This is William Henry Coleman who married widow Sallie E (Downing) Vajen. In 1927, they funded the building of the William H. Coleman Women's Hospital in Indianapolis IN, the hospital where I was born in 1947.
Sallie's daughter from her first marriage, Suemma, had died during childbirth in 1924, prompting the funding of a new hospital for women specializing in obstetrics. This building is still located at 1140 W. Michigan St., Indianapolis, IN and now houses the Division of Allied Health Sciences of Indiana University School of Medicine. Here is a web link: http://www.iupui.edu/~history/OLDSITE/trail/2.htm
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Indianapolis Star - Saturday, December 14, 1946:
William H. Coleman, Indianapolis philanthropist, died of pneumonia late yesterday in the hospital which bears his name and which he helped to make possible--William H. Coleman Hospital for Women.
He was 98 years old and had been ill only one week. Previously he had been in excellent health and walked daily from his home at 1006 North Meridian Street, which he occupied with his wife for nearly 60 years, to his office at 216-1/2 North Meridian Street.
His wife, Mrs. Sallie E. Coleman, is the only immediate survivor. There are six nephews and four nieces. None lives in Indianapolis.
Mr. Coleman rose from a New York State farm boy to become a lumber industrialist and philanthropist whose gifts in his adopted city of Indianapolis totaled more than $1,000,000.
Included in his philanthropies was $350,000 for the Coleman Hospital at Indiana University Medical Center, erected in 1927. the hospital was dedicated to the memory of a daughter, the late Mrs. Suemma Vajen Atkins.
In addition, Mr. and Mrs. Coleman gave generously to the Methodist Hospital, James Whitcomb Riley Hospital for Children, the Christamore Home, and other hospitals.
Funeral services will be held at 2 o'clock Monday afternoon in the home. Dr. Jean S. Milner, pastor of Second Presbyterian Church, will officiate. Burial will be in Crown Hill Cemetery.
Mr. Coleman also contributed toward the establishment of two hospitals in New York state and since 1939 had been a supporter of the Maple Leaf Society of Canada, contributing blankets as well as money.
He endowed three chairs at the Indiana University School of Medicine for $25,000 each in the fields of ophthalmology, gynecology, and surgery.
In memory of his sister, Mrs. Fannie Smith, Mr. Coleman gave a nurses' home to a hospital in Hornell, New York. He built the auditorium for Christamore Settlement here and contributed a room to Suemma Coleman Home. He also had given $35,000 to Methodist Hospital here. He had many smaller "pet" charities besides.
His fortune was founded on lumber and, before his retirement several years ago, he operated factories which processed wood in Terre Haute, Indiana, Muncie, Indiana, Memphis, Tennessee, and Jackson Tennessee. His principal markets were Chicago, Cleveland, Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York.
Although his business interests principally were outside Indianapolis, Mr. Coleman remained here. He and Mrs. Coleman lived for the last 60 years in their palatial 23-room house.
Mr. Coleman was born in 1848 in where his parents had settled after coming to the United States from Manchester, England. When he was 5 years old, his father died and his mother took him to Canisteo, New York where at an early age he worked in the fields. He took winter jobs in Pennsylvania lumber camps and once walked 70 miles from the Canisteo farm to a lumber camp in Pennsylvania for a job. His work in lumber camps gave him a taste for the lumber business and opened his eyes to the possibilities of its development.
Before he began spending his winters working in lumber camps, he attended rural schools and once taught for three months in a district school near Canisteo.
As he grew older, he began milling and marketing his own lumber. In 1880 he came to Indianapolis as an employee of Henry Alfrey, a lumber merchant. In time, he acquired a partnership with Alfrey and bought out the business.
He operated a business on the south side of the city, making barrel headings and staves for the Standard Oil Company.
In 1892, headquarters of his business was moved to Terre Haute from where it expanded into one of the largest lumber processing businesses in the country.
