Bartholomew-La Porte County IN Archives Biographies.....Caldwell, George W. 1860 - ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/copyright.htm http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/in/infiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com May 3, 2006, 2:05 am Author: B. F. Bowen (1904) p. 168- 172 GEORGE W. CALDWELL. A great man, doing a great work, in a great period of the world's history, is a sight that uniformly arrests attention and challenges admiration. There is a happy blending of all the above in the subject of this sketch. Blessed with a heritage of a strong constitution and sensitive nerve force, from which has, been developed a strong intellectual nature and sound moral convictions, he is a striking illustration of "a sound mind in a sound body." George W. Caldwell was born on August 16, 1860, on a farm near Sunbery, Delaware county, Ohio, and is the son of James and Lydia (Ginn) Caldwell and the eldest of a family of five boys. The family is of Scotch-Irish stock and was brought to America by nine brothers, who were natives of the north of Ireland. They settled in different sections of the country and many of their descendants became distinguished in different lines. One of them became a supreme judge of Ohio, two others served on the bench of Tennessee, and Judge Caldwell, present United States judge at St. Louis, Missouri is a cousin to the subject's father. An uncle of the subject is a large publisher in Newark, Ohio, and two other uncles are among the largest stock growers and dealers in the west. James Caldwell, father of the subject, was born in Washington county, Pennsylvania, on February 9, 1840, and when two years of age was brought to Ohio by his father, Andrew Caldwell, who settled in Delaware county, where he was one of the prominent stock dealers and farmers of the county. There he grew to manhood, and was there married. The Ginns are of Scotch-English stock. Lydia Ginn, mother of the subject, was born in Ohio and was the daughter of Moses and Phoebe Ginn, both natives of Ohio. Her grandfather served in the war of 1812 between this country and Great Britain, and at the battle of Lundy's Lane was a colonel in command of an American regiment. The parents of the subject removed to Laporte, Indiana, in 1874, where the mother died in 1881. Later they removed to South Dakota, where they spent seven years, then returned to Indiana and settled on a farm in Wayne township, Bartholomew county, where the father still resides, following, as he has all his life, agricultural pursuits. He has always been an energetic, hard worker and a good provider. As a boy George W. Caldwell was ambitious of acquiring an education. With the permission of his father, and the gift of twenty dollars from the same source, he started in to "work his way" through the Valparaiso Normal when sixteen years old. No honest work was too disagreeable for him to do to help pay his way, and during the four years he attended the normal he was putting in his time doing whatever work he could find to do, while the other boys were enjoying the after-school hours. In this way he worked his way through the course without financial assistance from anyone. After leaving the normal, he taught district and graded schools in the vicinity of his home, and farmed, and for three years was principal of graded schools at Hanna, Indiana. In 1885 he married Miss Lydia A. Ross, of St. Joseph, Michigan. Her parents were among the pioneer settlers of Michigan and are counted one of her most respected families. To their union was born, August 2, 1895, one son, Ross George Caldwell, who is past eight years old. In 1886 he engaged in the insurance and real estate business in Laporte. Indiana, and the following year came to Columbus, where he continued in the same line of business for a few years until he had the largest insurance and real estate business in the county, Maple Grove addition, to the city of Columbus being largely handled by him. Subsequently he formed a partnership with B. M. Hutchins in the business of real estate, contracting and building, which co-partnership continued for three years, during which period the firm erected one hundred and forty-seven dwelling houses and in one year did a volume of business exceeding eighty-five thousand dollars. At the end of the above time Mr. Hutchins retired from the firm and was succeeded by Lester Drake, which partnership still exists, continuing in the same line of business. During the years when the latter partnership has existed the firm of Caldwell & Drake has been more than ordinarily successful. Mr. Caldwell's well-known executive ability, united with Mr. Drake's untiring attention to the details of the business, have made the firm strong competitors in their line of business. Besides erecting many large residences, the foresight and energy of Mr. Caldwell has led them into larger and still larger fields. The building of court houses was next taken up as a specialty by the firm, and they have a long list of them to their credit, beginning in Indiana and extending through Ohio and West Virginia, Illinois and Missouri. Among the largest are Putnam County Court House, at Greencastle, Indiana; Superior Court House, at Hammond, Indiana, and Crawford County Court House, at English, Stark County Court House, at Knox, Indiana, Ottawa County Court House, at Port Clinton, Ohio, and Wood County Court House, Nash School Building, Camden Opera Block and Guaranty Trust Block, at Parkersburg, West Virginia, and Wetzel' County Court House, at New Martinsville, West Virginia. While working in West Virginia the firm also erected a number of other public buildings, among them being' three State University buildings, at Morgantown, West Virginia, and two state asylum buildings, at Huntington, West Virginia, the state capitol annex, Charleston, West Virginia. When the West Baden (Indiana) hotel, one of the largest in the country, was prospected, the firm of Caldwell & Drake was the only one daring to try to complete it on schedule time, and also to construct the dome, and they received the contract without competition, at a price of five hundred and fourteen thousand dollars, which is the largest contract ever awarded without competition in the history of building in the United States. This magnificent edifice is the most remarkable hotel structure in originality of design in the world, and contains the largest dome ever constructed, being