of directors, a position he held as long as he cared to, or saw any benefit in the service. He donated the ground for the first building near his residence, and took immediate charge of the work, for which, at one time and another, he advanced ten thousand dollars; but for this the institution would have been several years be- hind its time, even if it had ever well got through it. In 1858 an allow- ance of two thousand dollars was made for his services-all he ever got -and that he invested in the college. A year ago the name of the in- stitution was changed from Northwestern Christian to Butler University. In 1875 he took sixty thousand dollars additional stock in the university to endow the Biblical department. Though for many years a recluse, rarely going out, except to church, and always something of an invalid, and though his "head is blossoming for the grave," Mr. Butler holds his great age well, his mind is as clear and his memory as strong as ever, and he promises to live for years to come the life of unostentatious be- neficence which has so long constituted almost the whole of his earthly career.
AQUILLA JONES.
Mr. Jones is a native of the State of North Carolina, and was born on the 8th of July, 1811. His father, Benjamin Jones, migrated to Indiana in 1831, and settled at Columbus, Bartholomew county. Mr. Jones shortly after engaged with his brother, Elisha P. Jones, as a clerk in his store. In 1838 his brother died and Aquilla Jones purchased the
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AQUILLA JONES.
stock and continued the business on his own account. His brother was postmaster at the time of his death and Mr. Jones was appointed by President Van Buren to fill the vacancy, and continued as postmaster until removed by President Tyler in 1841. A short time afterward Mr. Jones was re-instated by the same administration that removed him, and he retained the office until retired by President Taylor in 1849. He also represented Bartholomew county in the House of Representatives at the session of the Legislature of 1842-3, continuing in the mercantile business all the time.
In 1854 he was tendered the appointment of Indian agent of Wash- ington Territory. Although this was one of the most lucrative offices in the gift of the President, Mr. Jones declined it. Subsequently he was appointed to a similar position in New Mexico ; this he also de- clined. In 1856 he received the nomination of the Democratic conven- tion for Treasurer of State and was elected by about seven thousand majority, which was largely in excess of the balance of the ticket. In 1858 he was renominated for the same office but declined to be a candi- date. At the session of the Legislature that followed the expiration of his term of office, he was nominated by a Democratic caucus for Agent of State; Mr. Jones had been so used to declining he would not change his course, and this he also gave the "go-by."
After retiring from office he engaged in a wholesale mercantile house and continued several years. Mr. Jones has been twice married ; his first wife was Miss Sarah Ann, daughter of Evan Arnold, of Columbus, whom he married on the 4th of August, 1836. She lived but about one year and eight months. He was then married to Miss Harriet, daughter of the Hon. John W. Cox, of Martinsville, on the 4th of March, 1840. Mrs. Jones's father for many years was a member of the Legislature from Morgan county, and was one of the leading men of that part of the State; like his son-in-law he was an adherent of the administration of General Jackson, and continued an unwavering Dem- ocrat as long as he lived. There is on White river, above Martinsville, a mill that he built many years since and it is still known as Cox's Mill.
Mr. Jones was well known in Bartholomew county, and could have held any office in the gift of the people of that county. He is at this time one of the stockholders and managers of the Indianapolis Rolling Mill. This establishment was at first a failure, and broke up some and involved others of our best citizens, but when it fell into the hands of Mr. Jones, John M. Lord and William O. Rockwood it became a money- making and prosperous institution, and is now manufacturing large
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SKETCHES OF PROMINENT CITIZENS.
quantities of railroad iron, perhaps more than any similar establishment in the west. Mr. Jones is a thorough and practical business man, with the activity of one many years younger.
ROBERT BROWNING.
