Lake Maxinkuckee Its Intrigue History & Genealogy Culver, Marshall, Indiana

John Henry Vajen 


Sketches of prominent citizens of 1876 : with a few of the pioneers of the city and county who have passed away Indianapolis: Tilford & Carlon, printers, 1877, 575 pgs. 476-7

John Henry Vajen was born in Hanover, Germany, on the 19th of March, 1828, his father, whose name was also John Henry, was a professor in the university at Stade, in Hanover.

Mr. Vajen, Sen., came to this country, with his family, in 1836, and settled in Baltimore, where he continued his occupation as teacher for one year when he removed to Cincinnati. Here he taught school and was organist at the old Sixth street church until 1839, when he purchased land in Jackson county, near Seymour, and there organized a colony of German Lutherans. He, together with several; hundred families, moved there and erected what is, perhaps, the largest log church in the State. Having joined the ministry of the Lutheran church some time previous, he went to preaching in Jackson and Bartholomew counties, and during the time of his ministry he organized four congregations, which are now in a flourishing condition.

During all those years John Henry, Jun., was spending most of his time on the farm and in school. In 1845 his father died, and John, then seventeen years old, went to Cincinnati to seek employment. He obtained a situation very soon with an old friend of his father,Mr. G. Herder, who had a large wholesale and retail hardware store. Mr Vajen commenced as clerk, receiving for his services four dollars per month, which was gradually increased until 1848, when he received an interest in the business.

Mr. Vajen was married to Miss Alice Fugate in October, 1850. In August 1851, he severed his connection with Mr. Herder and came to Indianapolis, and in September of the same year opened a wholesale and retail hardware store on East Washington street; he also commenced the manufacture of planes, which he discontinued three years later. His business went on successfully and gradually increased, and in 1856, in order to have better and more commodious quarters, he built a large four story building, No. 21 Washington street, and removed thereto in 1861.

Mr. Vajen gave J. S. Hildebrand and J. L. Fugate an interest in the business. In a few years they accumulated capital and became active partners. In the first year of business in this city Mr. Vajen's trade amounted to about twenty-five thousand dollars, which has increased up to this time to about two hundred thousand dollars per annum. In 1871 he sold to his partners the entire business and stock, and retired, on account of failing health, from the cares of business. In the Journal of Commerce, printed at the time, we find the following notice:
    "J. H. Vajen having sold his interest in the establishment of which he was the founder and so lately stood at the head, has retired from the soil and toil and care of business to the quiet of a private life. That he has been crowned with such eminent success is due both to his excellent business capacity and many genial qualities, which made those with whom he came in contact his friends. He retires as one of the heavy capitalists of Indianapolis, and as he subsides into the calm which is his due after the battle so well fought and ably won he takes with him the heartfelt wishes of all with whom he came in business contact, while assisting to build up the city and at the same time he built his own fortune.

    In 1861, when the rebellion broke out, Governor Morton was looking about him to find active and competent men to assist men in the emergency, an on the recommendation of many prominent business men in the city and State he appointed Mr. Vajen Quarter-Master General of the State, which he reluctantly accepted. It is a matter of history that of the troops which rushed to the field under the first call the Indiana soldiers were better equipped and generally better prepared than those of most any other State. It was Mr. Vajen's duty to inaugurate all plans with regard to the equipment of the first levies; his duty was a difficult one as can be easily seen when it is considered that purchases of everything necessary for the comfort of many thousand men entering on camp-life had to be provided for at very short notice. That his work was promptly, energetically and faithfully done the official reports of the time will testify. Mr. Vajen went earnestly to work and pushed things, often making himself personally responsible for the fulfillment of contracts, and the result was that, in a great measure owing to his exertions, the volunteers started to the front well equipped at a cost to the State of much less money than Ohio and other States were compelled to pay. Mr Vajen was Quarter-Master General for about one year when he resigned. In March, 1864, Mr. Vajen assisted in organizing the banking house of Fletcher, Vajen & Co., which continued successfully for one year when it was merged into the Fourth National and afterwards into the Citizen's National Bank, of which latter he is a director and large stockholder.

