Allen County, Indiana - The whole text, 1905 (part 2 of 12)

Olaf N. Guldlin

Great achievements always excite admiration. Men of deeds are the men whom the world delights to honor. Ours is an age representing the most electrical progress in all lines of material activity, and the man of initiative is one who forges to the front in the industrial world. Among the distinctive "captains of industry" in the city of Fort Wayne a place of priority must be accorded to him whose name heads this article, for to him is due the upbuilding of an industry which is not only one of the most important in this city, but also the most extensive of the kind in the world, while the comparatively brief time within which these great results have been obtained further testified to his exceptional administrative power and executive ability. Though a native of a foreign land, where he was reared and educated, Mr. Guldlin is a typical American citizen, thoroughly in harmony with the spirit of the republic, while here he has made the most of his opportunities and worked his way upward to a noble and worthy success. He is president and general manager of the Western Gas Construction Company, of Fort Wayne, of which due description will be entered in later paragraphs of this article.

Mr. Guldlin was born in the picturesque old capital city of Christiania, Norway, on the 6th of December, 1858, being a son of Lars O. and Maren (Sander) Guldlin, both of whom were natives of the same fair Norseland, where the former was born in 1828 and the latter in 1836. They immigrated to the United States in 1883, and settled in Barnes county, North Dakota, where the father became a prosperous farmer, and where he died in 1898, while his widow still resides in Valley City, that county. Their children are seven in number, and the subject of this review is the only son. Olaf N. Guldlin was reared to manhood in his native land, and his father's financial position was such that he was able to secure good educational advantages. After his preliminary discipline in the common schools, he entered a technical college in Bergen, Norway, where he completed a course in mechanical engineering, being graduated when nineteen years of age, while later he was a student in a prominent polytechnical institution in the city of Munich, Germany, where he further fortified himself for the practical work of his chosen profession, as did he also by experience in machine shops in both Norway and Germany. In May, 1880, Mr. Guldlin came to America and soon afterward he secured a position as draftsman in the engineering department of the great Baldwin Locomotive Works in the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and where he soon reached the position of examiner of drawings, continuing to be identified with this industrial concern about two and a half years. In 1882 he made a visit to his old home in Norway, and there remained a few months, after which he came again to the United States. In 1884 he met, in the city of Washington, D. C., on the occasion of a convention of the American Gas Light Association, A. D. Cressler, one of Fort Wayne's representative business men, and it was largely through the influence of the latter that the subject was induced to take up his residence in this city, his attention in the meanwhile having been directed to gas engineering. Hecame to Fort Wayne in 1885, and forthwith identified himself with its business interests, while of the rise of the great industry of which he is virtually the head an interesting description is given in Volume II of this history, referenec being made there to an attractive brochure recently issued by this company, from which we quote as follows: "The history of this company's development has always proved an interesting one to the gas fraternity. In 1888 conditions appeared very favorable for a gas engineering firm in the west, and a partnership was formed by O. N. Guldlin, as manager and engineer; F. D. Moses, as superintendent, and W. A. Croxton, as secretary. A modest one-room office was by them opened in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Considerable work was secured, but Mr. Moses, and subsequently Mr. Croxton, in 1890, apparently seeing more profitable opportunities in other lines, soon withdrew, although by that time the business had justified more commodious business offices. A

"A vigorous policy of introducing originality in the design of gas apparatus resulted in a steadily growing business, and on the expiration of the Lowe patent on water-gas apparatus, in 1892, the company, which had previously given considerable attention to this process, entered the market with its design, and several contracts were secured. This branch of the business was then vigorously pushed, and has ever since been given special attention. A number of patents have been applied for and allowed, covering the development of the apparatus, and this dvelopment has been continued, with additional patents still pending, as represented in the perfect type of water-gas apparatus now built by the company and in operation in some of the largest gas concerns in the country. The special design of doublegate valves for gas works was designed and patented during the earlier years, and by their popularity these devices have materially increased the company's business. In 1893 it was clearly demonstrated that the business volume was in excess of what could be systematically handled, the company being entirely dependent upon outside shops for the execution of the work, and as a result about twenty-eight lots were bought alongside of the Pennsylvania railroad and the original machine shop built, the same being about sixty-five by one hundred feet in dimensions, and adjoining this was erected what was at the time considered a very commodious building. These provisions, however, gave only partial and temporary relief, and two years later, in 1895, the machine shop was extended one hundred and fifty feet, which improvement was then considered to be such as to afford ample accommodations and facilities for years to come, a complete installation of modern and special tools for the work in hand being made simultaneously. The business, however, kept growing, notwithstanding the panic, and as more and more difficulty was experienced in securing satisfactory foundry work, as well as shell work, the company decided to establish both foundry and boiler shop of its own, the result being that in 1900 about one-third of each of the present shops was built, each having from one to three times the capacity of the company's purchases up to that time, so that the company felt justified in assuming that its needs had been taken care of for several

"That the growth of the business was much underestimated was quickly demonstrated as to the boiler shop and foundry, by the energetic adaptation and introduction of new designs of gas apparatus - such as having taken up vigorously the introduction of an improved Pelouze and Audouin tar extractor, with the earlier introduction of which Mr. Guldlin had been identified in 1882, when employed as engineer with James R. Smedburg. The popularity and resultant large orders of 'Western Gas' designs of valves; the introduction of the 'duplex' purifier system ; improved forms of washers, both for coal gas and water gas, since further developed and patented; and further improvement in its water-gas apparatus, as well as the introduction of the company's system of coal-gas condensation with intermediate tar extraction, on which patent was granted; as well as the introduction in this country of the Holmes Patent Rotary Scrubber, which had already established such an unprecedented record abroad - resulted in such a volume of business that in 1902 it was clearly demonstrated that unless radical measures were taken for works of ample capacity it would be a question, and a very serious one, of not being able to fill orders as offered. It was then decided to act accordingly, disregarding all previous consideration, and plans were immediately prepared for such radical extension and rebuilding of the works as is represented by the same as they stand today."

It may be stated that there was from this time on an amplification of all the facilities of the great factory which grew up on the site of the first little buildings, until Fort Wayne found itself here possessed of what is unmistakably the largest plant in the country exclusively devoted to the manufacture of gas apparatus, while the guiding hand throughout has been that of the able president and chief engineer, Mr. Guldlin, whose technical knowledge is on a parity with his administrative powers. The nature of this article is such as to preclude more detailed description of the great industry, but in the following paragraphs further incidental reference will be made, in touching the personal career of the subject. It may be said that his interests and ambitions center in the Western Gas Construction Company, whose great works now cover twelve and a half acres, while in the same employment is given to an average corps of four hundred operatives. Mr. Guldlin is interested in a financial way in other en- terprises, notably oil in California, coal in Illinois, and mining in Colorado, but to the direction of the great industry described he gives his time, thought and attention, while he has attained high prestige in the line of his profession, both at home and abroad.

The Western Gas Construction Company made a significent and most interesting exhibit at the world's fair at St. Louis, and in this connection Mr. Guldlin, as well as his cultured wife, gained marked recognition. Apropos of this we quote as follows from an article appearing in the American Gas-Light Journal, under date of November 28, 1904: "Mrs. O. N. Guldlin was hostess at the Indiana state building during this month. Mr. Guldlin is an honorary member of the Indiana state commission. The recognition extended to both Mr. and Mrs. Guldlin is worthy of special notice at this time. The honors to Mrs. Guldlin are the sequel to those heretofore extended to Mr. Guldlin. The board of commissioners of Indiana, realizing that the magnificent exhibit of the Western Gas Construction Company merited some unusual distinction, by unanimous vote made Mr. Guldlin an honorary member of its body and presented him with the official badge worn by themselves. The only other person in the state to enjoy this honor was Governor Durbin." At the fair Mr. Guldlin was also appointed one of the international jurors, also a member of official committees, on which he officiated actively. He received for his plant and its products three grand prizes, four gold medals, and six silver medals, besides the first official recognition of the gas-works industry at an international exposition. It may further be stated that the first grand prize was awarded his company for complete exhibit of apparatus and methods for the manufacture of coal gas and water gas and recovery of byproducts; the second grand prize for superior values and fittings for gas works; while the third grand prize was awarded to Mr. Guldlin personally, on the basis of the entire exhibit, embracing development of apparatus, patents issued to him on his own inventions which have merited adoption by all leading gas companies in the United States and also in foreign countries. He was the only citizen of Indiana to receive this distinguished personal honor at the fair.

Wayne Commercial Club, the Lotus Club of New York city, the Missouri Athletic Club, of St. Louis, Missouri, and the Cosmos Club, of San Francisco, California.