Mr. Browning was born in Madison on the 21st of September, 1827. His father, Mr. Woodville Browning, now of Shelbyville, was a promi- nent saddle and harness maker of that place. The writer remembers him as far back as the birth of the subject of this sketch. Mr. Brown- ing, with his father, removed to Shelbyville. In 1843, when but six- teen years of age, he came to Indianapolis and engaged with the late David Craighead and learned the profession of a druggist. After finish- ing his apprenticeship he engaged with Mr. Craighead as a clerk until 1850. He then purchased an interest in the establishment, the firm be- ing Craighead & Browning, and was his partner at the time of his death, which occured in 1854. Then Mr. Browning took the whole charge of the establishment for himself and in the interest of the estate. He soon after bought the entire Craighead interest, and continued the business on his own account. Subsequently Mr. George Sloan, who had been connected with the house for some time, purchased an interest, and they are now doing business under the name and firm of Browning & Sloan, at Nos. 7 and 9 East Washington street, where they sell any quantity of that staple drug, quinine, from five cents to a thousand dollars worth. They not only do the largest retail business of any similar house in the State, but also an extensive wholesale business. I suppose they have done as much to stop the progress of ague and fever in Indiana as any other two persons. It is not at all improbable that the erudite ed- itor of the Saturday Herald bought a portion of the thirty ounces of quinine he took in ten years, from them. On the ground where this im- mense establishment now stands the writer of this article called his home for thirty years, and it was there he met kindred and friends who have long since solved the problem of life. Mr. Browning's present wife is the daughter of the late Judge William Taylor, of Madison. With Judge Taylor, too, the writer was acquainted as one of the staunch and substantial business men of the City under the Hill.
GEORGE W. SLOAN.
Mr. Sloan was born at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, on the 28th of
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JOHN M. KITCHEN, M. D.
June, 1835. With his father, the late John Sloan, he came to Indian- apolis in the spring of 1836. In 1848 he engaged in the drug store of his uncle, David Craighead, to learn the business. In 1862 he took an interest in the establishment which had been purchased by his present partner, Mr. Robert Browning.
Mr. Sloan has now been a practical druggist near thirty years and if the old adage is correct, that "practice makes perfect," Mr. Sloan has arrived at perfection in his profession. It is safe to say that he has compounded as many prescriptions and issued as many doses of quinine as any man of his age. Timid persons troubled with malarial diseases need apprehend no danger of getting strychnine instead of quinine if compounded by George W. Sloan. John Sloan, the father of the sub- ject of this sketch, made the first sofa ever made in Indianapolis, which the writer purchased of him in 1837, and still retains as a relic. There is material enough in it to make three of the ordinary sofas of the pres- ent day. George W. Sloan was married in 1866 to Caroline, the young- est daughter of the venerable Hiram Bacon. They have two children.
JOHN M. KITCHEN, M. D.
Dr. Kitchen was born at Piqua, Ohio, on the 12th of July, 1826. After receiving a preparatory education in his native town, and the higher branches at other places, he graduated at the Medical University in the city of New York, in March, 1846. He settled at Fort Wayne, Indiana, in 1847. In 1849 he sailed from New York on board an emi- grant ship bound for California via Cape Horn. The voyage was a lengthy and tempestuous one. At length they reached the great western Eldorado and the doctor established a hospital for miners on the Yuba river, and engaged in gold mining himself. In 1851 he returned to Indiana and located in Indianapolis, since which time he has become well-known to its citizens, having held many important positions. He was surgeon-in-charge of the United States hospital in this city from 1861 to 1865, during the war of the rebellion. He was president of the board of trustees of the City Hospital, trustee of the Indiana Deaf and Dumb Asylum, physician for the Blind Asylum, and is at the present time one of the trustees for the Belt railroad. In the many different responsible positions Dr. Kitchen has been called upon to fill he has performed his duty well. Drs. Kitchen, Newcomer and Woodburn all came to Indianapolis about the same time. Although they were all seeking practice in a new field they did not let any selfish or sordid
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SKETCHES OF PROMINENT CITIZENS.
motives interfere with their friendships, but rather tried to aid each other-a rare case between physicians coming together from different parts.