During the twenty-six years of his residence in this city Mr. Vajen has been engaged to a considerable extent in real estate, buying and selling in that time over five million dollars worth in and adjoining this city. He has assisted in increasing the city limits by laying out fourteen additions, and has added to its beauty by erecting twenty-two good and substantial dwelling and business houses, among which was the first stone front house ever built in this city. Mr. Vajen's health being restored and several of his children having grown to manhood, he again embarked in business January 1, 1877, by buying out the hardware establishment of Story, New & Co., at No. 64 East Washington street, and is no conducting the same successfully under the firm names of Vajen, New & Co.

Mr Vajen has seven children: Willis C., aged twenty-six years; Frank, aged twenty-for ; John Henry, aged twenty-two; Fannie B., aged nineteen; Alice J., aged seventeen; Charles T., aged fourteen, and Carrie, aged seven. It will readily be seen that Mr Vajen need never lack for company to fill his palatial residence on North Meridian street between Ohio and New York; he could go far toward it out of his own household. He is yet in the prime of life and may live to add another seven to the number. His sons inherit a great deal of the father's industry, enterprise, perseverance and the faculty of making friends, for Mr. Vajen, has made many friends since his residence in Indianapolis; he possesses the happy faculty of suiting himself to surrounding circumstances. 'Tis said that "life is like a mingled yarn", but it seems that Mr. Vajen's has been all of one color, as he has moved along smoothly through life and added to his wealth as he went, and in his advancing years will be privileged to live a calm and quiet life, surrounded by all that is cumulated to make a happy home.





Indiana and Indianans : a history of aboriginal and territorial Indiana and the century of statehood Chicago: American Historical Society, 1919, 2610 pgs. 2094-5


John Henry Vajen. It was a remarkable life that came to a close with the death of John Henry Vajen at Indianapolis on May 28, 1917. It was remarkable not only for its length and its association with so many changing eras of national progress, but also for its individual achievements and influences that are woven into the business and civic structure of Indianapolis. He was a young and prosperous business man during those momentous days when America was girding itself for the struggle over the Union and slavery. He lived through the prosperous half century that followed, marking an era of material development such as the world has never see, and his life came to an end after war's fury had again loosed itself upon the world and had even drawn the land of his adoption into an ever widening conflict.

The life that came to a close at the age of eighty-nine had its beginning at Bremen, Hanover, Germany, March 19, 1828, under the English flag. He was a son of John Henry and Anna Margaretha (Woernke) Vajen. He came of a long line of Lutheran clergymen and educators. His father was a professor is the University of Stade in Hanover. In. 1836, when John H. Jr., was eight years old, the family sought a home in America, locating in Baltimore, where the father spent a year as a teacher. He was a man of unusual talents and was a musician as well as a teacher and preacher. From Baltimore he family moved to Cincinnati, and then in 1839, John H. Vajen, Sr., with several other families bought land in Jackson county, Indiana, near Seymour, and organized a colony of German Lutherans.

The late John Henry Vajen was eleven years of age when brought to Indiana. He spent most of his youth on a farm, and his studies were largely directed with a view of his entering the ministry. In 1845 his father died, and that turned his activities into an entirely new channel. He was then seventeen years of age, and he soon left home to seek employment in Cincinnati. AS a clerk in a large wholesale and retail hardware store he made such good use of his opportunities and became so indispensable to the firm that in 1848 he was given an interest therein.

In 1850, Mr. Vajen married and the following year severed his interest with the Cincinnati firm and came to Indianapolis. In this city he opened a wholesale and retail hardware store on East Washington Street, and in 1856, to better accommodate his growing trade, he erected what was then one of the modern buildings of the downtown district, a four-story structure at 21 West Washington Street. J. S. Hildebrand and J. L. Fugate became associated with him. In 1871 Mr Vajen retired from the hardware business, selling his interest to his partners, and for more than forty years he was busied only with his private affairs. He had a summer house at Lake Maxinkuckee, Indiana, and spent many weeks each year there, enjoying his favorite sport of fishing. He also invested heavily in local real estate, and at the time of his death was a wealthy man.

In 1861, when the Civil war broke out, Governor Morton appointed Mr. Vajen quartermaster general of the state. It became his duty in this capacity to form all the plans with regard to the equipment of the first enrollment of Indiana troops. He carried out this work with such energy and vigor that the Indiana troops were the first well equipped forces in the field, and that fact was always redounded to Indiana's credit in history of that great struggle. Much of the early equipment for these volunteers was obtained largely through Mr. Vajen's personal credit. He became known as the "right hand man" of Governor Morton, and at the present time his efforts as an organizer can perhaps be better appreciated tan at any previous date.