On the 28th of August, 1899, Mr. Guldlin was united in marriage to Miss Addie L. Bleekman, who was born in the state of New York, being a daughter of Jerome and Henrietta (Sixbey) Bleekman, who are now living near Fort Wayne. Mr. Bleekman was prominently identified with Fort Wayne business enterprises till his retirement from active business a few years ago. Mrs. Guldlin received her education in the schools of Fort Wayne; after finishing her course at the high school, she completed her education as Bachelor of Philosophy in Buchtel College, at Akron, Ohio. She is a woman of gracious presence and distinction, being prominent in the best social life of the city of Fort Wayne, where she enjoys unequivocal popularity, being identified actively with literary, club and church work, while the beautiful home is a center of generous hospitality.

Samuel M. Williams

The subject of this review is one of the well known and highly honored citizens of Allen county, maintaining his residence in Monroeville, where he devotes the greater portion of his attention to the raising of fine poultry, being known as one of the leading chicken fanciers of the Union, and by reason of his long residence in the county and his high standing as a citizen it is most consonant that a resume of his career be incorporated in this publication. He gave evidence of his sterling patriotism during the crucial period of the Civil war, bearing arms in defense of the Union and aiding in maintaining its supremacy in many a hard fought battle.

Samuel M. Williams is a native of the old Buckeye state and a representative of one of its honored pioneer families. He was born in Harrison county, Ohio, on the Ist of August, 1841, being a son of John T. and Belinda (Selby) Williams, both of whom came to Adams county, Indiana, and died there. The father of our subject was born in Fauquier county, Virginia, on the 8th of February, 1808, and about the year 1818 he accompanied his parents on their removal to Harrison county, Ohio, where he was reared to manhood. The genealogical line is traced back to stanch Welsh origin, and the original American ancestors came to this county in the colonial era of our national history. When the subject of this sketch was a child his parents removed to Meigs county, Ohio, where he was reared to maturity on the homestead farm, in the meanwhile availing himself of the educational advantages afforded in the common schools of the locality and period. At the age of eighteen years he secured employment in the oil fields of West Virginia, being thus engaged at the time of the outbreak of the war of the Rebellion. His northern sympathies and his outspoken loyalty to the Union caused him to become persona non grata in West Virginia, and he, in company - with other northern men, was compelled to beat a hasty retreat, forthwith abandoning their work. In company with seven others he secured a boat and rowed the same down the little Kanawha river by night and then crossed over the Ohio river into the state of Ohio. As Mr. Williams has expressed the animus of those who were thus summarily driven forth from the south, "The next thing in order was to get ready and go back and see them about it." On the 8th of July, 1861, he tendered his services in defense of the Union, but as the regiment in which he enlisted did not secure its necessary quota as soon as expected he was not mustered into service until the 8th of the following September. The regiment was mustered in at Marietta, Ohio, becoming the Thirty-sixth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, while our subject was a member of Company C. Colonel George Crook, who afterward became major general, was assigned to the command of the regiment, which was forthwith sent to Parkersburg, Virginia, to prepare for service. Of his commander Mr. Williams has spoken as follows: "Right well did Colonel Crook perform his part, while he also gave us to understand that we must perform ours at the same time and along the lines which he mapped out." Continuing his description of his army career, Mr. Williams says: "Camp life had its pleasures and also its drawbacks and disillusions, but reality came when we met General Heath and his five regiments at Lewisburg, Virginia, on the 22nd of May, 1862. Here, in less than thirty minutes, with the assistance of the Forty-fourth Ohio, we obliterated Heath and his forces from the map of Virginia." Within the limits of an article of so circumscribed character as the one at hand it is impossible to enter into minute details as to the military record of Mr. Williams, but it may justly be said that his record is coincident with the history of his regiment. With his command he next took part in the second battle of Bull Run, after which he participated in the battles of South Mountain and Antietam. The regiment then moved back to western Virginia, and at Charleston embarked on transports and proceeded by way of the Cumberland and Ohio rivers to Nashville, Tennessee. From the latter city they proceeded to Carthage, where they had a night battle with a cavalry force, in the midst of a blinding thunder storm. They captured the enemy's camp equipage and took a large number of prisoners. Moving thence to Murfreesboro, the regiment thereafter took part in the engagements at Hoover's Gap, Chickamauga, Missionary Ridge and Ringgold, after which the command went back to West Virginia and was in action at Cloyd Mountain and Staunton, after which they took part in General Hunter's raid on Lynchburg, where they fought almost continuously for a period of thirty days and met with most serious losses, owing largely to the stubbornness and indiscrimination of the commanding officer. Failing to take Lynchburg, the forces under Hunter made a retreat across the mountains to meet the supply train, in the meanwhile fighting and marching under cover of night until Meadow Bluffs was reached. Our subject describes this trip and further movements in the following words: "Many of our men never reached that point. At Meadow Bluffs we met a provision train, and after a brief rest we took up our line of march for Charleston, where we took boats for Parkersburg, whence we proceeded overland to the Shenandoah valley. At Winchester we met General Jubal A. Earley with a large force, and here we were routed for the first time in all our experience, being flanked so successfully that the only recourse left us was to proceed to the north, and we 'set the pace,' reaching Bunker Hill at nightfall, somewhat discomfited but not dismayed. To prevent any further flank movements on the part of the enemy we continued north to Williamsport, Pennsylvania, in order to there get ourselves in shape to meet them again. We next met the enemy at Charleston, in a light engagement, after which the Confederate forces retired southward, making a stand at Berryville. But they still thought the better fighting to be at Cedar Creek, and had it not been for the timely arrival of General Sheridan our second repulse would have been even worse than our first. Next came the decisive battle for our arms in the Shenandoah vailey, - Opequon Creek, or sometimes called the second battle of Winchester. This ended my services as a soldier in the ranks."

Mr. Williams made an admirable record as a valiant and faithful soldier, serving three years and four months in the ranks and taking part in thirteen of the most noteworthy battles of the great conflict, besides twenty-three skirmishes. He was slightly wounded on two different occasions, - at Antietam and Lexington, Virginia. He was mustered out at Columbus, Ohio, and duly received his honorable discharge, while he reached his home on the gth of October, 1864.

On the 31st of March, 1864, Mr. Williams was united in marriage to Miss Margaret J. Hanlin, and they continued their residence in Meigs county, Ohio, until October, 1867, when they removed to Adams couty, Indiana, making the trip overland with wagons. They settled on a farm, but did not find the life enjoyable, and our subject therefore disposed of the property and located in the village of Pleasant Mills, that county, in 1869, when he came to Allen county and took up his residence in Monroeville, where he has ever since maintained his home. Here Mr. Williams engaged in the hotel business, in which he met with fair success, retiring shortly after the death of his wife, who succumbed to consumption in December, 1874, their only son being summoned into the life eternal only two years later. On the 2oth of February, 1875, Mr. Williams consummated a second marriage, being then united to Miss Emma L. Lutz. They have no children. Mr. and Mrs. Williams have continued their residence in Monroeville during the long intervening years, and have witnessed the various stages of development and progress, while our subject has at all times been recognized as a liberal, loyal and public-spirited citizen. He devotes his attention principally to the breeding and improving of fancy poultry, having originated the now famous and popular White Plymouth Rock, which he has been breeding for a score of years, while the attractive type has been disseminated throughout the various sections of the Union. He is now engaged in building and equipping a steam laundry, for the benefit of the rapidly increasing population of this thriving community. What more pertinent as touching the position of Mr. and Mrs. Williams could be asked than his own words: "We are contented with out lot; we live comfortably, enjoy life, and hope the world is not worse for our living in it." propensities. He is a member of Lodge No. 293, Free and Accepted Masons, at Monroeville, and was a charter member and quartermaster of a former Grand Army post at this place, though not now affliated with the order. Mr. Williams is one of the most prominent and enthusiastic members of the Fort Wayne Poultry, Pigeon and Pet Stock Association, of which he is secretary at the time of this writing.

Wesley I. Work

The responsible duties devolving upon him as truant officer for Allen county are being most ably and acceptably discharged by the present incumbent, who figures as the subject of this brief sketch and who is one of the well known and highly esteemed citizens of Fort Wayne.

Mr. Work was born in Dekalb county, Indiana, on the 31st of October, 1842, and is a son of Robert and Sarah (Emesy) Work, the former of whom was born in Lancaster county, Ohio, in the year 1812, while the latter was born in Culpeper county, Virginia, on the 19th of September, 1818. They were numbered among the pioneers of Allen county, Indiana, where their marriage was solemnized in 1834, but a year later they removed to Dekalb county and located on a tract of wild land near the present station of New Era, where the father developed a good farm. On this old homestead the devoted wife and mother died, in 1852, and her husband thereafter remained on the place until 1865, when he removed to the city of Fort Wayne, where he passed the remainder of his long and useful life, his death occurring in 1886. He was a member of the constitutional convention of Indiana in 1852, as a delegate from Dekalb county, and in that county he also served with distinction as probate judge. He was a man of exalted character and much intellectual ability, while to him was ever accorded the unreserved confidence and esteem of his fellow men. He was thrice married, and from the first union were born one son and six daughters, while one son was born of the third marriage. Four of the sisters are living, namely: Mrs. W. W. Shoaff, of Fort Wayne; Mrs. Peter Shoaff, residing near the old homestead farm, in Dekalb county; Mrs. L. T. Sturgis, of Fort Wayne, and Mrs. Hezekiah Hillegass, near Hunterstown, Allen county. R.