While Dr. Kitchen occupied the city hospital for the use of the government he caused great improvements to be made, so that when it was surrendered to the city it was greatly enlarged and facilities for taking care of invalids increased. Soon after locating in Indianapolis Dr. Kit- chen was married to Miss Mary, daughter of the late Hon. John H. Bradley, of this city. Mr. Bradley was a well-known and popular lawyer and was also a politician of the old Whig school ; he was at one time the candidate of the party for Lieutenant-Governor. He was president of and instrumental in building the railroad from Richmond, Indiana, to Columbus, Ohio, which now forms a part of what is known as the Pan Handle road. Mr. Bradley died a few years since in this city ; while he lived no citizen of this place was more respected ; although he had filled the full measure of his usefulness, none died more regretted. With him the writer was intimately acquainted, and has digressed to pay a tribute to the memory of an old friend.
In after years Dr. Kitchen's thoughts may revert with pleasure to the various positions that he has filled, conscious of having performed his every duty to the afflicted as well as to his country.
JUDGE EDWARD C. BUSKIRK
Was born two miles west of Bloomington, Monroe county, Indiana, in August, 1833. He was educated at the Indiana University, at Bloom- ington ; read law in the office of his brother, the Hon. Samuel Buskirk, late of the Supreme Court. He graduated in the law department of the same university he first graduated at. Of the four brothers three are lawyers, the fourth a cabinet maker, afterward a merchant. Judge Bus- kirk was married, in 1867, to Miss Mary Pursell, formerly of Kentucky, then of Cincinnati.
Judge Buskirk became a citizen of Indianapolis in the fall of 1873. He was nominated by the Democracy of Marion county for judge of the Marion Criminal Court, and was, with the balance of the ticket, elected at the October election. Judge Buskirk was the son of Abram Buskirk, who emigrated from Shelby county, Kentucky, to Bloomington, Indiana, in 1820. Mr. Buskirk's house was the headquarters of the traveling Methodist preachers. At that early day he built a church for that de- nomination. He was associate judge of Monroe county, postmaster at
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INGRAM FLETCHER.
Bloomington and justice of the peace. He, too, like his three sons, was known as Judge Buskirk; he also held several other offices, and was ever popular with the people. Judge Edward Buskirk's decisions in the various complicated criminal cases that have come before him have been characterized by a strict adherence to what he considered the safety of the public and tempered with mercy to the criminal as far as the law would permit. His charges to the juries are plain and concise, and are within the comprehension of the uneducated, who are frequently called on to act in that capacity. Of his official acts there are none to find fault.
INGRAM FLETCHER.
Mr. Fletcher was born in Indianapolis on the 22d of June, 1835. He was named for a young man, Andrew Ingram, who studied law with Mr. Fletcher's father, and for many years lived in the family and prac- ticed in partnership with him. He afterwards went to Lafayette and gained quite an enviable reputation in his profession.
Ingram Fletcher received a primary education in the schools of Ind- anapolis, and finished in the east. He is now cashier in Fletcher & Sharpe's Bank, and, like all his brothers, inherited the fine business qualifications of his father. His wife was Miss Gertrude Newman, daugh- ter of the Hon. John S. Newman of this city. He has five children living, all daughters. A few years since he lost an interesting son, who was burned to death in his father's stable. The lot upon which the sta- ble stood was presented by Mr. Fletcher to the Fourth Presbyterian church, upon which they have erected a fine edifice, within which is a monument in memory of the little boy who so innocently lost his life and caused such a profound feeling of sympathy for his parents. Mr. Fletcher also built a church, and presented it to a congregation, near his orange plantation in the vicinity of Jacksonville, Florida. He also owns several pieces of valuable farming land near, as well as some fine business property in the city.
When I speak of the liberality of one of Calvin Fletcher's sons it will equally apply to the nine, dead and living. Like their father they always have something for benevolent and charitable purposes, or in aid of building a church. They seem to appreciate that passage of scrip- ture, "The Lord loveth a cheerful giver." Perhaps no one family have contributed so much for the erection of churches in Indianapolis as the Fletchers-their father began with the first church erected in this city in 1824, and kept it up so long as he lived.
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SKETCHES OF PROMINENT CITIZENS.
WILLIAM FISHINGER.