Mr Vajen's active life was contemporaneous with the life of Indianapolis. He saw it grow from a struggling village of a thousand inhabitants to a large commercial city. He was prominently identified with practically all the early charities and enterprises of the city. In 1864 he assisted in the organization of the banking house of Fletcher, Vajen & Company, which was merged into the Fourth National Bank and afterward became the Citizens National Bank. Mr. Vajen was a director and stockholder in this institution until it surrendered its charter.

At the time of his death he was the only surviving one of the original incorporators of the Crown Hill Cemetery Association, and gave substantially to public and private charities of all kinds. He was a Mason and Odd Fellow, a member of the Presbyterian Church and a very ardent republican, though not in politics save as a voter. Throughout his long life he was a fine and high thinking, and one whose chief delight was in the simple things of the world.

In 1850 Mr. Vajen married Miss Alice Fugate, daughter of Thomas F. and Elizabeth (Eckert) Fugate. Mrs. Vajen died in 1901. Seven children were born to them: Willis, who died in 1899; Frank L.; John, who died in 1885; Fannie wife of Charles S. Voorhees, a son of Senator Voorhees; Alice, wife of Henry Lane Wilson; Charles T.; and Mrs. Caroline Vajen Collins. Mr. Vajen was also survived by seven grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.





John Henry Vagen born Bremen, Hanover, Germany, March 19, 1828 died Indianapolis, Marion, Indiana May 28, 1917 Burial: 05/31/1917 Crown Hill Cemetery Indianapolis, Marion, Indiana Section: 24 Lot: 2 son of John Henry and Anna Margaretha (Woernke) Vajen
    Indianapolis Star Indianapolis, Indiana
    Wednesday, May 30, 1917 Page 14
    J. H. Vajen,City Pioneer, 89, dies
    Was Well-Known Buisness Man and
    Last Member of Governor Morton's Military Staff
    Soldier and Philanthropist Dead After Long Illness


    John Henry Vajen, the last surviving member of the military staff of Governor Morton, and a windley known business man of Indianapolis, died early yesterday at his home, 630 North Meridian street. He was 89 years old. Mr. Vajen;s death came unexpectedly, although he had been in ill health formore than two years.

    FUneral services will be held at the residence at 2:30 o'clock tommorrow afternon [afternoon]. The burial will be in Crown Hill Cemetery and will be private.

    Mr. Vajen was guartermaster-general of the Indiana volunteer troops in the civil war, and his name occupies an important place in the state's history through the services he gave to the state and nation in sending the first fully equipped troops into the field. A large part of the equipment of the first state troops was obtained through Mrs. Vajen's personal credit.
    Born in Germany in 1828.
    He was born in Hanover, germany, March 19, 18928, having come from a long lines of Lutheran ministers. His father came to the United States in 1836 and settled in Baltimore, and a year later the family moved to Cincinnati, O. Two years later they moved to Jackson county, Indiana, where his father organized a German Lutheran colony and his father having previously joined the ministry, preached extensively in Jackson and Bartholomew coutnies.

    After the death of his father in 1845, Mr. Vajen returned to Cincinnati where he was employed as a clerk in a large wholesale and retail hardware store, later becoming financially interested in the business. In 1851 Mr. Vajen came to Indianapolis, and he had lived here since. Soon after coming to Indianapolis, Mr. Vajen opened a wholesale and retail hardware store on East Washington street. In 1871 he retired from business, selling his establishment to the men with whom he was asscociated.

    Mr. Vajen was married to Miss Alice Fugate in October, 1850. Mrs. Vajen died about sixteen years ago.
    Helped Equip Indiana Troops.
    When the war brooke out in 1861, Governor Morton appointed Mr. Vajen quartermaster general on the recommendation of a large number of business men. It is a matter of history that of the first troops into the field, the Indiana men were better equipped and generally better prepared than those of any other state. It was Mr. Vajen's duty to inaugurate all plans with _ _ equipment of the first troops, and his duties were dificult because the _ notice on which all purchases for the comfort of thousands of men bad to be made.