Wesley I. Work, the immediate subject of this review, passed his youth on the old homestead farm in Dekalb county and in the common schools of the locality he secured his early educational discipline. He continued his allegiance to the great basic industry of agriculture after attaining to years of maturity, and was engaged in farming in his native county until 1889, when he removed to Fort Wayne, where he became identified with the agricultural implement business, in which he was interested about seven years, after which he engaged in the school-supply business, keeping in stock a general line of textbooks, maps, blackboards and general supplies, including seats, furnaces, etc. He has met with success in this enterprise, which he continues at the present time. In May, 1904, the trustees of the several townships of Allen county, constituting, ex-officio, the county board of education, selected Mr. Work for the position of county truant officer, this being a salaried office and one provided for by an act of the state legislature in 1903. Mr. Work's official duties require him to see that all children between the ages of seven and fourteen years are kept in school during the full school terms, and his jurisdiction includes the entire county outside of the city of Fort Wayne, while his reports afford a complete record of his official labors and are made to the state board of truancy, created by the same act which has been mentioned in this connection. In his political adherency Mr. Work is found stanchly aligned as a supporter of the principles and policies of the Democratic party, and he has taken an active part in local party work.

In Allen county, in the year 1869, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Work to Miss Jennie Warcup, a daughter of John and Sarah Warcup, representatives of honored pioneer families of this county, where they lived until venerable age and until the time of death, the father having been a prosperous farmer and honored citizen. Mr. and Mrs. Work have one daughter, who is now the wife ot W. B. Mayer, a traveling salesman, and she remains at the parental home.

Samuel Hanna

The spirit of a pure, noble and earnest life burned in the mortal tenement of the late Judge Samuel Hanna, than whom no pioneer of the city of Fort Wayne attained to higher distinction in connection with the material and civic development of this favored section of the state, while none wielded a wider or more beneficent influence in connection with the promotion of the great public utilities which conserved such development and progress. His life was one of fulness and completeness, one of vigor and inflexible integrity. He accomplished great things for the general good and was not denied a due individual reward in the matter of temporal affluence. A man of rugged strength of character, of finest moral fiber, and one who realized a magnificent measure of useful accomplishment, his name is deeply graven on the pages of Indiana history, particularly as applying to Allen county and the city of Fort Wayne, so that such a publication as the one at hand must needs enter a tribute of honor and appreciation to his memory if any measure of consistency and symmetry is to be claimed for the same.

- In reviewing the life and character of Judge Hanna we shall have recourse to liberal quotation from a previously published memoir, written by G. W. Wood, whose was personal knowledge of the man and his accomplishment.

Samuel Hanna was born in Scott county, Kentucky, on the 18th of October, 1797, being a son of James Hanna, who removed with his family to Dayton, Ohio, in 1804, settling on a farm lying contiguous to the southern boundary of the town. Samuel was one of a numerous family of children, all of whom attained respectable and most of them distinguished positions in life. His early days were passed like those of the average boy in a new country. He assisted his father in the reclaiming of the wild land which constituted the home farm, and his educational advantages were such as were afforded in the somewhat primitive schools of the locality and period. As a youth the subject of this sketch found employment as a post-rider, delivering newspapers to the widely scattered subscribers, as postofhces were at that time almost entirely limited to the county seats. In this humble calling the young man passed considerable time, traversing, week after week, the then wilderness of western Ohio. While still a mere youth, there came a pronounced exemplification of the inviolable integrity which ever indicated the man. In taking up a business enterprise in company with another young man, he assumed an indebtedness and was swindled out of the goods purchased, and while his partner secured immunity from payment by plea of infancy, Judge Hanna refused to resort to this method of evasion, holding the debt as one of honor, and ultimately paying in full - at what sacrifice we may dimly imagine, taking into account the fact that he was but nineteen years of age at the time, and dependent entirely upon his own resources. In the connection the following words have been written: "Integrity and uprightness thus early evinced, amidst strong inducements to a contrary course, characterized his long and useful career and gave him immense influence over his fellowmen." That the subject made good use of such educational privileges as were his is manifest when we find record of the fact that he was for some time successfully engaged in teaching school. In 1818, with his brother Thomas, he attended the Indian treaty at St. Mary's, in the capacity of sutler or purveyor, furnishing both food for men and provender for horses, all being transported with ox teams from Troy, Ohio, while with his own hands he hewed out the feed troughs for the stock. The small amount of money realized in this connection was his first substantial acquisition - the corner-stone on which his subsequent colossal fortune was reared. Here, too, his purpose was formed of emigrating to Fort Wayne, "where he was destined to act so conspicuous and important a part in developing the resources of the country and building up a city." post, with very few white inhabitants, and those merely remnants of the old military establishment. Outside of the 'post' and its immediate vicinity there were no white settlers, and the country in every direction, for hundreds of miles, was an unbroken wilderness, swarming with the red men of the forest. He immediately entered upon mercantile pursuits in a small way, at what is now the northwest corner of Columbia and Barr streets. The town was not then laid out. His first storehouse was a rude log cabin, erected mainly with his own hands. This primitive structure was soon superseded by a frame building, which in later years gave place to a substantial brick block of business houses.

"From his first settlement at Fort Wayne Mr. Hanna, at all times and on all occasions, evinced a strong desire to build up the town, to advance its material interests in every way, and to improve and develop the resources of the country; and though not inattentive to his ` own individual interests, this cardinal purpose was kept steadily in view during his whole life. In all meetings of the people for the promotion of public improvements or public welfare he was always a conspicuous and leading actor. He early perceived the indispensable necessity of opening and improving roads and other facilities for travel and intercommunication; but to fully appreciate his designs in this respect it may be necessary to revert to the condition of things at that time. As has already been remarked, Fort Wayne, as he found it, was situated in the wilderness, far removed from all improvements. The country around afforded no supplies, except the inconsiderable amount yielded by the chase and a very small quantity of corn grown on the bottoms in the immediate vicinity by the occupants of the post or fort. Practically all provisions and supplies had to be brought from a distance - mostly from Miami county, Ohio, by way of St. Mary's, being transported by wagons to the latter place and thence on flatboats down the St. Mary's river to Fort Wayne. The facilities for obtaining goods were little or no better. They were mostly purchased in New York or Boston and brought up the Maumee in pirogues or packed through the wilderness from Detroit on horses.

history of Fort Wayne. No public enterprise of importance was ever undertaken without his concurrence and aid. His vast and controlling influence is visible everywhere, and was potential for good wherever it extended. Soon after commencing operations in Fort Wayne he was appointed agent of the American Fur Company, which responsible position he filled for a number of years, to the entire satisfaction of the company. He was also associate judge of the circuit court, and was repeatedly elected, at that early period and in subsequent years, a member of the state legislature. As his means accumulated he extended his mercantile operations to other places, particularly to Lafayette, Wabash and South Bend, and from all these he realized large returns. He became an extensive landowner in the Wabash valley and elsewhere."

To Judge Hanna must be ascribed the credit and honor of maturing the first practical conception of the magnificent project of constructing a canal to connect Lake Erie with the Wabash river, and his services in the connection were herculean and unflagging, resulting in the congressional grant of each alternate section of land for six miles on each side of the proposed line, through its whole length, to aid in the construction of the canal. Strange as it may seem at the present time, much opposition was raised to the acceptance of the grant by the state, and as champion of the measure in the legislature, Judge Hanna made an ardent and protracted contest, which resulted in the acceptance of the grant and the appropriation of one thousand dollars to purchase the necessary engineering instruments and procure the survey and location of the summit level. Judge Hanna, David Burr and a Mr. Jones were appointed canal commissioners. "Judge Hanna went to New York, purchased the instruments, and brought them on horseback from Detroit to Fort Wayne. Civil engineers were scarce in the west at that day, but the commissioners secured one and immediately entered upon the survey, commencing on the St. Joseph's river, six miles above Fort Wayne, where the feeder-dam was afterward built. Mr. Burr operated as rodman and Judge Hanna as axman, both at ten dollars a month. The second day the engineer was taken sick and was compelled to abandon the work. Judge Hanna and Mr. Burr, alone, continuing and completing the survey of the summit feeder. They made their report to the succeeding session of the legislature, and Judge Hanna, being again a member, secured its adoption, and the passage of an act authorizing the construction of the Wabash & Erie canal. Thus originated and was inaugurated, almost, if not entirely, through the untiring energy, the indomitable perseverance of these two noble pioneers, Hanna and Burr, this stupendous work of internal improvement - the longest continuous line of artificial water communication on the American continent, if not in the world, and one of incalculable value to Fort Wayne and all northern Indiana. Judge Hanna was fund commissioner for several years, and negotiated for most of the money with which the work was carried on, and probably no one contributed more to the success of the canal policy during the first and trying years of its progress than did he."