Although quite a young man, yet he is well-known, especially in the eastern portion of the city, where he is universally respected. He was born in Columbus, Ohio, on the 15th of August, 1850. Being left an orphan at an early age he had to depend upon his own resources for support.
He learned the milling business and followed it during his early years in the city of his nativity. In 1872 he came to Indianapolis and en- gaged in business with Phillip Reichwein on the northwest corner of Market and Noble streets. In 1874 he was married to Miss Katie Reichwein, a sister of Phillip. He is yet engaged with Mr. Reichwein at his new establishment on the corner opposite the old ; indeed he seems to be one of the permanent features of the place.
JUDGE ROBERT PATTERSON
Was among those who came to this place in the year 1821. He was directly from Jennings county, where he had lived a short time prior to his coming here. He was originally from Cynthiana, Kentucky. Mr. Patterson had a large family of children (about ten) when he first came, with an addition of several afterward. Those of his children that are yet living still remain in the city and neighborhood.
Samuel J. Patterson, the eldest son, lives on his farm (now in the city), where he has lived for the last forty years, and near his old mill, where he carried on milling for many years. This mill was originally built by his father-in-law, Isaac Wilson, and was the first built in the New Purchase. It has been abandoned for some years, and the water- power, which was so valuable, turned and used in the mill near the west end of Washington street. Mr. Patterson lives in the homestead of his- father-in-law. Although this house when first built was a mile from town, it is now in the corporation, and Mr. Patterson has lived to see the land purchased at one dollar and twenty-five cents worth one thous- and dollars per acre-a portion of which has been laid out and sold as town lots.
Elliott M. Patterson, the second son, and as noble-hearted a man as ever lived, was killed in Greene county, in 1851, by being thrown from a wagon while the horses were running away. He lived but a few hours after being found.
Madison, the third son, is still a resident of the city, and is engaged.
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DAVID GRIFFITH CALE.
in civil engineering. Two other sons, William and Marion, are farmers and live in the southern part of the county.
There are but two of Mr. Patterson's daughters living. The eldest is the wife of the venerable David Macy, and the other the wife James L. Southard.
Robert Patterson was for many years probate and associate judge of the county, and for years had the contract for delivering the laws of the State to the officials in the different counties.
DAVID GRIFFITH CALE
Was born in Rockbridge county, Virginia, on the 5th of April, 1818, and received a fair education. When sixteen years old, he, with his father, removed to Dark county, Ohio. After living there a short time they removed to Wayne county, Indiana. He came to Indianapolis about the year 1840, and was among the log cabin boys that shouted, "Hurrah for Tippecanoe and Tyler, too!" He took an active part in the construction of the Cincinnati railroad, also the Indianapolis and Terre Haute, now Vandalia. He was made route agent between this city and Cincinnati on the Indianapolis and Cincinnati railroad by the administration of President Buchanan, but was retired by the Breckin- ridge faction of the Democratic party, he being a Douglas Democrat. He then went on to his farm.
At the breaking out of the war he was appointed, by Captain Brad- shaw, government inspector, and was stationed at St. Louis for a while, thence to Cairo, Illinois, and was transferred from there to the army of the Cumberland. In 1863 Captain Bradshaw was relieved. Mr. Cale returned home and resumed farming, his farm being two and a half miles east of what was then the eastern line of the city, now Clifford avenue, where he remained until his death, which occurred on the 20th of November, 1872, his wife dying two months anterior. They had five children. The first two died in infancy. The other three are liv- ing and married. Howard Cale is a prominent lawyer, and connected with the law firm of Harrison, Hines & Miller; Nettie is the wife of Mr. Brown, of Boone county, Illinois; Mary is married to Simon Smith, of Warren, Pa.
David G. Cale's wife was Miss Melinda Van Laningham, whom he married on the 22d of May, 1844. She then lived about a mile east of the present suburb of Brightwood, on the Pendleton State road. The farm upon which Mr. and Mrs. Cale lived and died has, by the growth
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SKETCHES OF PROMINENT CITIZENS.
of the city, come within three quarters of a mile of the corporation line, and a few years since would readily have brought one thousand dollars per acre, and is yet considered very valuable.