Mr. Coleman was widely traveled. He and Mrs. Coleman made a round-the-world cruise with their daughter in 1900 and later made 18 trips to Europe, two of them to Russia.
Surviving nephews are Fred T. Smith, Jackson, Tennessee; Harry C. Smith, Canisteo; Smith Childs, Jackson; Goff Smith, St. Louis, Missouri; Lloyd Smith, Grand Rapids, Michigan; and Seward Smith, Canisteo. Fred T. Smith is manager of W. H. Coleman Company manufacturing coopers in Jackson.
Nieces include Mrs. Mary Whiting of Hornell, New York; Miss Mable Smith and Miss Blanche Smith, and Mrs. Grace Childs, all of Canisteo.
Honorary pallbearers will be Dr. Willis D. Gatch, Dr. James O. Ritchie, Dr. Carl P. Huber, Dr. Dudley Pfaff, Dr. Charles W. Myers, Dr. Carlton B. McCulloch, William A. Atkins, Thompson Kurrie, Hilton U. Brown, Alfred P. Conklin, J. K. Lilly, Arthur V. Brown, John W. Keller, and W. A. Miskimen.
Sallie's daughter from her first marriage, Suemma, had died during childbirth in 1924, prompting the funding of a new hospital for women specializing in obstetrics. This building is still located at 1140 W. Michigan St., Indianapolis, IN and now houses the Division of Allied Health Sciences of Indiana University School of Medicine. Here is a web link: http://www.iupui.edu/~history/OLDSITE/trail/2.htm
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Indianapolis Star - Saturday, December 14, 1946:
William H. Coleman, Indianapolis philanthropist, died of pneumonia late yesterday in the hospital which bears his name and which he helped to make possible--William H. Coleman Hospital for Women.
He was 98 years old and had been ill only one week. Previously he had been in excellent health and walked daily from his home at 1006 North Meridian Street, which he occupied with his wife for nearly 60 years, to his office at 216-1/2 North Meridian Street.
His wife, Mrs. Sallie E. Coleman, is the only immediate survivor. There are six nephews and four nieces. None lives in Indianapolis.
Mr. Coleman rose from a New York State farm boy to become a lumber industrialist and philanthropist whose gifts in his adopted city of Indianapolis totaled more than $1,000,000.
Included in his philanthropies was $350,000 for the Coleman Hospital at Indiana University Medical Center, erected in 1927. the hospital was dedicated to the memory of a daughter, the late Mrs. Suemma Vajen Atkins.
In addition, Mr. and Mrs. Coleman gave generously to the Methodist Hospital, James Whitcomb Riley Hospital for Children, the Christamore Home, and other hospitals.
Funeral services will be held at 2 o'clock Monday afternoon in the home. Dr. Jean S. Milner, pastor of Second Presbyterian Church, will officiate. Burial will be in Crown Hill Cemetery.
Mr. Coleman also contributed toward the establishment of two hospitals in New York state and since 1939 had been a supporter of the Maple Leaf Society of Canada, contributing blankets as well as money.
He endowed three chairs at the Indiana University School of Medicine for $25,000 each in the fields of ophthalmology, gynecology, and surgery.
In memory of his sister, Mrs. Fannie Smith, Mr. Coleman gave a nurses' home to a hospital in Hornell, New York. He built the auditorium for Christamore Settlement here and contributed a room to Suemma Coleman Home. He also had given $35,000 to Methodist Hospital here. He had many smaller "pet" charities besides.
His fortune was founded on lumber and, before his retirement several years ago, he operated factories which processed wood in Terre Haute, Indiana, Muncie, Indiana, Memphis, Tennessee, and Jackson Tennessee. His principal markets were Chicago, Cleveland, Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York.
Although his business interests principally were outside Indianapolis, Mr. Coleman remained here. He and Mrs. Coleman lived for the last 60 years in their palatial 23-room house.