Judge Hanna displayed distinctive wisdom and ability in his association with the organization of the State Bank of Indiana. As chairman of the committee on state banks, he drafted a charter, which passed both houses of the legislature, being approved January 28, 1834. "Thus was created the State Bank of Indiana, by common consent one of the best banking institutions that has ever existed in this country, and one that continued in operation twenty years, affording the people a safe and sound currency and yielding to the state a large accumulated fund at its close; an institution that exerted a marked influence on the subsequent bank legislation of many other states. A branch was at once established in Fort Wayne, and Judge Hanna was its president much of the time, while it was managed with pre-eminent skill and ability."

Judge Hanna platted an extensive addition to the city of Fort Wayne as early as 1836, and eventually he reaped large profits from the same, though through it his affairs were much involved for a time. With the thronging cares of his public and private interests, he was every ready to lend his aid and co-operation in the furthering of other enterprises for the general good. He was a prominent factor in securing the pioneer plank road of northern Indiana - from Fort Wayne to Ontario. The construction of the first ten miles of this road, leading from Fort Wayne, he personally superintended, and, with ax in hand, helped to build. At the opening of the railroad era Judge Hanna again proved himself a leader. When that grand national line of railroad which is now the pride and strength of Fort Wayne, and with which his name is forever identified - the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne & Chicago - was projected, Judge Hanna was among the first to appreciate and take hold of the enterprise. The Fort Wayne & Chicago Railroad was organized in 1852, and Judge Hanna was elected its president, thus serving until the consolidation which gave birth to the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne & Chicago Railway Company, in August, 1856, when he became vice-president of the latter. He retained this incumbency until his death. No man connected with the management of this railway ever had a greater share of the confidence of all interested in it than did Judge Hanna. About three months before his death he was elected president of the Grand Rapids & Indiana Railroad Company, though he had hesitated to assume the responsibilities, seeming to feel a premonition of the coming of the hour when he should "rest from his labors." Always having in mind the welfare of Fort Wayne, he worked unceasingly for the establishment of the immense railroad shops and other manufacturing industries here. He was associated in the establishing of the woolen factory, the great Bass foundry and machine shops, the Olds factories and other industrial undertakings whose inception and maintenance depended largely upon his capital.

Judge Hanna literally remained in the harness until called upon to obey the inexorable summons of death, his final illness having been of comparatively brief duration. He passed to his reward on the Tith of June, 1866, in the fulness of years and well-earned honors. The city of his home and his affections returned then its tribute of grief, appreciation and deprivation. The city council passed resolutions of sorrow, the bells of all churches tolled,.and, amid somber draperies on every side, a procession fully two miles in length followed his mortal remains to their last resting place, in Lindenwood cemetery. Thus ended the pure and noble life of one whose memory must ever be cherished by the citizens of Fort Wayne, which owes so much to him. In his religious faith Judge Hanna was in sympathy with the Presbyterian church, in which he was a ruling elder at the time of his death. Ina fraternal way he was a member of the timehonored order of Free and Accepted Masons.

ried Miss Eliza Taylor, who was born at Buffalo, New York, in 1803, the daughter of Israel and Mary (Blar) Taylor, natives of Massachusetts. She came to Fort Wayne in 1820, from Dayton, Ohio, on a visit to her sister, Mrs. Suttenfield. She made the trip out in a sleigh, but, the snow disappearing, she was compelled to delay her return. About the same time, her father purchased the land east of Fort Wayne now known as White's addition, where he built and occupied the house now known as the Golf Club house. Mrs. Hanna was in many respects a remarkable woman, possessing nobility of character, great personal courage, and the ability to handle the affairs of home and society with ease. In her heart and home there was always "room for one more." Though she already had the care and responsibility of rearing her own eight sons, she also took into her home Samuel Chute, the son of the first pastor of the First Presbyterian church here, an act which the beneficiary has always remembered with affection and gratitude. Mrs. Hanna's long life was spent in well-doing and she was beloved by a large circle of relatives and friends. Although delicate in appearance, she possessed a strong constitution and was very active all her life. Her death occurred on February 12, 1888, at Fort Wayne, in the house which she had occupied for so many years. It is worthy of note that Mrs. Hanna's paternal grandfather Blar was an officer in the American army during the war of the Revolution, and that at the time of his death he was only a year short of one hundred years old.

Of the children of Judge and Mrs. Hanna we make the following mention: Jesse Bayless, the eldest son, was a member of the firm of S. Hanna & Sons, engaged in the general merchandise business at the corner of Columbia and Barr streets, Fort Wayne, the old building being still in existence; Amos Thomas was also connected with this firm; Henry Clay was at one time in the grocery business in Fort Wayne and was also a partner in the firm of N. G. & H. G. Olds & Company; Charles was a partner in the firm of French, Hanna & Company, engaged in the manufacture of woolen goods; Samuel Teford was associated with his father in the railroad business, being the latter's private secretary while he was president of the Grand Rapids & Indiana Railroad Company; Samuel D. was a public-spirited man and at one time was an alderman in this city; Horace Hovey was the partner with J. H. Bass in the firm known as Bass & Hanna; William Willis was a partner in the firm of French, Hanna & Company, woolen manufacturers; Hugh Taylor, the only surviving son, is at present a resident of Fort Wayne; the only daughter, Eliza, is the wife of Fred J. Hayden, of Fort Wayne, whose sketch appears elsewhere in this volume.

James L. Worden

One of the conspicuous figures in the history of Indiana is the distinguished jurist and lawyer to whom this memoir is dedicated. He was honored as a citizen and his career conferred credit and dignity upon the commonwealth of whose supreme court he was an associate justice, while his abilities significantly heightened the fame of the bench and bar of the state. He held distinctive precedence as an eminent lawyer, statesman and jurist and as a man of high intellectual attainments, his reading and investigations having been carried into almost every realm of thought which has engaged the attention of the brightest minds of the world. A strong mentality, an invincible courage and a most determined individuality so entered into his make-up as to render him a natural leader of men and a director of opinion. No name is more honored in the annals of Fort Wayne than his, and it is essential to the consistency of this publication that a tribute to this strong and noble citizen be entered within its pages.

James Lorenzo Worden was born in Sandisfield, Berkshire county, Massachusetts, on the roth of May, 1819, being a son of John and Jane Worden and a scion of sturdy New England stock, the respective families having been founded in America in the early colonial era of our national history. When Judge Worden was about eight years of age his father died, and a year or two later he accompanied his widowed mother on her removol to Portage county, Ohio, where he passed his youth on a farm and received such advantages as were afforded in the common schools of the locality and period, while he early manifested a marked predilection for literary pursuits. At the age of nineteen years he began the study of law, and in 1839, for the purpose of further prosecuting his technical reading and discipline, he entered the office of Thomas T. Straight, a representative member of the bar in Cincinnati, Ohio. In 1841 he was admitted to the bar of the supreme court of Ohio, at Lancaster, and for two or three years thereafter was engaged in the practice of his profession in Tiffin, that state. In the spring of 1844 the future jurist removed to Columbia City, Whitley county, Indiana, where he opened a law office, while he took an active part in the presidential campaign of that year, working in the interests of the Democratic party, to which he gave an unequivocal allegiance throughout life. In the autumn of 1845 Judge Worden, who had married in the meanwhile, removed to Albion, Noble county, where he soon gained distinctive recognition in his profession, building up a representative practice. In 1848, while still resident of Albion, he made quite a reputation and made friends in Fort Wayne by the brilliant manner in which he conducted the prosecution of a man who had been indicted for murder in Noble county, the case having been transferred to Allen county on change of venue. In harmony with the solicitations of these new friends he removed to Fort Wayne in 1849, and here he continued to make his home until the close of his long and useful life. In 1850 he was elected prosecuting attorney for the twelfth judicial circuit, embracing the counties of Allen, Adams, Wells, Huntington, Whitley, Noble, Steuben, La- Grange and Dekalb, and he remained an incumbent of this office three years. Two years after his election the state was redistricted for judicial purposes, and Allen county became a part of the tenth circuit, which also included the counties of Adams, Wells, Huntington, Wabash, Whitley, Noble, Dekalb, LaGrange, Steuben, Elkhart and Kosciusko. A year later the counties of Huntington and Wabash were taken from the circuit. Of this tenth circuit Mr. Worden was appointed judge in 1855, by Governor Joseph A. Wright, to fill a vacancy. At a general election, in the autumn of that year, Judge Worden was elected to the.bench of the circuit for a full term of six years, without opposition. Judge Worden was a lawyer and not a practical politician, and had no desire for an office which would deflect him from the line of his profession. In 1857, however, while he was still on the bench, his popularity was such that, contrary to his known inclination, his party associates made him their candidate for congress. The district being largely Republican, he met defeat with the remainder of the party ticket. In 1858 he resigned his position on the bench to accept the appointment, tendered by Governor Williard, as associate justice of the supreme court of the state, to fill a vacancy caused by the resignation of Judge Stuart, of Logansport, and he delivered his first opinion in the case of Mills et al. versus the state of Indiana, ex rel., Barbour et al. reported in 10 Indiana, 114, said opinion being delivered in open court on the first day of the May term of that year. In 1859 he was elected a judge of the supreme court for a full term of six years, ending in January, 1865. In 1864 he was renominated for another term, but suffered the defeat which attended the party ticket in general.