TOBIAS BENDER
Was a native of the Grand Duchy of Hesse-Darmstadt, Germany, born in 1821. He came to the United States in 1854, and direct to Indiana- polis. He worked as a currier for John Fishback twelve years, and was also connected with John B. Stumph in the wholesale liquor business for several years on East Washington street. He has been connected with several other establishments as salesman. As I have said of some other German citizens, he is well-known to that class.
He was married in 1857 to Miss Katrina Steeir, of this city, who is also a native of Germany. As yet he has no children to inherit his estate. Mr. Bender is of an accommodating and pleasing disposition, disposed to look on the bright side of his neighbor's character-if there are any dark spots he leaves them to others to find and point out.
J. BAPTISTE RITZINGER.
Mr. Ritzinger was of German birth, born at Woerstadt, in 1842, and when eleven years of age, in the spring of 1853, came to Indianapolis with his father. When quite a boy he was taken by Stoughton A. Fletcher, Senior, and employed in his bank in various positions, from the lowest to the highest, until he was twenty-five years of age.
While with Mr. Fletcher in various capacities he acquired and devel- oped business qualifications of no ordinary character, and succeeded in winning the unbounded confidence of his employer, and he maintained most studious habits, devoting the intervals between business hours in storing his mind with useful knowledge, which proved of incalculable value to him in his business in after years. By his close application to business, and without sufficient outdoor or more active life in the open air, his health became greatly impaired, so much so that he, with his wife, made a voyage to Europe in 1866. After a year of rest from the desk, spent in traversing the continent, he was partially restored to his former health. When he returned he immediately engaged in the bank- ing business for himself, and continued it up to the time he was called hence. In the winter and spring of 1876 signs of failing health again appeared. A part of the winter and spring of that year was spent in
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GENERAL ROBERT HANNA.
Florida and South Carolina; the summer he spent mostly among the refreshing and health-giving climate of the Green Mountains of Ver- mont. In the fall of the same year he took a sea voyage, and spent several months in the Eastern Pyrenees, Southern France. All the efforts of himself and devoted wife were unavailing. In May he deter- mined to return to his adopted country, although a perilous journey for one so debilitated, yet his courage and hope of a change for the better enabled him to return to his home.
Mr. Ritzinger had much to live for; a brilliant future would have crowned his life, but fate decreed otherwise. He reached his home to die at his beautiful country residence four miles southeast of the city in July, 1877. Mr. Ritzinger was married to Miss Myla F., daughter of Stoughton A. Fletcher, Senior. To Mrs. Ritzinger, although surrounded by wealth and friends, and everything else calculated to make life enjoy- able, the absence of a husband's love and kindness makes hers a dreary life ; to her the vacuum can never be filled. The business of the bank is still carried on in the interest of Mrs. Ritzinger.
GENERAL ROBERT HANNA.
General Hanna was a native of South Carolina. When quite young, and at an early day in the history of this territory, he, with several brothers, came to Indiana and settled in Franklin county. He was a delegate to the convention that framed the constitution of the State, in 1816, and took an active part in shaping the course of that convention which gave to the State the magna charta by which its citizens were governed for thirty-four years. He came to Indianapolis in September, 1825, as register of the land office, which he held until removed by Gen- eral Jackson, in 1829. Some time after he became a citizen of Indian- apolis he was elected major general of the militia of the State. Upon the death of United States Senator James Noble, General Hanna was appointed by Governor Ray to fill the vacancy. He was appointed, by President Tyler, United States Marshal for the district of Indiana. He held many other offices of profit and emolument, the duties of which were always performed with fidelity to his trust and satisfaction to the people. General Hanna was emphatically a man of the people, and knew their wishes. He was found ever the friend of the agricultural interest, and was jealous of any encroachments on the farming com- munity. He purchased a piece of land adjoining the northeast corner of the donation when he first came to Marion county, on which he made
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SKETCHES OF PROMINENT CITIZENS.
improvements, and where he lived almost the entire time he was a citi- zen of this county.
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