    The official reports show that the work of supplying the necessary equipment was carefully done, due to the business training and the faithfulness of Mr. Vajen. He resigned the office of quartermaster general after a year, and in March, 1865, he assisted in organizing the banking firm of Fletcher, Vajen & Co., which continued for one year, under _. Afterward it became known as the Fourth National Bank, and later became the Citizens National Bank, of which Mr. Vajen was a director and large stockholder.

    Mr. Vajen was two sons and three daughter living. They are Frank and CHarles T. Vajen and Mrs. Charles S. Voorhees, Mrs. Henry Lane Wilson and Mrs. Carolline Vajen Collins. There are also seven granchildren.
    Name Was in Firwst Directory
    In the earlier and more active days of his career Mr. Vajen was prominently associated and identified with a large number of enterprises. He came to Indianapolis when it was a small, stryuggling village of a few thousand inhabitants. His name appears in the first City Directory every published in Idnaianpolis - the issue of 1855.

    Mr. Vajen was known to his intimate friends as a large donor to charitable institutions and causes. His personal friends say that during the last fifteen years of his life he gave fully one-fourth of his income to charity. He disliked publicity in that connection and declined to have any public mention made with teference to his gifts. He was a member of several lodges, chief among them being the Odd Fellows and the Masonic organizations.

    Indianapolis Star Indianapolis, Indiana
    Wednesday, May 30, 1917 Page 4
    John Henry Vajen
    The influence of character and personality is a element that cannot be measured; it can only be felt. A Man who has spent his life in one community and has been a good citizen - upright, moral of strictest integrity, a promoter of publice welfar, a kindly neighbot and helpful friend - must wield an influence however quiet and unassuming he may be.

    It is likely that Mr. John H. Vajen, dead at 89 years, never dreamed of the extent of the place he had made for himself in Indianapolis or the strenght of the esteem in which he was held by his fellow citizens. In active business for more than a half a century and in the time when the city's broadest foundations were laid and its most rapid growth made, he formed a part of the general background that gave the community standing and character; his name represented the best in citizenship and stood for commercial and personal integrity.

    Mr. Vajen has not figured actively in business or public affairs for many years, but his influence did not vanish with his retirement. His may years of mercantile life made his name a sunonum for rectitude and square dealing and its traditions will not soon be lost. He lived a long and honorable life and did his part well.

    Indianapolis Star Indianapolis, Indiana
    Thursday, May 31, 1917 Page 11
    Vajen Funeral is Today
    The funeral of John Henry Vajen, one of the first business men of Indianapolis and quartermaster general of the Indiana Volunteer troops of the Civil War, who died at his home, 630 North Meridian stree, Tuesday morning, will be held at the home this afternoon. The Rev. Owen D. Odell will conduct the service at the home s 2:30 o'clock. The burial will in Crown Hill will be private. The active pallbearers will be Frank D. Stalmaker, James W. Lilly, Charles Williams, Dr. Carleton R. McCulloch, Lynn B. Martindale, Edosn T. Wood and George Hunde. The honorary pallbearers will be Charles W. Fairbanks, John H. Holliday, Volney T. Maloot, Thomas Spann, Charles Smith and Charles E. Coffin. Flowers will be omitted.
he married October, 1850 Alice Fugate Burial: 12/26/1901 Crown Hill Cemetery Indianapolis, Marion, Indiana Section: 24 Lot: 2 , daughter of Thomas F. and Elizabeth (Eckert) Fugate. Their children:
    1 Willis C. Vagen b. 11 /1851 Cincinnati, Ohio d. Died: July 22, 1900 age 48 years and 8 months buried Died: July 22, 1900 age 48 years and 8 months buried 07/24/1900 Section 29 Lot: 7 Crown Hill Cemetery, Indianapolis, Indiana m. Anna Claypool 8-29-1876 in Indianapolis.