Mr. Coleman was born in 1848 in where his parents had settled after coming to the United States from Manchester, England. When he was 5 years old, his father died and his mother took him to Canisteo, New York where at an early age he worked in the fields. He took winter jobs in Pennsylvania lumber camps and once walked 70 miles from the Canisteo farm to a lumber camp in Pennsylvania for a job. His work in lumber camps gave him a taste for the lumber business and opened his eyes to the possibilities of its development.
Before he began spending his winters working in lumber camps, he attended rural schools and once taught for three months in a district school near Canisteo.
As he grew older, he began milling and marketing his own lumber. In 1880 he came to Indianapolis as an employee of Henry Alfrey, a lumber merchant. In time, he acquired a partnership with Alfrey and bought out the business.
He operated a business on the south side of the city, making barrel headings and staves for the Standard Oil Company.
In 1892, headquarters of his business was moved to Terre Haute from where it expanded into one of the largest lumber processing businesses in the country.
Mr. Coleman was widely traveled. He and Mrs. Coleman made a round-the-world cruise with their daughter in 1900 and later made 18 trips to Europe, two of them to Russia.
Surviving nephews are Fred T. Smith, Jackson, Tennessee; Harry C. Smith, Canisteo; Smith Childs, Jackson; Goff Smith, St. Louis, Missouri; Lloyd Smith, Grand Rapids, Michigan; and Seward Smith, Canisteo. Fred T. Smith is manager of W. H. Coleman Company manufacturing coopers in Jackson.
Nieces include Mrs. Mary Whiting of Hornell, New York; Miss Mable Smith and Miss Blanche Smith, and Mrs. Grace Childs, all of Canisteo.
Honorary pallbearers will be Dr. Willis D. Gatch, Dr. James O. Ritchie, Dr. Carl P. Huber, Dr. Dudley Pfaff, Dr. Charles W. Myers, Dr. Carlton B. McCulloch, William A. Atkins, Thompson Kurrie, Hilton U. Brown, Alfred P. Conklin, J. K. Lilly, Arthur V. Brown, John W. Keller, and W. A. Miskimen.
This is William Henry Coleman who married widow Sallie E (Downing) Vajen. In 1927, they funded the building of the William H. Coleman Women's Hospital in Indianapolis IN, the hospital where I was born in 1947.
Sallie's daughter from her first marriage, Suemma, had died during childbirth in 1924, prompting the funding of a new hospital for women specializing in obstetrics. This building is still located at 1140 W. Michigan St., Indianapolis, IN and now houses the Division of Allied Health Sciences of Indiana University School of Medicine. Here is a web link: http://www.iupui.edu/~history/OLDSITE/trail/2.htm
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Indianapolis Star - Saturday, December 14, 1946:
William H. Coleman, Indianapolis philanthropist, died of pneumonia late yesterday in the hospital which bears his name and which he helped to make possible--William H. Coleman Hospital for Women.
He was 98 years old and had been ill only one week. Previously he had been in excellent health and walked daily from his home at 1006 North Meridian Street, which he occupied with his wife for nearly 60 years, to his office at 216-1/2 North Meridian Street.
His wife, Mrs. Sallie E. Coleman, is the only immediate survivor. There are six nephews and four nieces. None lives in Indianapolis.
Mr. Coleman rose from a New York State farm boy to become a lumber industrialist and philanthropist whose gifts in his adopted city of Indianapolis totaled more than $1,000,000.
Included in his philanthropies was $350,000 for the Coleman Hospital at Indiana University Medical Center, erected in 1927. the hospital was dedicated to the memory of a daughter, the late Mrs. Suemma Vajen Atkins.
In addition, Mr. and Mrs. Coleman gave generously to the Methodist Hospital, James Whitcomb Riley Hospital for Children, the Christamore Home, and other hospitals.
Funeral services will be held at 2 o'clock Monday afternoon in the home. Dr. Jean S. Milner, pastor of Second Presbyterian Church, will officiate. Burial will be in Crown Hill Cemetery.
Mr. Coleman also contributed toward the establishment of two hospitals in New York state and since 1939 had been a supporter of the Maple Leaf Society of Canada, contributing blankets as well as money.