two hundred feet in diameter, not even excluding, the dome of St. Peters, at Rome, or of Santa Sophia, at Constantinople, and the building entire was completed in eight months and two days. Other buildings completed by the firm and in course of construction are the Superior Court House, at Hammond, Indiana, and the Court House at Greencastle, Indiana, Perryville, Missouri, Court House, five asylum buildings at Gallipolis, Ohio, the state capitol building, at Little Rock, Arkansas, a two-million-dollar structure, the state capitol annex, at Charleston, West Virginia, .and the Inter-State Railroad power house and state asylum buildings, at Huntington, West Virginia. At St. Louis, Missouri, the firm, under the direction of Mr. Caldwell's brother Charles, erected the Palace of Agriculture. This building, which covers twenty-two and a half acres of ground, and is the largest building under one roof in the world, was raised in the remarkably short time of forty-five days, a fact that attracted notice from every building periodical in the country and elicited inquiries in regard to methods from both the United States and Canada. On the fair grounds they also erected the Palace of Horticulture, and" now have completed or under contract twenty-one other exposition and state buildings, their contracts for this great historical event aggregating over one million six hundred thousand dollars. In Mr. Caldwell's short public life he has met with the same success that he has in his business career. In 1892 he, with his partner, Mr. Drake, were elected first councilmen from the fifth ward, receiving a. handsome majority vote, although they were Democrats representing a Republican ward. Mr. Caldwell served as a member of the council until May, 1896, during which time he gave the city conscientious service and fidelity. He was during that time the promoter of many public improvements, and while serving the public-was at all times the careful guardian of the people's money. He was chairman of the-finance committee of Columbus, and during the period he was in the council twenty-six thousand dollars of the city's indebtedness was paid off, the city paying a premium of one dollar and eight cents for part of the same. It was largely due to the efforts of Mr. Caldwell in the council of which he was a member that Columbus owns today a beautiful city hall, which is paid for; a well-equipped and efficient fire department, engine house and a self-sustaining water-works system. Mr. Caldwell is father to the bill introduced into the legislature a few years ago abolishing the office of water-works trustees, which became a law, and has proved the means of saving the cities of Indiana thousands of dollars. On the 6th of April, 1898, Mr. Caldwell was nominated by the Democrats as a candidate for mayor of the city of Columbus. He received the nomination on the first ballot, receiving eighty-five delegate votes out of a total of ninety-six delegates, there being six candidates in the field. On May the 3d following the election took place and Mr. Caldwell was elected by a majority of three hundred, carrying with him every Democratic candidate on the ticket, and demonstrating the high esteem the people of Columbus place upon his ability to serve the public acceptably, as the normal Republican majority in the city is about one hundred and thirty. During the four years of his incumbency as mayor more money was spent in public improvements in Columbus than at any other similar period in the history of the city; a great amount of the public debt was paid off each year and the tax rate was reduced to a lower point than that of and city in the state of Indiana, i. e., eighty-five cents, with a single exception. In fact, when Mr. Caldwell left the mayors office, after all public improvements had been paid for, a balance of twenty thousand dollars was turned over to the incoming administration. At the time of this writing, in the year 1904, he is being very strongly solicited and urged to become the Democratic candidate for congress from the fourth congressional district, which has about two thousand Democratic majority. Mr. Caldwell's business interests are extensive and varied. He is president of the Caldwell & Drake Iron Works, president of the National Machine Company, both of Columbus; president of the Indiana Handle Company, at Vincennes, Indiana; trustee and vice-president of the Mutual Life Insurance Company, of Illinois; a stockholder of the Citizens' Guarantee and Trust Company, of Parkersburg, West Virginia, and a stockholder in the Federal Surety Company, of Indianapolis. He also owns and operates a farm of six hundred acres in Wayne township, six miles south of Columbus, which is considered one of the best stock farms in the county. Personally Mr. Caldwell is a very pleasant and genial gentleman, easy to approach, and always ready to spare a few moments of his valuable time to anyone, rich or poor, high or lowly, who may wish to consult him on any matter. His characteristics are pronounced: Keen witted, quick of perception, original and progressive, with strong likes and dislikes, yet warm hearted and true and loyal to his friends. His sympathetic and magnetic temperament attracts men to him, and once a friend to him is to remain a friend. He is a just man in his relations to his fellow beings, and as an evidence of this it may be pointed out that there has never been a strike of the employes of the firm of Caldwell & Drake in the history of the firm. Mr. Caldwell is a Knight Templar and Scottish Rite Mason and a Shriner, a member of the Knights of Pythias fraternity, a member of the T. P. A., also an Elk. He is a member of the Monongahela Club of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, and of the Indiana Democratic Club. With indomitable will, extraordinary energy, iron muscle, unceasing perseverance and the rugged constitution of the pioneer, Mr. Caldwell has permitted no circumstance to become an obstacle in his path, but forging untiringly ahead has won for himself honor, distinction and wealth, standing today a notable example for the emulation of ambitious boys of the state. Additional Comments: Extracted from BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD OF BARTHOLOMEW COUNTY INDIANA INCLUDING BIOGRAPHIES OF THE GOVERNORS AND OTHER REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS OF INDIANA ILLUSTRATED 1904 B. F. 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