In January, 1865, at the close of his service on the supreme bench, Judge Worden returned to Fort Wayne and engaged in the general practice of his profession. In the following May he was elected mayor of the city, but after remaining incumbent of the office about a year he resigned the same, in order to give his undivided attention to his practice, which had become large and important. From that time until January, 1871, he was associated in practice with Hon. John Morris, who was his lifelong and most intimate and confidential friend and of whom a memoir appears on other pages of this work. In 1870 Judge Worden was again elected a judge of the supreme court of the state, serving the full term of six years, at the expiration of which, in 1876, he was renominated by his party. After the state convention a person, whose name need not be mentioned here, being disappointed and dissatisfied with some appointments which had been made by the supreme court, raised an unreasonable and unfounded clamor about the expenses of that tribunal. Some of the judges who had been renominated by the same convention concluded, unwisely and unnecessarily, to decline the nomination and to leave the matter to be adjusted by the Democrats of each of the supreme-court judicial districts. Judge Worden was thus called upon, as are all men long in public life, to meet the complaints and charges of the jealous, envious and disappointed. The state was then, as now, divided into five supreme-court judicial districts, corresponding with the number of judges on the supreme bench. The constitution of the state re- quired, and still requires, that a judge of the supreme court shall reside in each of those districts, although they are elected by the people of the entire state. Judge Worden's district comprised the counties of Allen, Whitley, Huntington, Wells, Adams, Grant, Blackford, Jay, Delaware, Randolph, Howard, Madison, Hancock, Henry, Wayne, Fayette, Union and Franklin. In compliance with the order of the Democratic state central committee, a convention was called and assembled in that district and was attended by the most influential and substantial men of the party. Judge Worden's private and official life was not only approved and commended but it was also unanimously resolved that he should stand as the candidate for the position of supreme judge. That decision was approved by the people, and he was re-elected by a handsome majority. By virtue of this election Judge Worden entered upon his third term as judge of the supreme court in January, 1877, so that his term would expire in January, 1883. In 1882 his friends throughout the state insisted that he should become a candidate for re-election, but he felt that after having served on the supreme bench and performed the arduous and exacting labors involved during a period of almost nineteen years, he should not further prolong the service, and he declined renomination. Upon this declination becoming known, his friends at home determined to place him upon the bench of the superior court of Allen county, and he was nominated and elected to that position without opposition, at the general election in November, 1882. This rendered it necessary for him to resign his position upon the supreme bench, which he did soon after the election. He at once entered upon the discharge of his duties as judge of the superior court, and he remained in tenure of the office until his death, which occurred at half past nine o'clock on the evening of the 2d day of June, 1884. His death caused a wave of sorrow to sweep over the entire state which he had honored and by which he had been honored. Upon the 4th of June a meeting of the Allen county bar was held, and addresses of highest commendation of the deceased were delivered by Judge Morris, Hon. J. K. Edgerton and other representative members of the local bar, while similar words of eulogy and sorrow came from the judges of the supreme court, the governor of the state and other distinguished men of Indiana. At the funeral those who had been

Judge Worden's associates on the supreme bench, and also his successor, and Judge Morris, his longtime associate in practice and also associated with him as a commissioner of the supreme court, acted as pall bearers. At the opening of the November term of the supreme court in 1884, a meeting of the bar was held and Judge Morris, in behalf of that bar, presented an address upon the life, character and work of Judge Worden, and the court ordered the same to be spread upon its records and published in one of the reports of the decisions of the court.

Judge Worden made no pretense to florid oratory, but in his addresses to the court and jury he was logical, practical and convincing. In the trial of causes his thorough knowledge of the iaw and the rules of practice, his fine analytical powers and logical and methodical manner of thought, enabled him readily to discern and grasp the salient points and to handle them with consummate skill. As a nisi prius judge he had but few if any equals in the state. Of him it may truthfully be said that in no office to which he was called did he fail to come up to the full measure of its requirements. Judge Worden's work upon the supreme bench is what has most certainly secured him an honorable and enduring place in the history of the state. He went upon that bench when a young man, thirty-nine years of age. His mind was clear, logical and discriminating, and his sense of right and justice was broad and exact. He was not a man of circumlocution, either in thought or word. There is clearness, conciseness and directness of expression in his opinions, which may well serve as models for judges and lawyers. He was by nature a lawyer and judge, having the faculty, in an unusual degree, of brushing aside all that might tend to becloud and confuse, and discerning readily the real question for decision, and determining what the decision should be to conform to the rules of the law and work substantial justice to the parties interested. His opinions not only show his ability and his learning in the law but they give evidence also of careful and laborious preparation. He had no toleration for the weak and abused idea that the reputation of a judge upon the bench of a court of final decision is to be established, or the value of his labors measured, by the amount that he may write, and he was governed by the one and only sensible idea that the reputation of the judge upon such a bench will rest finally upon the character and not the number of his written opinions. He acted in conformity with the idea that care in the decision of causes and in the writing of opinions lessens the business in the supreme court by lessening litigation below, while haste and the consequent looseness in expression, in an attempt to multiply opinions, necessarily results in misunderstanding on the part of the profession, in the multiplication of suits below and the increase in the number of appeals. He knew, as every lawyer of experience and observation knows, that suits are very frequently instituted on no other foundation than a dictum which has been found in some previous case and which ought not to be there, standing only as the evidence of undue haste on the part of the judge who wrote the opinion. Such cases invariably go to the supreme court, and thus haste in such a court increases rather than curtails its business.

Judge Worden wrote, perhaps, as few opinions in the same length of time as any judge who has ever been on the supreme bench of Indiana, but in the way: of reputation he was in the front rank, if not the first man in the rank. By the lawyers of the state and by the courts, including the supreme court, his opinions are read and cited with a feeling of security. There is assurance that he was not only capable of deciding and stating the law correctly, but also that he had bestowed the labor and taken the time necessary to enable him to thus state it correctly. It is for this reason that his opinions are the more frequently cited and relied upon, not only in Indiana but elsewhere. By his work on the bench of the supreme court, as embodied in his written opinions extending over so many years, Judge Worden erected his own monument and wrote his own inscription. He needs naught else.

, the principles and doctrines of the Democratic party, he was in no sense an aggressive or active partisan. The result was that he was singularly free from the assaults of party opponents, which, 'almost invariably, every public man has to meet. Indeed, Judge Worden always received a considerable support at the polls from those of the opposing political party who knew him well. On one occasion only was he assailed with anything like violence, and that assault was absolutely unfounded, while he never took the trouble to defend his position, deeming such action incompatible with the dignity of his position on the supreme bench. At the present time, however, in justice to his memory, it is well that the facts become known. In 1869 a law was passed which dispensed with the annual general elections and provided that, commencing with the year 1870, a general election should be held biennally on the second Tuesday in October, and that at such elections all offices whose terms would expire before the next general election thereafter should be filled. So long as the elections were held in October the terms of county officers began and ended in that month, subsequently to the general election, and they were so commissioned. In April, 1880, some constitutional amendments were submitted to the people of the state for adoption or rejection by popular vote. One of these amendments provided for a change of the date of the general elections from October to the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November. Almost immediately after the vote had been taken the question was made and insisted upon that the amendments had not been adopted by the requisite vote. The controversy soon assumed the form of a legal contest in court and went upon appeal to the supreme court. It will readily be seen that if that court should hold that the amendments had been adopted, the next election, in the fall of 1880, would be in November instead of October, and that the four years' terms of many county officers would expire in October before the November election in 1882. In that event, in order to comply with the law of 1869, above mentioned, it would be necessary to elect successors to such officers in 1880.

Acting upon the assumption that the amendments had been adopted, there were in Allen county, where Judge Worden lived, a number of candidates for nomination for the four-year county offices by the Democratic convention, soon to assemble. If the amendments were not adopted there would be no expiration of terms in such offices before the election of 1882 and hence no vacancies to be filled by election in 1880. By reason of the position of the candidates above mentioned, Judge Worden's friends in Allen county thought it would be best to know, if possible, before the assembling of the county convention whether or not the amendments had been adopted.