    2 Frank L. Vagen Burial: 08/01/1924 Section: 24 Lot: 21 Crown Hill Cemetery Indianapolis, Marion, Indiana

    3 John Henry Vagen Jr. Burial: 05/27/1884 Section: 29 Lot: 9 Crown Hill Cemetery Indianapolis, Marion, Indiana married Sally/Sallie E. Downing 1860-1947) burial: 09/03/1947 Section: 29 Lot: 9 Crown Hill Cemetery Indianapolis, Marion, Indiana was the daughter of Col. Michael A. Downing married 2nd William Henry Coleman (1848?-1946) Burial: 12/16/1946 Section: 29 Lot: 9 Crown Hill Cemetery Indianapolis, Marion, Indiana
      Suemma Vajen Coleman (1883-April 16, 1924) Burial: 04/18/1924 Section: 29 Lot: 9 Crown Hill Cemetery Indianapolis, Marion, Indiana married 1907 William Avery Atkins (1879-1958)Burial: 12/22/1958 Section: 36 Lot: 48 Crown Hill Cemetery Indianapolis, Marion, Indiana
        William Coleman Atkins b. April 1924 Burial: 09/02/1937 Section: 29 Lot: 9 Crown Hill Cemetery Indianapolis, Marion, Indiana


    4 Fannie Vagen wife of Charles S. Voorhees, a son of Senator Voorhees

    5 Alice Vagen, married 1885 Henry Lane Wilson

    6 Charles Thomas Vagen Burial: 01/28/1930 Section: 24 Lot: 2 Crown Hill Cemetery Indianapolis, Marion, Indiana
      Indianapolis Star, Indianapolis, Indiana
      Saturday, November 17, 1917 Page 7
      Mr. and Mrs. Charles T. Vajen, formerly of 510 North Meridian Street have taken an appartment in the Winter Apartment, 1321 North Meridian street, for the winter.


    7 Caroline Vajen married [-?-] Collins


Other burials Listed Crown Hill Cemetery Indianapolis, Marion, Indiana
EDNA F. VAJEN Burial: 12/29/1977 Section: 73 Marker: Yes Lot: 43 KATHERINE DOLL VAJEN Burial: 06/20/1932 Section: 24 Marker: Yes Lot: 2




Vajen’s Exchange Block
100 Block S. Meridian Street
1872

The Meridian Street frontage of Nordstrom, a Circle Centre anchor, includes four historic facades in a row, with three (Malott, Schnull-Rothschild, Crane) in their original locations. The Vajen’s Exchange Block was originally located on 124-126 N. Pennsylvania Street. It was built to house a grain exchange symbolized in its cast-iron ornaments.





The Vajen Subdivision was platted by John Henry Vajen on March 2, 1857 and recorded 13 days later. It is located in today's Lockerbie Square Secondary Area, which almost encircles the Lockerbie Square Historic Core, and is composed of nine subdivisions platted between 1845 and ca. 1900.




Indianapolis City Directory, 1889. Indianapolis, IN: R.L. Polk and Co., 1889 & 1890

Name: John H Vajen
City: Indianapolis
State: IN
Year: 1889 & 1890
Location 2: 128 N Meridian



The Hardware merchant John H. Vajen (1828-1917), an immigrant from Bremen, had this commercial building constructed in 1872. This spectacular place housed retail shops and a grain exchange. It featured a three-story cast-iron facade in the popular Italianate Style. It was demolished in 1980 to make way for the Bank One Tower. Eleven of the block’s thirteen bays were integrated into the Circle Centre Mall in 1994 and are now a part of the Nordstrom Block.








SALLIE E. COLEMAN SCRAPBOOK , 1922-1950

SALLIE E. COLEMAN DIARY, 1889

Sallie E. (Downing) Coleman (fl. 1860-1947) was the daughter of Col. Michael A. Downing, who made a fortune with cable cars in Denver, then moved to Indianapolis and served as police commissioner (1884), president of the board of public works (1895-1901), and park commissioner (1901-1908).

Sallie Downing's first husband was John H. Vajen, Jr. They had a daughter, Suemma [Suemma Vajen Coleman] (1883-1924), who married 1907 William Avery Atkins (1879-1958), an Indianapolis businessman. She died on April 16, 1924 shortly after the birth of their child. The William H. Coleman Hospital, which closed in 1974, was dedicated in her memory. Suemma and William A. were the parents of William Coleman Atkins (d. 1937). See also: SC 31, William Coleman Letters.