He endowed three chairs at the Indiana University School of Medicine for $25,000 each in the fields of ophthalmology, gynecology, and surgery.
In memory of his sister, Mrs. Fannie Smith, Mr. Coleman gave a nurses' home to a hospital in Hornell, New York. He built the auditorium for Christamore Settlement here and contributed a room to Suemma Coleman Home. He also had given $35,000 to Methodist Hospital here. He had many smaller "pet" charities besides.
His fortune was founded on lumber and, before his retirement several years ago, he operated factories which processed wood in Terre Haute, Indiana, Muncie, Indiana, Memphis, Tennessee, and Jackson Tennessee. His principal markets were Chicago, Cleveland, Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York.
Although his business interests principally were outside Indianapolis, Mr. Coleman remained here. He and Mrs. Coleman lived for the last 60 years in their palatial 23-room house.
Mr. Coleman was born in 1848 in where his parents had settled after coming to the United States from Manchester, England. When he was 5 years old, his father died and his mother took him to Canisteo, New York where at an early age he worked in the fields. He took winter jobs in Pennsylvania lumber camps and once walked 70 miles from the Canisteo farm to a lumber camp in Pennsylvania for a job. His work in lumber camps gave him a taste for the lumber business and opened his eyes to the possibilities of its development.
Before he began spending his winters working in lumber camps, he attended rural schools and once taught for three months in a district school near Canisteo.
As he grew older, he began milling and marketing his own lumber. In 1880 he came to Indianapolis as an employee of Henry Alfrey, a lumber merchant. In time, he acquired a partnership with Alfrey and bought out the business.
He operated a business on the south side of the city, making barrel headings and staves for the Standard Oil Company.
In 1892, headquarters of his business was moved to Terre Haute from where it expanded into one of the largest lumber processing businesses in the country.
Mr. Coleman was widely traveled. He and Mrs. Coleman made a round-the-world cruise with their daughter in 1900 and later made 18 trips to Europe, two of them to Russia.
Surviving nephews are Fred T. Smith, Jackson, Tennessee; Harry C. Smith, Canisteo; Smith Childs, Jackson; Goff Smith, St. Louis, Missouri; Lloyd Smith, Grand Rapids, Michigan; and Seward Smith, Canisteo. Fred T. Smith is manager of W. H. Coleman Company manufacturing coopers in Jackson.
Nieces include Mrs. Mary Whiting of Hornell, New York; Miss Mable Smith and Miss Blanche Smith, and Mrs. Grace Childs, all of Canisteo.
Honorary pallbearers will be Dr. Willis D. Gatch, Dr. James O. Ritchie, Dr. Carl P. Huber, Dr. Dudley Pfaff, Dr. Charles W. Myers, Dr. Carlton B. McCulloch, William A. Atkins, Thompson Kurrie, Hilton U. Brown, Alfred P. Conklin, J. K. Lilly, Arthur V. Brown, John W. Keller, and W. A. Miskimen.
Sallie's daughter from her first marriage, Suemma, had died during childbirth in 1924, prompting the funding of a new hospital for women specializing in obstetrics. This building is still located at 1140 W. Michigan St., Indianapolis, IN and now houses the Division of Allied Health Sciences of Indiana University School of Medicine. Here is a web link: http://www.iupui.edu/~history/OLDSITE/trail/2.htm
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Indianapolis Star - Saturday, December 14, 1946:
William H. Coleman, Indianapolis philanthropist, died of pneumonia late yesterday in the hospital which bears his name and which he helped to make possible--William H. Coleman Hospital for Women.
He was 98 years old and had been ill only one week. Previously he had been in excellent health and walked daily from his home at 1006 North Meridian Street, which he occupied with his wife for nearly 60 years, to his office at 216-1/2 North Meridian Street.
His wife, Mrs. Sallie E. Coleman, is the only immediate survivor. There are six nephews and four nieces. None lives in Indianapolis.