The convention was called to meet on Saturday of the week. in which the case was argued in the supreme court. If the amendments should be held to have been adopted it would be necessary to nominate candidates for the four-year offices, otherwise not. While the argument was in progress a prominent citizen of Fort Wayne was in Indianapolis, and in a conversation with Judge Worden, in the presence of a close friend of each, spoke of the condition of things in Allen county. Then, without an intimation as to whether he wished a decision one way or the other, or that he held the matter as one of any consequence whatever, he requested that if a decision should be reached before the coming Saturday the judge should telegraph him at home the result. The case was decided before the coming Saturday and it was held, Judge Biddle writing the opinion, that the amendments had not been adopted by the requisite vote. After the opinion had been read and approved by the court and had thus become Open for inspecton by all, Judge Worden met the friend who had been present at the conversation with the Fort Wayne gentleman and said to him that the decision was that the amendments had not been adopted, and requested him to telegraph the fact to the boys at Fort Wayne. That conversation was overheard by a newspaper reporter and he has contended that the judge requested the friend to "telegraph it to the boys," not mentioning Fort Wayne. Whether he may have been wrong or not in that contention is a matter of no consequence and can not affect the real truth in the matter, because Judge Worden had and could have no thought except to have the fact communicated to his friends at home, in compliance with the request before mentioned, which friends he called "boys." He was a man of too much dignity and too high a sense of propriety to speak of any save his intimate friends at home as "the boys." But for the peculiar condition of affairs in Indiana at the time doubtless no notice would have been taken of Judge Worden's innocent remark. Indiana was just entering upon one of its most exciting political campaigns. Up to that time the general elections had been held in October. The state was one of the few known in the political world as an October state, and having been regarded as a close and pivotal state the presidential campaigns here had always been exciting and closely contested, calling to the field a large number of the best speakers of both parties. A president of the United States was to be elected in 1880. The friends of Governor Hendricks in Indiana were making a vigorous effort for his nomination by the Democratic national convention. The convention was about to assemble in Cincinnati, and many of the delegates were already there when the aforementioned decision of the Indiana supreme court was rendered. Although the opinion in the case was written by Judge Biddle, who had not been elected as a Democrat and never had been a Democrat, yet owing to the fact that the majority of the members of the court had been elected as Democrats, for the purpose of turning every possible thing to political advantage in the close and fierce contest that was just opening, Judge Worden's innocent statement was tortured and twisted from its true and only reasonable meaning, with the contention that his purpose was to have the news of the decision telegraphed to the delegates in Cincinnati, and that therefore the decision had been rendered for the purpose of assisting in the nomination of Governor Hendricks for the presidency.

The real facts in the case, as above stated, fully meet and overthrow such an unreasonable contention and such an unjust and unreasonable torture of Judge Worden's statement, as above recited. In refutation of these malign charges nothing farther could be demanded than a reference to Judge Worden's high character, dignity and sense of propriety; his well known and uniform personal, official and judicial integrity ; and to the estimate placed upon him by all who knew him well. In determining a man's character there is no criterion so reliable as the judgment passed upon him by the people among whom he has lived for a lifetime and who have thus had the opportunity of knowing him well in all relations of life. Judge Worden was a resident of Indiana a few months more than forty years. As prosecuting attorney, judge of the circuit court, mayor, judge of the supreme court and judge of the superior court of Allen county, he was in public service for more than twenty-seven years of that time. His life was thus, in a large measure, an open book, inviting the closest scrutiny and challenging it. When not in the public service he was in the practice of law at home and in a large number of surrounding counties, and he was thus still, in a sense, in public life. At no time did the people who knew him best have more confidence in his integrity and lofty character than in the later years of his life. The final manifestation of enlightened popular confidence shown in his election to the bench of the superior court of Allen county after his long service on the supreme bench, is of itself more than sufficient to meet and overthrow the unreasonable and unjust imputation above mentioned.

It is a matter in which his widow, children and friends have a just pride that after having spent the greater part of his active career in the public service he went to his grave respected and honored by the people who knew him and by the bar and courts of the state, - an honest and honorable man, an honest and faithful public servant. So long as Indiana shall be a commonwealth, so long as its people shall have laws and courts, his name will be known and honored. How much good he accomplished for the people of the state may never be fully appreciated by the people in general, but it will be, in a measure at least, by the profession and by the more observing citizens in other walks of life.

In the spring of 1845 Judge Worden was united in marriage to Miss Anna Grable, daughter of Ben jamin Grable, at that time county treasurer of Whitley county and one of the honored and influential citizens of that section of the state. Mrs. Worden proved a devoted wife and coadjutrix to her honored husband, sharing in his ambitions and honors and making the home one worthy the nanie. She survives him and still maintains her residence in Fort Wayne, where her circle of friends is circumscribed only by that of her acquaintances. Three sons survive their distinguished father, James Willis Worden, Charles H. Worden and Harry Lawrence Worden.

Charles H. Worden is well upholding the professional prestige of the honored name which he bears. He was born in Fort Wayne, on the 14th of September, 1859, and after completing the curriculum of the public schools of his native city he was for two years a student in the University of Michigan, at Ann Arbor. He was admitted to the bar of the courts in Allen county in 1882 and later to practice in the federal courts in the state. From 1886 until 1894 he was associated in practice with John Morris, Jr., son of his father's old-time partner and friend, Judge John Morris, above mentioned, the firm name being Worden & Morris. Tn 1895 Mr.

Worden formed a partnership with Hon. Allen Zollars, under the name of Zollars & Worden, and this professional alliance continued until 1902, in June of which year Mr. Worden was elected vicepresident and managing officer of the First National Bank of Fort Wayne, of which dual office he is incumbent at the time of this writing. He is a Democrat in politics and is known as an able lawyer and public-spirited and progressive citizen. On the roth of June, 1884, Charles H. Worden was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth M. Hoffman, of Fort Wayne, and they have three children, Alice, Marshall Wines and Charles James.

Frederick B. Shoaff

Of admirable professional attainments and recognized as one of the representative young members of the bar of Allen county, Mr. Shoaff further merits consideration in this work by reason of the fact that he is a native of the county and a scion of stanch pioneer stock both in the paternal and maternal lines. On other pages of this work will be found due record concerning the respective families, whose names are honored and prominent ones in this section of the State.

Frederick B. Shoaff was born in the city of Fort Wayne, on the 7th of October, 1877, and is a son of John A. and Susan R. (Barnett) Shoaff. His fundamental educational training was secured in the public schools of his native city, in whose high school he was graduated as a member of the class of 1895. During the succeeding three years he was a student in old Williams College, at Williamstown, Massachusetts. He was then matriculated in the University of Michigan, at Ann Arbor, where he completed the literary course and was graduated as a member of the class of T900, receiving the degree of Bachelor of Philosophy. Shortly after his graduation Mr. Shoaff was favored in being able to make a trip abroad and to avail himself of the privileges afforded in the historic old University of Heidelberg, Germany, where he completed a course in Roman iaw, remaining a student in this institution during the year 1901. He then returned to America and entered the law department of Columbia College, in the city of New York, where he completed the prescribed technical course and was graduated as a member of the class of 1903, with the degree of Bachelor of Laws. Shortly after his graduation Mr. Shoaff went to St. Louis, Missouri, where he secured admission to the bar and where he was engaged in the practice of his profession until June, 1904, when he returned to Fort

Wayne, where he is now engaged in the work of his profession. His technical equipment is exceptionally complete and he is thoroughly en rapport with his profession, in which his advancement is certain to continue along the higher lines, while he is distinctively popular in the business, professional and social circles of his native city of Fort Wayne. In politics Mr. Shoaff is a stanch advocate of the principles and policies of the Democratic party, and he is a member of the Presbyterian church, while his wife attends the Episcopalian church.

On the 21st of June, 1904, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Shoaff to Miss Alice J. Dryer, who was born and reared in Fort Wayne, being a daughter of Dr. Charles R. and Alice P. (Peacock) Dryer, who removed from this city to Terre Haute, this state, about eight years ago.

Robert W. T. Dewald

As one of the representative business men of Fort Wayne and as the president of the George DeWald Company, one of the largest wholesale dry-goods houses in the state, Mr. DeWald merits consideration in this publication, while farther interest attaches to his career from the fact that he is a native of Fort Wayne and a son of the late George DeWald, one of the most distinguished and honored of the pioneer merchants and citizens of the "Summit City." As a memoir to George DeWald is incorporated on other pages of this work, together with data concerning the business at whose head he stood until the time of his death, it is unnecessary to re-enter the data in the present connection.

Robert W. T. DeWald was born in the old family homestead, which stood on the site of the present magnificent federal building in Fort Wayne, on the 7th of March, 1862. His early educational training was secured in the parochial and public schools of his native city and supplemented by a course in the Catholic cathedral school. At the age of sixteen years he gave inception to his business career by entering the dry-goods store of his father in the capacity of salesman. He learned the business thoroughly in all its details and has manifested the same pragmatic ability and discrimination which so characterized his father. In January, 1900, he, with his brother George L. and William P. Beak, was instrumental in the organization and incorporation of the George DeWald Company, of which he has since been president, while he has directed the executive affairs of this extensive wholesale house with marked ability, expanding its trade and functions and making it one of the leading commercial industries of the city. Mr. DeWald is also vice-president of the People's Trust Company, of Fort Wayne, and is a member of the directorate of the German-American National Bank, while he is interested in a capitalistic and executive way in other important enterprises in his native city. In politics he accords allegiance to the Democratic party, but he has never been active in political affairs. Both he and his wife are communicants of the Catholic church, in whose faith they were reared.

