Beech Grove, IN (January 25, 2018) — Anna Churchman, in a
rare picture from 1897, was the matriarch of Hillside. She married Francis
McClintock Churchman on October 12, 1859, in Janesville, Wisconsin. The couple
eventually had seven children. Her husband, being of English and Quaker heritage,
was a reputable, hardworking man noted for his integrity.
He began his career
at age 19 as a clerk at S. A. Fletcher Bank on Washington Street, the
predecessor of the American Fletcher National Bank of Indianapolis, Indiana,
and within five years made managing partner, a position he held until his
death.
Within the then-relatively small, but close-knit, Indianapolis business
community, Churchman was highly regarded for his ability to make loans based
solely on the character of the applicant and a firm handshake.
While not much
for going out of the town, rather preferring to keep private and tending to his
family, Francis was well known and likewise knew many people. He is one of only
a few Hoosiers to have had their likeness immortalized in a portrait by Indiana
artist. T. C. Steele.