Mr. Coleman rose from a New York State farm boy to become a lumber industrialist and philanthropist whose gifts in his adopted city of Indianapolis totaled more than $1,000,000.
Included in his philanthropies was $350,000 for the Coleman Hospital at Indiana University Medical Center, erected in 1927. the hospital was dedicated to the memory of a daughter, the late Mrs. Suemma Vajen Atkins.
In addition, Mr. and Mrs. Coleman gave generously to the Methodist Hospital, James Whitcomb Riley Hospital for Children, the Christamore Home, and other hospitals.
Funeral services will be held at 2 o'clock Monday afternoon in the home. Dr. Jean S. Milner, pastor of Second Presbyterian Church, will officiate. Burial will be in Crown Hill Cemetery.
Mr. Coleman also contributed toward the establishment of two hospitals in New York state and since 1939 had been a supporter of the Maple Leaf Society of Canada, contributing blankets as well as money.
He endowed three chairs at the Indiana University School of Medicine for $25,000 each in the fields of ophthalmology, gynecology, and surgery.
In memory of his sister, Mrs. Fannie Smith, Mr. Coleman gave a nurses' home to a hospital in Hornell, New York. He built the auditorium for Christamore Settlement here and contributed a room to Suemma Coleman Home. He also had given $35,000 to Methodist Hospital here. He had many smaller "pet" charities besides.
His fortune was founded on lumber and, before his retirement several years ago, he operated factories which processed wood in Terre Haute, Indiana, Muncie, Indiana, Memphis, Tennessee, and Jackson Tennessee. His principal markets were Chicago, Cleveland, Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York.
Although his business interests principally were outside Indianapolis, Mr. Coleman remained here. He and Mrs. Coleman lived for the last 60 years in their palatial 23-room house.
Mr. Coleman was born in 1848 in where his parents had settled after coming to the United States from Manchester, England. When he was 5 years old, his father died and his mother took him to Canisteo, New York where at an early age he worked in the fields. He took winter jobs in Pennsylvania lumber camps and once walked 70 miles from the Canisteo farm to a lumber camp in Pennsylvania for a job. His work in lumber camps gave him a taste for the lumber business and opened his eyes to the possibilities of its development.
Before he began spending his winters working in lumber camps, he attended rural schools and once taught for three months in a district school near Canisteo.
As he grew older, he began milling and marketing his own lumber. In 1880 he came to Indianapolis as an employee of Henry Alfrey, a lumber merchant. In time, he acquired a partnership with Alfrey and bought out the business.
He operated a business on the south side of the city, making barrel headings and staves for the Standard Oil Company.
In 1892, headquarters of his business was moved to Terre Haute from where it expanded into one of the largest lumber processing businesses in the country.
Mr. Coleman was widely traveled. He and Mrs. Coleman made a round-the-world cruise with their daughter in 1900 and later made 18 trips to Europe, two of them to Russia.
Surviving nephews are Fred T. Smith, Jackson, Tennessee; Harry C. Smith, Canisteo; Smith Childs, Jackson; Goff Smith, St. Louis, Missouri; Lloyd Smith, Grand Rapids, Michigan; and Seward Smith, Canisteo. Fred T. Smith is manager of W. H. Coleman Company manufacturing coopers in Jackson.
Nieces include Mrs. Mary Whiting of Hornell, New York; Miss Mable Smith and Miss Blanche Smith, and Mrs. Grace Childs, all of Canisteo.
Honorary pallbearers will be Dr. Willis D. Gatch, Dr. James O. Ritchie, Dr. Carl P. Huber, Dr. Dudley Pfaff, Dr. Charles W. Myers, Dr. Carlton B. McCulloch, William A. Atkins, Thompson Kurrie, Hilton U. Brown, Alfred P. Conklin, J. K. Lilly, Arthur V. Brown, John W. Keller, and W. A. Miskimen.
Gravesite Details
Burial: December 16,1946
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