On the 25th of January, 1889, Mr. DeWald was united in marriage to Miss Mary P. Henebery, daughter of Matthew and Mary Henebery, of Peoria, Illinois, where her father was a prominent banker, capitalist and influential citizen at the time of his death, November 4, 1903.

Charles G. Pfeiffer

We are pleased to incorporate in this work a resume of the career of this venerable and honored pioneer of Allen county, where he has passed the major portion of his life, which has been principally devoted to agricultural pursuits. He is the owner of a valuable landed estate in Washington township, and is now living practically retired, after years of earnest and indefatigable effort, through which he has attained to marked prosperity.

Mr. Pfeiffer is a native of Wittenberg, Germany, where he was born on the of May, 1827, being a son of Christopher and Katherine (Hertsler) Pfeiffer, who emigrated from the fatherland to America when our subject was a child of about five years. They first located in Buffalo, New York, and in that state the father was identified with farming until early in the '40s, when they came to Allen county, Indiana, and located in Washington township, near the city of Fort Wayne, where they passed the remainder of their lives, honored by all who knew them, while the father became the owner of a good farm of eighty acres. His death occurred in 1850, and his wife also passed away, both having been consistent members of the German Lutheran church. They became the parents of seven children, all of whom are deceased except the subject and his brother, Christian F., the latter being a resident of Buffalo, New York. The names of the children are here entered in the order of their birth: Rosina, Catherine, Regina, Barbara, John C., Christian F. and Charles G;

Charles G. Pfeiffer, the immediate subject of this sketch, was reared to the discipline of the farm, passing his youth in Buffalo, New York, and being about thirteen years of age at the time of the family removal to Indiana. That he has succeeded in his chosen field of endeavor is best indicated in the fact that he is the owner of a fine landed estate of three hundred and eighty acres in Washington township, the property having the best of improvements and all being under effective cultivation except about ninety acres, which are devoted to pasturage. This farm has been devoted to general agriculture and stock raising, and is one of the valuable places of the county, thrift and good management being evidenced on every hand. Mr. Pfeiffer retired from active labor several years ago, and now rents his farm, the greater portion being in charge of his son Ivory. In 1900 our subject removed to the city of Fort Wayne, where he has a pleasant home and where he is enjoying a well earned rest and the rewards of his former years of earnest toil and endeavor. He has gained a competency through hard work and good management, having been dependent upon his own resources from his early youth, while his entire life has been characterized by inflexible integrity and honor in all its relations, so that he has ever held the unqualified confidence and esteem of his fellow men. He personally effected the clearing of more than three hundred acres of land, and the vicissitudes and hardships of the pioneer era represent more than mere names to him, since he had close personal experience in the connection. His educational advantages as a youth were limited to a very irregular attendance in the primitive log school houses of the pioneer days, but through experience and active association with men and affairs he has gained a large fund of practical knowledge and has been an able business man. In politics he has supported the Republican party from practically the time of its organization, and while he has never aspired to office he has been called upon to serve in various township offices. He and his worthy wife are valued members of the Lutheran church, and have exemplified faith in the daily walk of life.

In the year 1850 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Pfeiffer to Miss Abigail Williams, who was born in Wayne county, Ohio, being a daughter of John and Perthina (Sutton) Williams, who came from Pennsylvania to Allen county, Indiana, in 1837, being numbered among the early settlers of this section. The father was a shoemaker by trade, but after coming to Indiana he gave his attention principally to farming, taking up wild land and reclaiming the same to cultivation, while he also assisted in the cutting through of the early roads.

Indians were still much in evidence, and Mr. Williams gained their good will and esteem, while, as a shoemaker, he frequently mended their moccasins. The family endured many privations in the pioneer days, and for several days at a time their only food would be parched corn. In the family were ten children, of whom only two are living, Charles, who is a resident of Fort Wayne, and Abigail, who is the wife of the subject of this sketch.

Mr. and Mrs. Pfeiffer have seven children, namely: George, who married Miss Altha Cartright, and who is a prosperous farmer of Allen county; Albert, who married Miss Regina Fitzsimmons, and who likewise is a representative farmer of this county; William, who remains at the parental home; Clara A., who is likewise beneath the home roof; Frank, who married Miss Edith Monn, and is engaged in farming in his native county; Ivory, who is engaged in farming on the old homestead, and Arthur, who resides at the parental home, being a carpenter by vocation.

One of the able, successful and representative members of the medical profession in the city of Fort Wayne is Dr. Barnett, who is here engaged in general practice as a physician and surgeon. He was born in Wapakoneta, Ohio, on the 30th of September, 1866, being a son of Rev. William C. and Frances M. (Sullivan) Barnett, the former of whom was born in Pennsylvania and the latter in Virginia. The father of the subject was a clergyman of the Lutheran church, and continued in active service until the time of his death, which occurred in Tennessee, in 1898, while his devoted wife was summoned into eternal rest in 1880. Of their six children three are living.

When the subject was a child of two years his parents removed from Butler, Indiana, to Boone county, Kentucky, in whose common schools Charles E. received his early educational training, while he was later graduated in the high school at Antwerp, Ohio, after which he was matriculated in Edgewood College, at Edgewood, Tennessee, in which institution he completed the scientific course, and was graduated as a member of the class of 1888. Shortly afterward he entered the Fort Wayne College of Medicine, from which he received his well-earned degree of Doctor of Medicine in 1890. In 1893. to further fortify himself for the responsibilities of his chosen profession, he took a post-graduate course in the Chicago Polyclinic, while two years later he did most effective post-graduate work in bacteriology, in the medical department of Suwanee University, of the South. The Doctor has devoted his attention largely to surgery during the years of his active practice, and has been most successful in this important department of professional work, in which he is looked upon as an authority, both in theoretical and operative lines. Since 1896 he has been a member of the faculty of his alma mater, the Fort Wayne Col-

Dr. Barnett initiated the practice of his profession by locating in Archer, Nebraska, where he built up an excellent professional business, and continued to make his home until 1896, in which year he came to Fort Wayne, where he has since been actively engaged in practice, and where he holds high prestige as a physician and surgeon and as a loyal and public-spirited citizen. The Doctor is a member of the Fort Wayne Medical Society, the Indiana State Medical Society, the Mississippi Valley Medical Society and the American Medical Association, while he has served as president and also as secretary of the Alumni Association of the Fort Wayne College of Medicine. In 1898 Dr. Barnett was assistant surgeon, with the rank of captain, of the One Hundred and Fifty-seventh Regiment of Indiana Volunteer Infantry, with which he was in active service during the Spanish-American war. In politics he is a stalwart adherent of the Democratic party, and in the Masonic fraternity he has advanced through the chivalric grades, being affiliated with Fort Wayne Commandery, No. 4, Knights Templar. He is distinctively popular in professional, business and social circles, and is one of Fort Wayne's representative physicians and surgeons. It is the Doctor's intention to leave in the fall of the present year (1905) for Vienna and Berlin, where he will take post-graduate courses along the lines of his profession.

Martin Ps Chic Tmid

In the present connection we accord representation to one of the distinguished members of the medical profession in the city of Fort Wayne, and one who is a member of one of the most honored families of the "Summit City," where his father has been for nearly a half century a member of the faculty of Concordia College, one of the old and noble educational institutions maintained under the auspices of the German Lutheran church.

Martin Frederick Schick was born in the city of Chicago, Illinois, on the 25th of May, 1861, and is a son of Professor George and Wilhelmina (Zimmerman) Schick, who are still residents of Fort Wayne, to which city they removed in 1861, at which time Concordia College was established here, having been removed from Missouri, where it was founded in 1839. In the college Professor Schick now holds the chair of Latin and Greek, while he is one of Fort Wayne's best known and most highly honored citizens, and one who has wielded much influence in the educational world. Dr. Schick was but a few months of age at the time of his parents' removal to Fort Wayne, and in this city his boyhood and youth were passed. His early educational discipline was secured in St. Paul's German Lutheran school, and when twelve years of age he was matriculated in Concordia College, in which he completed the course and was graduated as a member of the class of 1879, receiving the degree of Master of Arts. In the year 1880 he entered the medical department of the University of the City of New York, in which he was graduated on the 7th of March, 1882, with the degree of Doctor of Medicine, while in the same year he took a postgraduate course in Bellevue Hospital, while he served during the same year as surgeon to the Bushwick Hospital, in the city of Brooklyn.

He was thereafter engaged in the practice of his profession in New York city until December, 1883, when he located in Saginaw, Michigan, where he built up a large and representative practice, and where he continued to reside until 1896. He then made a trip abroad for the purpose of availing himself of the advantages of the great hospitals and medical colleges of the old world. He was absent about eighteen months, and within this period took special post-graduate work in the medical department of the Frederich Wilhelm University, in the city of Berlin, as well as in leading institutions in Munich and London. He returned to the United States in the spring of 1898, and on the roth of April located in Fort Wayne, where he has since been established in the practice of his profession, and where his precedence is such as his fine professional attainments justify.