After Mr. Vajen's death, she married William Henry Coleman (1848?-1946).
    My name is Caroline Vajen Brown Robbins, we live in Zionsville, IN

    I have been reading with joy the information provided on the Lake Maxinkuckee website. Our family has records dating back to the 17century for our family tree and I am enjoying reading them during these cold winter days.

    When I read the article about Sallie E. Downing married to John Henry Vajen I got a little confused. You will see on the above that it states......Sallie Downing's first husband was John H. Vajen, Jr. They had a daughter, Suemma [Suemma Vajen etc. He was not a Jr. he was the III

    John Henry Vajen III born 1855 in Indianapolis died 1884 Indianapolis buried in Crown Hill Cemetery. His father John Henry Vajen Jr and mother Alice Fugate Vajen are buried in the Vajen Mausoleum in front of the Chapel at Crown Hill.

    John III and Sallie were married on June 1, 1881 in Indy. On May 22, 1889 she married William H. Coleman.





The Vajen Subdivision was platted by John Henry Vajen on March 2, 1857 and recorded 13 days later. It is located in today's Lockerbie Square Secondary Area, which almost encircles the Lockerbie Square Historic Core, and is composed of nine subdivisions platted between 1845 and ca. 1900.





Charles Stewart Voorhees (deceased). The name of Voorhees has added lustre to the political record of the nation in a measure seldom equaled in our history.

Daniel W. Voorhees, the "Tall Sycamore of the Wabash," needs no special mention in the pages of this work, for his accomplishments are familiar to all who have made the most cursory study of American history. Born in Camden, Butler county, Ohio, his early youth was passed on a farm near what is now Veedersburg, Indiana, educated at old Asbury College, now DePauw, he quickly won renown as an orator and lawyer. His appeals to juries were invincible, and have come down as the most brilliant of his time. In 1858, he was appointed United States District Attorney by President Buchanan, and in 1860, was elected to Congress, as he was also in 1862, 1868 and 1870. He was then elected to the Senate, where he was undisputed leader of the Democratic party until the time of his death in 1897, at the age of seventy years.

His son, Charles Stewart Voorhees, was born in Covington, Fountain county, Indiana, in 1853, and assumed a place of political prominence only less eminent than that of his father. He was given excellent educational advantages at both Wabash College and Columbia University, where he studied law, and in 1875 was admitted to practice before the Terre Haute bar. He was recognized as a young man of brilliant future throughout Indiana, but in 1882 went to Washington territory with his life long friend, afterwards, senator from the State of Washington, Hon. John L. Wilson; deciding to cast his lot in the new country. Settling at Colfax, Washington, he was in the same year elected prosecuting attorney from Whitman county. He rapidly took the lead in Democratic political matters in Washington, and was elected as territorial delegate to the 49th and 50th United States Congresses, serving with marked ability from March 4, 1885, to March 3, 1889, his father having been senator from Indiana during the same years. He was subsequently given the complimentary vote of his party for the United States Senate, and during his life maintained a leading position in political affairs of the State of Washington. He spent the closing years of his life, which was cut all too short, in Washington, passing away December 26, 1909, at Spokane.

He married Fanny Vajen, the daughter of John Henry Vajen, a leading citizen of Indianapolis, and a member of Governor Morton's Staff during the Civil War. Mrs. Voorhees is now living at 1321 North Meridian street. Their daughter, Annabelle, is the wife of Austin Hayward Brown, Ill., the son of William J. and Cordelia (Garvin) Brown, and a grandson of that Austin H. Brown who was one of Indianapolis pioneers. She maintains a membership in the Woodstock Club, life membership in Matinee Musicale and has numerous other social and civic connections.
History of Indiana From Its Exploration to 1922
With an Account of Indianapolis and Marion County Vol. IV
by Logan Esarey Dayton Historical Publishing Co
1924




Henry Lane WILSON married Alice VAJEN, a daughter of John H. Vajen

History of Montgomery County, Indiana. Indianapolis: AW Bowen, 1913, p. 777

Henry Lane WILSON, present American Ambassador to Mexico, was born in Crawfordsville in 1857, his father being James Wilson, who was born in the same place and whose ancestors came to Indiana through Kentucky from Virginia, and his mother, Emma Ingersoll of a New England family.

