Family Records 155 Meridian Street and 26 to 36 East Georgia Street
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Family Records 155 Meridian Street and 26 to 36 East Georgia Street, and with a branch office at 388 Broadway, New York City, it was the "oldest and largest Jobbing Dry Goods and Notion House in the State." In 1883 it was estimated that the firm's annual sales exceeded $1 million, perhaps as much as $120 million in current dollars.12 In addition, the firm acted as general or special sales agent for domestic textile mills in southern and western states and offered a line of work clothing—overalls, work shirts, and jeans. This line was manufactured by C. B. Cones and Son Manufacturing Company, of which Harold was vice president and John W. Murphy, treasurer. "The factory consists of a three story and basement building on North Senate avenue, 50 by 200 feet . furnishing employment to more than 400 hands and requiring ten traveling salesmen to visit the trade."13 By integrating manufacturing, sales, and distribution the partners gained a significant cost advantage over rivals. H ibben , H ollweg and Company I s F ounded In 1901, after Murphy retired and Shipp and Landers withdrew, Harold and his brother Thomas Entriken Hibben (b. October 19, 1859) along with Louis Hollweg formed Hibben, Hollweg and Company. The census of 1900 records that Ernst M. Wiles (husband of Harold's sister Louise) was employed as a salesman and that Harold's son, Harold James Hibben (b. May 3, 1881), was also employed as a salesman.14 The 1907 edition of Hyman's Handbook of Indianapolis reported that the firm had expanded to two hundred thousand square feet of office, salesrooms, warehouse, and shipping space in four buildings, some The Empire style Hibben, Hollweg and connected by bridges and tunnels.15 The logistical inefficiencies of Company warehouse on South multiple locations, combined with the advent of motorized transport, Meridian Street in Indianapolis in 1910 led to the partners' decision to build a modern storage and shipping (Bass Photo Company, #19750, IHS) facility. The firm of Vonnegut and Bohn, Architects was engaged to design an enlarged and efficient facility. The corner building and the adjacent one to the north were removed, and a six-floor building was built on the site in 1911 and 1912. Constructed of brick and lime stone, it was the largest "modern" commercial warehouse building of its day, adequate to house the city's largest wholesale dry goods firm.16 F ifteen Y ears of P rogress and P ro sperity The Hibben merchants of Indianapolis enjoyed prosperous times during the early years of the twentieth century, enabling them to move in respected commercial and social circles. Harold lived in a grand house at 1411 North Delaware Street. "Mr. Hibben was social in the best sense, that he enjoyed being in the company of his friends and desired to have friends about him at all times."17 Among them were Otto N. Frenzel, president of the Merchants National Bank; James Whitcomb Riley, the Hoosier poet; Eli Lilly, founder of the pharmaceutical firm; and Charles Warren Fairbanks, Theodore Roosevelt's vice president. Business associates recognized Harold's business acumen by appointing him vice president of the Claypool Hotel, vice president of the Indianapolis Street Railway, and director of the Indiana Union Traction Company. T he F irm P asses to the N e x t Generation While in New York City on business Thomas Hibben died suddenly of heart failure at the New York Athletic Club on July 6, 1915.18 Less than a year later on March 23, 1916, Harold died unexpectedly at the age of sixty-one. Harold, who was suffering from Hibben, Hollweg and Company a bronchial condition, traveled to Long Key, Florida, hoping to building, ca. 1912 (Bass Photo regain his health. Shortly before he died, he sent messages to friends. Company, #30703, IHS) "Otto N. Frenzel, president of the Merchants National Bank and one of Mr. Hibben's most intimate friends, received postal cards from him yesterday at almost the same time that the wire was received.