On the 16th of April, 1884, was solemnized the marriage of Dr. Schick to Miss Anna C. Bruns, of Fort Wayne, and they have three children, Myrtle, Charlotte and Hildegard.

Carl Yaple

As one of the representative young members of the bar of Allen county, Mr. Yaple is consistently accorded recognition in this work. He is successfully engaged in the practice of his profession in the city of Fort Wayne, where he is junior member of the well-known firm of Heaton & Yaple.

Mr. Yaple was born in the beautiful little city of Coldwater, Branch county, Michigan, on the 11th of March, 1877, and is a son of Hon. George L. Yaple, who is at the present time presiding on the circuit bench of the fifteenth judicial circuit of Michigan, and who is one of the prominent and distinguished members of the bar of the Wolverine state. He is a representative of one of the old and honored families of Michigan, and was born and reared in Mendon, St. Joseph county, that state, where he now maintains his home. Heisa man of high scholastic attainments and professional ability, and has been a prominent figure in the political and public affairs of his native state, which has honored him with various offices of distinctive trust, aside from that of which he is in tenure. He early attained a high reputation for effective oratory, and has long been a valued exponent of the principles and policies of the Democratic party. He served two terms as a member of congress, and was at one time honored by his party with the nomination for governor of his state, his defeat being compassed by normal political conditions, as Michigan has long turned up a large Republican majority, save in a few isolated instances. As a young man, Judge Yaple was united in marriage to Miss Mary Hankinson, who was born in Rockford, Illinois, and of the children of this union we enter brief record, as follows: Edward Lewis is engaged in the practice of the law in the city of Kalamazoo, Michigan; Frederick H., who is attaining noteworthy prestige as a poet and author, resides in Mendon, Michigan; Carl is the immediate subject of this sketch; Harry is a practicing dentist; Marie died at the age of sixteen years; George L., Jr., is a student in the Chicago University, and Alice is a student in the Presbyterian seminary in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

Carl Yaple, the immediate subject of this review, secured his early educational training in the public schools of his native state, and thereafter made good use of the excellent advantages afforded him in the attaining of a liberal education in an academic sense, before taking up his professional studies. He prosecuted his study in Kalamazoo College for a time; was later a student in Albion College, Michigan, and thereafter attended the celebrated University of Michigan, in Ann Arbor, while in 1899 he was matriculated in the law department of the University of Indiana, at Bloomington; he also secured admission to the bar of the Hoosier state. In June, 1900, Mr. Yaple located in the city of Fort Wayne and began his practical novitiate in the profession for which he had so carefully prepared himself, and here he entered into a partnership with Benjamin F. Heaton, it: 1902, an association which has since obtained, and which has proved one of mutual helpfulness and one of utmost harmony. The firm has built up a representative practice, giving special attention to corporation, real estate and commercial practice, and the clientage retained is of an important order, insuring a cumulative prestige to the firm. The offices of Heaton & Yaple are located in the Citizens' Trust Company building, corner of Berry and Clinton streets, and are attractive in their appointments, including a fine law library. Mr. Yaple is a close student of his profession, and considers it worthy of his undivided time and attention, so that he subordinates all other interests to the same, though he finds opportunity for the carrying forward of other intellectual application and for the enjoyment of the higher social privileges, while he is known as an ardent advocate of the principles of the Democratic party, in whose cause he has been an active and valued worker, being one of the leaders among the younger party adherents in Fort Wayne.

On the 2d of August, 1899, in the city of Fort Wayne, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Yaple to Miss Fannie L. Russell, who was born and reared in Coldwater, Michigan, being a daughter of the late Benton R. Russell, who was a prominent contractor of that place.

John H. Bass

What of the man and what of his work? This is the dual query which represents the interrogation at least nominally entertained whenever that discriminating factor, the public, would pronounce on the true worth of the individual. The career of John H. Bass indicates the clear-cut, sane and distinct character, and in reviewing the same from an unbiased and unprejudiced standpoint, interpretation follows fact in a straight line of derivation. In this publication it is consistent that such a review be entered, and that without the adulation which is so intrinsically repugnant to the man as he stands among his fellows. The city of Fort Wayne naturally takes pride in the work performed by Mr. Bass, who has stamped the mark of definite accomplishment on the highest plane of industrial activity, and consistency demands that he be given due relative precedence in a work which has to do with those who have lived and labored to good purpose within the confines of Allen county, and thence permeated the great industrial and civic life of the nation, in which he stands well to the forefront as one of our honored "captains of industry." In the present connection the writer feels justified in drawing largely upon a sketch previously written by him as an appreciative estimate of the life and labors of Mr. Bass, and in view of such former authorship takes the liberty of eliminating the customary marks of quotation.

A native of Salem, Livingston county, Kentucky, John H. Bass was born on the oth of November, 1835, and is descended from honored pioneer ancestry identified with the history of the Virginias and the Carolinas from the early colonial era of our national annals. His grandfather in the agnatic line was Jordan Bass, who was born in the Old Dominion state, in 1764, and who removed to Christian county, Kentucky, in 1805, becoming one of the sterling pioneers of that section, where he passed the remainder of his life, having been eighty-nine years of age at the time of his death, which occurred in 1853. Sion Bass, the father of the subject of this review, was born in North Carolina, on the 7th of November, 1802, and was thus a child of but three years at the time of his parents' removal to Kentucky, where he was reared to manhood under the environments of the pioneer epoch. He became prominently identified with the business and civic interests of Livingston county, Kentucky, where he carried on both mercantile and agricultural pursuits, and became the possessor of much valuable property, while his intrinsic worth as a citizen was recognized in a most unequivocal way. He married Miss Jane Dodd, who was born in Charleston, South Carolina, on the 19th of June, 1802, being a daughter of John Dodd, who likewise became an early settler in Kentucky. In 1866 Sion Bass removed to Fort Wayne, and here his cherished and devoted wife died on the 26th of August, 1874, while he survived her by more than a decade, having been summoned to the eternal life on the 7th of August, 1888. They became the parents of six children, of whom four attained maturity, while of the number one son and one daughter are living at the time of the present writing. The parents were zealous members of the Presbyterian church.

It will not be malapropos in this connection to offer a brief tribute to the memory of the eldest son, Sion S. Bass, who was born in January, 1827, and who was the first representative of the family in Indiana, having taken up his residence in Fort Wayne in 1848, and having been one of the prominent business men of the place in the pioneer days of its industrial development. He became a member of the firm of Jones, Bass & Company, which was succeeded by the Fort Wayne Machine Works, and was identified with the same until his death. When the cloud of civil war cast its pall over the national firmament, Sion S. Bass cast his business interests and cares aside and responded to the first call for volunteers to aid in the suppression of the rebellion. He assisted in the organization of the famous Thirtieth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, in 1861, and he was made colonel of the command, with which he proceeded to the front, the regiment taking active part in the maneuvers leading up to and culminating in the battle of Shiloh. Reaching that field early on the second day of the battle, the Thirtieth Indiana had but little time to rest before the order to advance was given. The command valiantly obeyed this order, though a veritable torrent of lead and iron poured over and through its columns. The sacrifice of men seemed necessary, and it was made. The Thirtieth Indiana moved sternly forward, led by its gallant colonel, but it was a dash to death, and the brave soldier and patriot who led the regiment fell, mortally wounded, and thus the honored pioneer of the Bass family in Indiana died among his fallen comrades.

John H. Bass passed the days of boyhood and youth in the state of his nativity, and there acquired a good academic and commercial education. In 1852, at the age of seventeen years, he came to Fort Wayne and joined his eldest brother, of whom mention has just been made. He entered the employ of Jones, Bass & Company, for which he served as bookkeeper from 1854 until 1857, when the firm dissolved partnership. He had applied himself diligently to the work in hand and to the mastering of the details of the business, and in 1859 he initiated his independent business career by forming a partnership with Edward L. Force, under the firm name of Bass & Force. They established the Fort Wayne Machine Works, and the output of the concern for the succeeding year reached an aggregate valuation of twenty thousand dollars. The indirect value of this industry to the little community at that time was incalculable, for out of it grew those influences which have built up a great manufacturing city in northern Indiana. From 1860 until 1863 the business was owned and conducted by Judge Samuel Hanna and Mr. Bass, and in the latter year Judge Hanna transferred his interest to Horace H. Hanna, who remained a member of the firm until his death, in 1869, when Mr. Bass purchased the stock and became the sole owner and manager of this establishment, which, under his able supervision, has had a marvelous growth and has furnished employment to thousands of men, while through its influence much has been done to promote the upbuilding of the city of Fort Wayne. Indeed, the great enterprise may consistently be referred to as being the nucleus of the great industrial city of the present day, drawing to it various classes of workmen to become good citizens, devoted to the welfare of their adopted home.