James Wilson, the father, graduated from the Indiana Law University in 1844. He later served two terms in Congress, winning his election the first time over Daniel W. Voorhees, the Democratic candidate, on the issue of the Kansas-Nebraska Bill and State Sovereignty. In that day the joint discussion between these two young leaders of opposite political opinions attracted attention throughout the North and is still remembered by some of the older people in Indiana. At the outbreak of the War of the Rebellion, James Wilson entered the ranks of the Union Army and went to the front, from whence he was recalled by President Lincoln and commissioned to defend the Emancipation Proclamation throughout all New England, Pa, NY and Ohio. At the close of the war he was brevetted Brigadier General.

Some time after he took an active and high part in the councils of the Republican party and would undoubtedly have been sent to the Senate or made Governor but for his oposition to negro suffrage without educational preparation.

He was appointed Minister to Venezuela by Andrew Jackson and died in that country at the early age of 42, at almost the beginning of what would undoubtedly have been a distinguished career.

Henry Lane Wilson passed all of his earlier years, with the exception of two years in Venezuela, in Crawfordsville, receiving a primary education in the public schools and entered Wabash College in 1875. At that time Joseph F. Tuttle wqas President of the College and Edmund O. Hovey, Caleb S. Mills, John L. Campbell and Samuel S. Thompson were yet in the full vigor of their usefulness and affording splendid examples of rugged piety and devotion to duty and of dignity and profound learning, and it is to the deep impressions made by these men that he owes in a considerable measure for whatever success he has achieved in life. During his college years he divided his time and interest between extensive and thorough reading and politics and political discussions, never missing a political speech that he could possibly hear and listening with eagerness and profit to the homely discussions of the farmers and odd characters for which Crawfordsville used to be famous.

His education and equipment for the world did not come easily, as at the threshold of his college career the family fortune was largely swept away. To the devotion, energy and self-sacrifice of his mother, he ascribes all of his success in life as well as the inculcation of those principles of morality, honesty and truthfulness without which no man can attain lasting success. Among the members of his class who still remain in Indiana are: Albert B. Anderson, United States District Judge; Arthur B. Milford, Professor of English Literature at Wabash College and James H. Osborne, Professor of Latin in the same institution. Others who were in college at the same time, though not classmates were: Vice President Thomas R. Marshall; Charles B. Landis; Albert Baker; James Daniels; Harry J. Milligan and Harold Taylor.

In his earlier days he listened to the political speeches of Oliver Morton; Thomas A. Hendricks; Benjamin Harrison; Joseph E. MacDonald and the gifted, but erratic, Thomas H. Nelson, one of his predecessors in Mexico. He also received valuable political instruction from Col. Henry S. Lane and from his uncle, William C. Wilson of Lafayette, a distinguished lawyer and orator. He made his first political speech at age 20 at Waveland in Montgomery County in company with James A. Mount, who afterwards became Governor of Indiana. From that time on he was engaged in politics, and his public speaking has been carried on with greater or less success until the present day.

Following his graduation from college he secured a position as engrossing clerk in the State Legislature at Indianapolis and later entered the law office of MacDonald & Butler. He soon purchased the Lafayette Daily Journal and, as it did not prove a successful venture, sold it a year later without loss.

In 1885, he married Alice VAJEN, a daughter of John H. Vajen, a prominent and well known citizen of Indianapolis, and moved to the town of Spokane, in the eastern part of the state of Washington. There he resumed the practice of law, making a specialty of land practice. In this he made a pronounced success and his fortunes improved rapidly. About this time Spokane began the marvelous growth which has now made it one of the great cities of the Union, and he commenced investing in real estate with immediate and astonishing success. In the course of a few years he amassed a large fortune and became interested in banks, buildings, real estate and promotion companies. In the panic of 1893, all of this fortune was swept away, not through unwise investments or inability to meet his own debts, but through the failure of two banks in which he was heavily interested and by reason of being called upon almost simultaneously to bear the burden of the failure of other men for whom he stood as endorser or surety. He gave up all of his property and afterwards paid more than one hundred thousand dollars to clear his name and credit. During this period he was largely identified with the development of the state of Washington and with its politics, and his name was connected with a majority of measures of a public character in that section of the country.

Politics to him at that time was simply a diversion or perhaps a practical method of being of service to his brother, John L. Wilson, who was then, and continued to be until his death, an active figure in that state. When Benjamin Harrison was elected President, our subject had been living some time in the state of Washington and he, with his brother, managed to create a sentiment favorable to Harrison's nomination, which resulted in his having a third of the state delegation. When Harrison was elected, he spontaneously offered Mr. Wilson the post of Minister of Venezuela, but, as he had no ambition in the direction of the diplomatic service at that time, he declined the offer.

When William McKinley was elected President, Mr. Wilson took a large part in the management of the campaign in Washington, Idaho and Montana and also spoke continuously for 40 days in the face of generally hostile and sometimes boisterous free-silver audiences. Early in 1897, President McKinley offered him the post of minister to Chile, and he accepted, going to that country with his mother, wife and 3 children. He remained at that post for 8 years his services being in every way successful and useful to his government. He came in time to exert great influence - an influence born to confidence and faith with the Chilean people, and was able not only to render substantial aid to the business and political interests of his own country, but to contribute in a large measure on two occasions to prevent war with Chile and Argentine Republic. Mr. Wilson's respect and liking for the Chilean people was very profound and this feeling was reciprocated, and the Chilean government has never ceased to follow him with marks of respect and esteem. Only recnetly the University of Chile, the oldest in America, conferred upon him the degree of Doctor of Philsophy, Humanities and Literature, a degree that has never before been conferred on an American.

During Mr. Wilson's residence in Chile, he was twice transferred to other posts, once to Portugal and once to Greece, but was allowed to remain in Chile upon his own request. In 1905, Pres. Roosevelt promoted him from Chile to Belgium and upon announcing the appointment to the Associated Press along with those of two other gentlemen, said, "These appointments ae not made for poltiical considerations but solely for meritorious service performed." This was surely true in Mr. Wilson's case, since his apointment was opposed by both Senators from Washington. Mr. Wilson remained in Belgium 5 years and during that time saw King Leopold pass away and, as the special ambassador of the President, stood at the right hand of King Albert when he was enthroned. He had really only one important question to handle while in Belgium, namely: the Congo question, a most delicate and trying piece of diplomacy, which was managed to the entire satisfaction of the President and Secreatry Root. The locality of the post gave him access to many oppotunites for study, observation and travel in France, Italy, Germany, Holland and England the experience was altogether a useful one.

In 1910, President Taft, after tendering Mr. Wilson two embassies in Europe which he could not accept for financial reasons, sent him as ambassador to Mexico. Since he has been at that post, four Presidents have held office in that country: Diaz; De La Barra; Madero and Huerta. Three revolutions have been inaugurated and the times have been troublous and dangerous. There are 40,000 Americans in Mexico; nearly 10,000 in Mexico City. There is a larger investment of American capital there than in any other country and there is double the amount of work in that embassy than in any other of our diplomatic posts. Mexico is, therefore, aside from the glamour of social precedence which surrounds a European post, the most important diplomatic post in the service. Mr. Wilson's work in Mexico always had the full approval of President Taft and his cabinet, the former saying a short time after his retirement from office, 'What a misfortune it is that our rotten system of politics seems to require changes in our diplomatic service and thus bring about the loss of a man of the experience and ability of Mr. Wilson, who has served his country so faithfully for so many years and deserves the respect of his country's people. Men of his type should never be forced out of the field of usefulness." Mr. Wilson has been 16 years continuously in the diplomatic service is in time of service the senior member of the diplomatic corps, and has served longer in these capacities than anyone else since the foundation of our government.





Henry Lane Wilson was born Nov 3 1856 in Crawfordsville, Indiana. He died Dec 22 1932 Indianapolis. Henry married Alice Vajen on Oct 24 1883 in Indianapolis, Indiana. Alice was born 21 Sep. 1860 in Indianapolis, Marion Co., Indiana. Both are buried Crown Hill Cemetery Indianapolis Indiana. They had the following children:
    i John Vajen Wilson
    ii Warden McKee Wilson of the American Legation at Caracas, Venezuela
    iii Stewart Collins Wilson married Gertrude . Of Indianapolis, Indiana.

John Vajen Wilson was born Feb 28 1889 in Indianapolis, Marion Co., Indiana. John married Ruth McCabe. Resided Hollywood, California. They had the following children:
    i Alice Virginia Wilson
    ii Anna Caroline Wilson